Vinod Raina

Vinod Raina
Nationality Indian
Occupation Educationalist & Activist

Vinod Raina (died September 12, 2013) was an Indian educationist. He was a member of drafting of the Right to Education Act.[1][2][3]

Career

Vinod Raina resigned from his job at Delhi University to work on education reforms in India.[4] He was one of the co-founders of the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti(BGVS) and All-India People’s Science Network (AIPSN).[5]

He was a Homi Bhabha Fellow, a fellow of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, Asia Leadership Fellow, Japan, and an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Science Writers Association. Dr. Raina worked with the Bhopal Gas Disaster victims and the anti-Narmada dam campaign.

He helped conceptualize the Victims of Development project and co-edited the subsequent volume ‘The Dispossessed’.

Dr. Raina is also a member of the International Council of the World Social Forum.

Right to Education Act

Dr. Raina's biggest contribution to Indian education perhaps was the passing of the Right to Education Act in 2009. He worked tirelessly and consistently and his energy and commitment to detail played an important role in its enactment.

While he was criticised both by people from the right (for bringing in greater regulation into education, including specification of minimum standards in school academic and administrative infrastructure) and the left (for supporting something other than a common schooling system), he was a pragmatist who believed that the 'best' was an enemy of the 'possible' His brilliant article in the Seminar argued that in a complex, feudal society like India, where neo-liberal pressures had also become stronger, making compromises was necessary for improvements to the current education system. Post the enactment he worked hard to make the act functional, writing a FAQ on many of its provisions.

Death

He died of cancer on September 12, 2013.[5]

Very few people know he was suffering from cancer for the last few years of his life. During this period, he actively continued his work, and poured energies into the implementation of the Right to Education Act, as well as the various people's groups and policy committees that he was a part of.

Awards and Honours

Writings /Publications

Books

See also

References

  1. ↑ Only 57 per cent children going to school: RTE Act report : North, News - India Today
  2. ↑ In a first, women steal literacy lead over men - Hindustan Times
  3. ↑ Ghosh, jayati (1 November 2013). [Source - http://www.frontline.in/columns/Jayati_Ghosh/a-life-well-lived/article5236439.ece "A life well lived"]. Frontline. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Top down travails
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Cancer claims educationist-activist Vinod Raina". The Hindu. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.

External links