Letter from the Editor
A
curious paradox of contemporary India is that despite the primary, secondary and tertiary education systems being in steep decline, thanks to heavy-handed government intervention and regulation which has resulted in unwarranted subsidisation and corruption, the qualitative — perhaps even quantitative — achievements of young people in all walks of life is consistently improving. At least that’s our experience since the Infosys-EducationWorld Young Achievers Awards were instituted three years ago. If you read the cover story in this issue of EW, it’s impossible to be unimpressed, even after allowing for media hype and dressing up. The focus, dedication and sheer will power of the Infosys-EW Young Achievers 2007 who have struggled against heavy odds within a generally discouraging socio-economic system, is truly inspirational. I have an explanation for this curious paradox. You’ll find that the common characteristic of the young achievers given unprecedented coverage in our lead story put together by assistant editor Summiya Yasmeen, is their belief in the power of self-study beyond the boundaries of prescribed texts and curriculums. It’s plain that it’s their catholic interests and involvement in extra-curricular education which make them outstanding young achievers. Therefore my unsolicited advice to all the country’s youth is to shed excessive dependence on unreliable and all too often ignorant teachers and indifferent institutions, and engage in self-driven study and improvement. This involves wide reading (of more than pulp fiction) and engagement in diverse activities. There’s much more to education than mere academic achievement as the chaos and confusion, resulting from the rise to positions of power and responsibility of a profusion of professionally qualified but narrowly educated techno-nerds, testifies.
Yet to self-study and metamorphose into inspiring young achievers, the country’s youth need access to good libraries, laboratories and enabling infrastructure facilities. Provision thereof, it is submitted, is the prime obligation of college, university and institutional managements. As the stories of the young achievers profiled in our cover story highlight, infrastructure deficiency in contemporary Indian society needs to be urgently addressed. There’s a shocking shortage of well-stocked and accessible libraries, labs, and sports and games facilities in the government-dominated institutions of education in fast-track, shining India. Moreover there is a conspicuous dearth of public libraries accessible to people — particularly youth — who may wish to read and educate themselves. Government, the country’s new rich corporates and philanthropists need to get involved with these issues.
There’s other food for thought in this celebratory issue of EducationWorld, now in its seventh year of uninterrupted publication. In our special report feature we examine what’s to be done about the continuous flight of children from non-performing government schools which consume a major share of the country’s annual education outlay and deliver precious little by way of meaningful learning outcomes.
Dilip Thakore