Dr. Wilima Wadhwa

Wilima Wadhwa is a Director of the ASER Centre. She has been associated with ASER since its inception in 2005 and is responsible for its sample design and the processing of ASER data. Dr. Wadhwa earned her undergraduate degree, with Honors in Economics from Delhi University, MA degrees in Economics from Delhi University and University of California, and her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California.

Dr. Wadhwa has been published extensively and teaches statistics and econometrics at the University of California (Irvine), and the Indian Statistical Institute (New Delhi). She has also been a member of various government committees, including the Working Group for the Revision of Wholesale Price Index Numbers, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. Dr. Wadhwa’s other research interests include development and economics of education.

Abstract: RTE: Myth and Reality

The Right to Education (RTE) came into effect in 2010. It guarantees enrollment to all children in the age group of 6-14 years and lays down infrastructure norms that all schools need to fulfill. However, it says nothing about what we expect children to learn in schools. As it stands, the RTE is more a right to “schooling” rather than “learning”. All the evidence on learning outcomes indicates that children are far below grade competency. Further, not only are learning outcomes not improving, there is some evidence that there has been a decline in the last two years. Given India’s diversity, there is wide variation across states, though. The case of UP, is particularly interesting, given its size and the large variations in the state itself. Progress of UP is important, not just for the state itself but also for the country as a whole.