Exemplary teachers
Congratulations on your unique cover story ‘30 Eduleaders Weathering Covid Tsunami’ (EW August). It was comforting to read about several principals’ creative responses to the pandemic disruption of education and the world’s longest schools lockdown.
In particular, it was distressing to learn about Ganesh Prasad, the dedicated principal of the government-aided Sadguru High School in a remote tribal hamlet of Karnataka deprived of Internet connectivity, who along with seven teachers is obliged to trek 10 km through hilly forest terrain to reach education to children.
I hope the Karnataka government will provide additional support to these exemplary teachers for their commitment to their students.
Shalini S.
Mysuru
Gratitude debt
Thank you for highlighting and recognising the selfless work being done by numerous teachers and principals to continue children’s education through the pandemic lockdown (EW August cover story).
While the country’s politicians are busy making empty promises, it’s school promoters, principals and teachers who have gone out of their way to ensure that children continue their education. The nation owes teachers a great debt of gratitude for the efforts they are making to reach education to children, especially in the rural hinterland.
Tracy D’Souza
Goa
Justified reduction
I fully endorse the decision of the Maharashtra government to impose a fees reduction by 15 percent for the new academic year 2021-22 on all private schools in the state (Education News, EW August). I am amazed to learn that private school managements are raising objections to this proposal. The pandemic lockdown of business, industry and trade has resulted in widespread economic distress and most parents have lost jobs and incomes. It’s shocking that instead of providing parents financial support and concessions, school managements are trying to profit even during a pandemic.
With schools shut for 16 months and counting, private schools have made substantial savings under many heads of expenditure.
Sunil Nivane
Mumbai
Huge mistake
I am a regular reader of EducationWorld. Your candid interview (EW August) with eminent historian-biographer Ramachandra Guha was insightful. His erudite answers about the contributions of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel to India’s freedom movement were very informative.
In a country that eulogised Nehru for the most part of its independent years, Dr. Guha rightly points out that his biggest failure was to neglect primary education. The first priority of free India should have been to wipe out illiteracy and provide quality primary education for all. Instead, he focused his attention on higher education and building elite IITs to educate a handful of privileged students. We are to this day paying for his huge mistake.
Pallavi K.
Bengaluru
Misleading & biased
We have been informed of Techno India University, West Bengal’s #6 rank only after the publication of the EW India Higher Education Rankings 2021-22 (EW June). No one from EducationWorld has till date approached us for any primary institutional data.
Although it was a commendable effort to publish the EW India Higher Education Rankings 2021-22, it falls short of current relevance. The parameters of assessment of higher education institutions (HEIs) as defined in the assessment criteria of Outcome Based Education (OBE) are vastly different from the conventional criteria you have used and which have completely lost their relevance post-Covid, given that industry requirements have drastically changed. Under the circumstances, your published analysis does not appear to be data-driven and is therefore misleading and biased.
Please share with us the higher education rankings methodology.
Dr. Goutam Sengupta
Vice chancellor, Techno India University, West Bengal
The EW India Higher Education Rankings 2021-22 survey is based on the perceptions of over 4,000 knowledgeable sample respondents including university faculty, final year college/university students and industry representatives who rated India’s Top 300 universities on ten parameters of higher education excellence. The survey methodology is detailed in the cover story. Please see p.38 EW June issue — Editor