Thank you for your superb 11th anniversary cover story (EW November) highlighting the need for massive private investment in Indian education. You rightly observe that India’s private K-12 schools which although they constitute a mere 23 percent of all schools, teach 40 percent (90 million) of the country’s in-school students, and are bursting at the seams. Any parent who has had to suffer the nightmare of enroling their children into private schools will support that observation.
On the other hand none — not even the desperately poor — want to send their children to government schools where little actual learning happens. In the circumstances, there’s no option but for state governments to hand over management of their hopeless schools to NGOs and private educationists on lease or contract basis. If the present system of K-12 education dominated by government schools is not dismantled, children of the poor will never be able to break out of the vicious circle of ignorance and poverty.
In this connection, all private schools would also do well to follow the example of the Bangalore-based Indus Trust and promote Equal Opportunity schools for children of the poor in their neighbourhoods. The Indus Trust has done the nation a great service.
Ram Sharan
Lucknow
One-off show
Thanks for your special report ‘Commonwealth Games 2010: Boost for sports education’ (EW November). The phenomenal success of our sports-persons in CWG 2010, which has evoked strong feelings of national pride within the populace, is a good sign for the future of Indian sports. But given the stories of sleaze and corruption surrounding the staging of CWG, there’s reason to believe that the great showing of Indian athletes was a one-off thing. In the recently concluded Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, most of our CWG gold medal winners including ace marksman Abhinav Bindra didn’t make it to the final rounds. As was widely predicted, China, the emerging superpower, dominated the Asian Games.
The root cause of India’s medals drought in international sports is the woeful neglect of sports education in schools and colleges, which are obsessed with exams excellence. To build and nurture world-class sporting talent, it’s also vital that the money allocated is spent efficiently on creating sports infrastructure and expert coaches, not pilfered by self-serving politicians. For this to happen, public opinion must strongly condemn corrup-tion in sports. Otherwise our CWG success will remain our lone sporting achievement for a long time to come.
Saurabh Shah
Mumbai
Anniversary essays reaction
The 11th anniversary essay titled ‘Crime and corporal punishment’ (EW November) by Robindra Subba has equated condemned criminals sent-enced to be “hanged by the neck till dead” with naive, innocent school children whose only aim is to acquire good education and proper guidance from learned and wise educators.
In spite of what the old boys of La Martiniere School, Kolkata may say, the fact remains that a cheerful, fun-loving child with a great sense of humour met a tragic end after being caned by the school principal. As adults and parents, teachers need to be more enlightened and sensitive when dealing with children in their care.
Having had the privilege of serving the student community in a residential co-educational public school for 25 years, it is my first-hand experience that a kind, loving and caring attitude along with sympathetic counselling of aberrant students produces a more positive and desirable result than violence by academic staff. Lord Jesus and Gandhiji showed us the way. Let’s follow it.
Moreover in the same issue, Sumer Singh’s mildly hysterical 11th anniver-sary essay (‘RTE Act: negligence of detail’) appears designed to malign the progressive intent of the RTE and spread alarm in the public mind. A more balanced and pragmatic view of the RTE was expressed by Gen. Arjun Ray, CEO of the Indus Trust, in his essay (‘Equal Opportunity schools option’): “It is important for private schools that they accept the RTE Act in the interests of nation building, and observe it in letter and spirit.”
Rajan Nathaniel
Chennai
Anniversary issue kudos
Congratulations on your 11th anniversary. Kudos to you and your team for tirelessly drawing attention to the problems plaguing India’s neglected education sector.
It was a pleasure to read your information-packed anniversary issue. The special essays written by educa-tion experts — Rajiv Desai, Sumer Singh, Neeraj Kaushal and Lt. Gen Arjun Ray — provided new perspectives. From astute criticism of the Right to Education Act, 2009, the lack of citizenship education in schools, to the low-price low-quality equilibrium in higher education and the need for equal opportunity schools, the essays were incisive and unprecedented.
Wish you good luck in your mission to make education the No. 1 item on the national agenda!
Meenakshi Malhotra
Delhi
Common exam plea
Thanks for your 11th anniversary issue. I have read almost all issues of EducationWorld since May 2007.
With particular reference to “Business school blues” (International News, EW November), an MBA degree isn’t always a passport to a good job. Only a select few from top B-schools manage to land high-end jobs. The time has come for government to introduce a common examination for all the recognised B-schools of the country. This is the only way to maintain high academic stand-ards. For example, there is one institute for chartered accountants which controls the examinations of students at an all-India level. This, no doubt, is the reason why Indian industry prefers CAs to MBAs.
Mahesh Kapasi
Delhi
Points of difference
While I appreciate the views expressed by my colleague Sumer Singh in the anniversary column titled ‘RTE Act — negligence of detail’ (EW November), I have a few points of difference to express.
First, referring to RTE’s failure to prescribe minimum attendance norms, he asks: “Is it alright for a child to get admitted to a school and get automatic promotion until she/he reaches class VIII without attending a day of class for 11 years?”
In this connection I would like to point out that the RTE Act prescribes involvement of all teachers, parents and society countrywide. It is our collective responsibility to see that every child regularly attends classes to learn. Under the Act, the academic evaluation is not to be made at the end of the year but on the basis of “continuous compreh-ensive learning”. So where is the question of promoting a child all of a sudden at one go?
Secondly Mr. Singh laments the abolition of all punishment and conferment of the right to automatic promotion. There’s nothing wrong with asking teachers to persuade children to learn without force. Under the RTE Act, teachers are required to create a conducive atmosphere for learning in their classrooms without resorting to coercion and force. What’s wrong with that?
As teachers, our ultimate goal and aim should be to provide quality education to the masses, especially the underprivileged and downtrodden. It’s everyone’s responsibility to arouse the interest of young India in learning!
D.M. Virupaksha Swamy
Chairman, Bhoomi Education Trust
Tumkur, Karnataka
Leather shoes ban call
I am a class X student of Deccan International School, Bangalore. I would like to make an appeal to school managements to ban leather shoes made out of animal skin or fat and replace them with synthetic leather or canvas footwear.
Sixteen schools in Chennai have already banned shoes made of animal fat or skin. Cattle are bred just for this kind of leather, and many of them are bred and killed for their skins. Leather shoes are also proving to be an environmental hazard. They are too hot for the Indian climate, don’t absorb perspiration, and even their polish is unhealthy.
On the other hand, canvas shoes are eco-friendly and affordable. A campaign started by Menaka Gandhi has been able to eliminate leather shoes in some parts of the country, but it can be a real success only if school managements decree a switch to canvas shoes.
Diya Nagesh on e-mail
Corrigendum: We ommitted the cover credits of our 11th Anniversary issue. The children are students of Parikrma School, Koramangla, Bangalore who were photographed by Balu Photo — Editor