Letter from the Editor
In the last month of a given year news publications and television channels go to town choosing their citizens of the year. As a relatively new periodical charting unfamiliar territory — the vast neglected spaces of Indian education which mirror every social injustice this misgoverned nation is heir to — we haven’t yet ventured to select the educationist of the year. Therefore it’s perhaps appropriate that our very first issue of the new year 2007, fetes and celebrates India’s best school teachers selected through an elaborate and painstaking procedure. I am aware that to describe the teachers who grace this issue’s cover as the country’s best could be construed as exaggeration or hype. I’m sure there are others as — if not more — meritorious, working unsung across this huge subcontinent who have not been nominated or who have not stepped forward to detail their best practices and classroom innovations for the TCS-EducationWorld Teachers Awards which were instituted two years ago. Nevertheless I’m sure that they and their champions will appreciate that stepping forward for assessment is the condition precedent of these awards.
In terms of number and points of origin the nominations received in 2006 were encouraging. The 25,000 teacher nominations we received constituted a vast improvement over the 3,000 received in 2005, although they are a mere sub-fraction of the aggregate teacher population countrywide estimated at 5 million. Now with this publication all set to rev up into campaign mode and establish a more high-profile market presence in the new year, we hope that the very best and brightest school teachers countrywide will be nominated for the Tata Consultancy Services-EducationWorld Teachers Awards 2007. Let’s make it happen!
This is not to say that the quality and calibre of the TCS-EW award winners and finalists was in any way deficient. If you read our cover story in this issue you will be elated by learning about the classroom innovations and best practices of dedicated teachers across the country — despite generally unsupportive work environments. Such educationists who are ready to continuously learn and pass on their learning to students, so children’s passage through school becomes an exciting and fulfilling experience, need all the encouragement and support they can get. And I am particularly satisfied that Tata Consultancy Services, India’s No.1 information technology and knowledge company, has partnered with us to encourage the hitherto insufficiently appreciated and neglected teachers community to give of its best. Unlike the great majority of leaders of Indian industry, S. Ramadorai chief executive of TCS can — and does — connect the dots which link foundational education with industry productivity. Hence the partnership.
However notwithstanding some silver lining, Indian education has a long way to go. Reading our special report in this eve-of-Republic Day issue will enlighten you about the scale of neglect and deprivation which the world’s largest child population silently and uncomplainingly suffers. I won’t be celebrating Republic Day.
Dilip Thakore