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Editorial
Full text linkWe make many decisions in our everyday life about the food we eat, our health, and how we use water and materials. How do we equip students with the knowledge and skills to make informed choices about their health and well-being
The “Global Learning Crisis”: The Classroom View from Kanchipuram, India
Full text link“Global learning crisis” narratives, in focusing on the “proximate determinants” of the crisis, represent a welcome “classroom turn” in international education and development. Extant learning crisis literatures are problematic, however, as their homogenizing gaze distorts how teachers and students co-constitute classrooms as locally meaningful learning spaces. Drawing on anthropological approaches in comparative education, this article addresses the “learning crisis” in a middle-school classroom in a weavers’ neighborhood in Kanchipuram. Constituted in an elaborate “notebook economy,” this classroom was an inventive response that not only accommodated students’ material cultures and social-educational disadvantages but also affected their belonging in a resource-scarce public education system. If the learning it afforded was disdained in “learning crisis” narratives, it was nevertheless relevant for students, readily translated into educationally unintensive assembly-line jobs. In producing contempt for such classrooms, “learning crisis” narratives merely distract from—and thus entrench—the deeply unequal economic and educational development that necessitated the notebook economy in the first pla
Fear hinders learning
Full text linkA good school is where every child is provided with respect, safety, compassion, joy, and an environment that inspires learning. The common notion that ‘only punishment and fear make children study well’ hinders learning. This essay examines the detrimental effects of corporal punishment and fear on children and suggests experiential approaches to enhance learning that foster a positive school environment
Gender, welfare, and mobility: Shakti and its transformational impact on BMTC transport
Full text linkThis report is an assessment of the evolution of the scheme with specific regard to the BMTC’s experience. In the period studied—January 2023 to March 2025, covering both pre- and postimplementation phases—the scheme generated a significant surge in bus usage across the state. With more than 2.89 crore trips recorded, a striking transformation in mobility patterns was observed. Importantly, women riders quickly outnumbered men on many of the busiest routes- especially in the Central Business District, reflecting a major shift in access to and usage of public transport. The ridership gains were particularly sharp in the first six months following the scheme’s launch and have since stabilized, indicating a sustained and regular usage pattern among women
Blue infrastructure as nature based solutions for urban sustainability: evaluating local perceptions from four Indian megacities
No full textUrban blue infrastructure provides multiple economic, social, and ecological benefits to local residents, and can enhance urban sustainability. However, few studies have examined the potential of traditional forms of blue infrastructure as nature-based solutions for mitigating common challenges of urban sustainability. The perceptions of 616 urban dwellers from four Indian megacities were analyzed through surveys to understand and demonstrate how blue infrastructure can be seen as a nature-based solution to urban sustainability challenges. A quantitative methodology involving descriptive statistics, Spearman correlations, and binary logistic regression was used to analyze survey data. Results showed that blue infrastructure provides multiple ecosystem services to the urban residents, with regulating and cultural services being most prominently valued. Both neglected and well-maintained blue infrastructure demonstrated significant potential as nature-based solutions for improving urban sustainability, but they contribute differently. The socio-cultural characteristics of the respondents significantly influenced their perceptions of the significance of blue infrastructure in addressing urban sustainability challenges