
China tries to redistribute education to the poor, igniting class conflict

The Assam state government this month announced free education for students with a family income of less than Rs100,000 (US$1,500) per annum who are seeking admissions in higher secondary, three-year degree and polytechnic diploma courses from this year, reports Press Trust India. Read more...
By Brendan O'Malley. Nearly three decades ago Geeta Dharmarajan had a vision. She wanted to bring education to the children of Delhi’s overcrowded slums – who were being denied school because they had to work, selling patties or collecting rubbish to help their family survive – but she did not believe traditional teaching methods would succeed. Read more...
By Paul Rigg. Sindy Patricia Ramos Pocón, 23, knows what it means to be poor and go without food. Read more...
By Laurence Chandy, Adrianna Pita and Rebecca Winthrop. If we think about the progress of getting people out of extreme poverty, it is really impressive. But it is actually a much slower trend then what we have seen in the spread of digital technology. The speed with which mobile phone ownership has spread around the world, access to bank accounts, biometric identification cards, people getting online – these trends are happening even faster. More...
Submitted by Stefanie Botelho. Though we like to think of a college degree as an unqualified good, it isn’t always. Maybe even especially not so for those who are seen to be the greatest beneficiaries of a socioeconomic-boosting credential: low-income young people. More...
Submitted by Stefanie Botelho. Hundreds of food pantries cropping up on college campuses offer one stark symbol of the gulf between the experiences of rich and poor as they reach for the American dream. More...
By Erik Solheim. Global development aid reached a record high in 2015. Being inspired to do even better, we should also focus on the main purpose of aid. Is it to be the salt or the oil in the water. More...
By Richard V. Reeves, Edward Rodrigue and Elizabeth Kneebone. Poverty is about a lack of money, but it’s not only about that. As a lived experience, poverty is also characterized by ill health, insecurity, discomfort, isolation, and more. To put it another way: Poverty is multidimensional, and its dimensions often cluster together to intensify the negative effects of being poor. More...