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I was impressed by your cover story on the Infosys-EW Young Achievers Awards 2007 (EW July). It is heartening to read about young people of modest backgrounds who have risen to great heights in their chosen fields of endeavour. Be it young Athira’s musical accomplish-ment or Apurv’s scientific innovations, these youngsters need to be feted and celebrated.

However I have some questions about the awards. How come the north-eastern and western regions of India were unrepresented? Is it because there are no young achievers in these regions, or is it that your message didn’t reach that far? I am sure that in the Hindi heartland states there are youngsters with impressive achievements. Ditto youth from north-east states of India who have been ignored since independence and need to be encouraged to give their best.

Organisations such as yours should take your message to all parts of the country. There seems to be a heavy south India bias in the awards. It needs to be corrected.

I read with interest your special report titled ‘Should failing government schools be leased to NGOs?’ (EW July). The author makes a valid point in the article that the time has come for genuine government-NGO partnerships to ensure a decent future for millions of children enrolled in state schools. It has been proved beyond doubt that government schools dish out substandard vernacular medium education and have failed in their duty to provide acceptable quality education to children of poor and socially disadvantaged citizens, who can’t afford the option of sending their children to private school.

Unfortunately most NGOs are not willing to take on the responsibility of running non-performing government schools. Therefore proven education NGOs such as Akanksha and the Parikrma Humanity Foundation which are ready and willing to take on the task should be given every encouragement by state and local governments and the public. Your special report is a serious warning to state and local governments across the country.

Shilpa Raghu
Mangalore (Karnataka)

Many thanks for publishing EducationWorld. I find the education issues highlighted in EW informative and useful.

However recently in my capacity as a member of the working group on management education of the National Knowledge Commission, I did a search on the internet for articles/references to any projections of the demand for management graduates in India. I found no linkages or pointers to the EducationWorld website. I wonder if this is because of my limited search capability or whether EducationWorld is not fully wired into internet search engines. If it’s the latter, I suggest that you examine ways and means to get linked.

In particular the expert comment column by Dr. Arun Nigavekar former chairman of UGC (EW May) was very interesting. It needs a wider debate/ examination by education experts and policy makers.

Stand by for a radically improved EducationWorld website in the near future — Editor

I read Kavita Mukhi’s column titled ‘Why natural food is best’ (EW June) with great interest. I agree with her that to live life healthily is to live as naturally as possible, and focus on work and activity without making excuses such as ‘Oh it is raining’ or ‘It’s too hot/ cold’. Exercise as much as possible, let in the sunshine, keep windows and doors of your house and office open for natural light and air. These simple measures, along with eco-friendly food will ensure a healthy future for you and the earth.

You have very cleverly disguised a ‘product promotion’ issue as ‘25 wonder products and services transforming Indian education’ (EW June). This is underhand deceit which I did not expect from a magazine like EducationWorld.

I have grouped the 25 products into seven categories before commenting on them. Gourmet school meals, pencils, school uniforms, school furniture and superglue can straight away be dismissed as totally irrelevant for effective education.

Only four products — Jolly Phonics, math labs, abacus methodology, the Waterford Early Intervention Programme — deal with core education issues related to teaching-learning. But none of these are really new. Moreover Encyclopedia Britannica 2007 and Alpha Tales Series are learning materials, the like of which have been around for a long time. And Tata Consultancy Services’ CBFL is an adult literacy intervention and nothing to do with schools meant for young minds.

Online tuition will never catch on in India where a personal tutor is still affordable. It is mainly a US phenomenon offering employment to Indian teachers. The real effect of online tuition will be a further shortage of good teachers.

That leaves us with products enabling use of ICT in the classroom. Though these have a lot of potential, they have been hampered by a poor understanding of pedagogy on the part of their designers. Simply reproducing chalk and blackboard lessons through a computer will not enhance understanding. Teaching to understand requires good teachers, and this is a vanishing tribe.

S. Sundaram
Principal, Atul Vidyalaya,
Atul, Gujarat