EducationWorld deserves the thanks of all people across the country for your cover story ‘50 Leaders Re-shaping Indian Education’ (EW June). At a time in the nation’s history when there is much despair about India’s education system — especially our non-performing government schools — your feature story offers hope that there are at least 50 people in positions of influence and authority genuinely committed to improving the system.
As you concede in your well-written letter from the editor, the 50 leaders you have highlighted are only the tip of the iceberg. There are indeed “thousands of liberals beyond the reach of indifferent media” who are selflessly serving the cause of Indian education, and whose efforts will surely bear fruit in the near future. Among these unsung leaders are Aruna and Bunker Roy in Tilonia (Rajasthan), Baba Amte in Maharashtra, Dunu Roy in Madhya Pradesh and Baba Anna Hazare in Ravalgaon Siddhi (Maharashtra).
Moreover your list of 50 does not include any sports educators training ill-fed and poorly motivated boys and girls across the country. Great sports educators such as Desh Prem Azad (who trained Kapil Dev), Krishna Bhupathi and Prakash Padukone who have battled hostile sports adminis-trations and still produce champions should have been included in your list of education leaders. After all, as you keep repeating in EducationWorld, there’s more to education than mere academics.
Nevertheless despite these short-comings, your cover story is a commendable effort and is a shot in the arm for thousands of teachers and educationists all over the country. I am confident that thanks to EducationWorld, education will begin to be taken more seriously in India.
Kapil Srivastava
Delhi
Parent interview plus points
Most parents have welcomed a recent Delhi high court order banning interviews of parents for nursery admissions. Unfor-tunately, only the negative aspects of such interviews have been highlighted. Their constructive role has been totally ignored.
Out of ignorance, arrogance or both, most private school authorities conduct parent interviews as a one-way street instead of making it a two-way dialogue. In a healthy nursery admission interview, the role of the interviewer and interviewee parents is frequently reversed to serve the interest of the school as well as parents.
It is in the interest of schools that parents are encouraged to ask relevant questions to clear their doubts. The frequently asked questions are: What is the syllabus the school follows in nursery classes? What co-curricular and games facilities does the school provide? What are the regular and emergency medical facilities available? Are the students provided with purified drinking water? Are there sufficient toilets? Does the school have a junior college? Which board is the school affiliated with? What are the common as well as unique features of ICSE, CBSE and SSC syllabuses? What is the status of the regional language in ICSE/ CBSE schools? How often does the school increase its fees?
As a principal, I am eager to listen to feedback from parents of prospective students who already have a child in a higher class of the school. Are they satisfied with what the school has done or is doing for their child? Do they have any suggestions to make?
The sole aim of conducting parent interviews from the school’s point of view is to get a better understanding of the child’s home environment, so that it becomes easier to reinforce learning experiences which a child is given in class.
A properly conducted parents’ interview once and for all puts at rest all doubts in parents’ minds and goes a long way to win the school the goodwill of parents.
T.T. Burrows
Principal, Magarpatta City Public School, Pune
Great Lakes correction
I read your cover story ‘50 Leaders Re-shaping Indian Education’ (EW June) with great interest. Thank you for including our founder Prof. V. Balachandran among the great leaders.
I would like to bring to your kind attention that there is a minor mistake in Dr. Balachandran’s profile. He is a professor at the Kellogg School of Management and not at the Stuart School of Business.
S.Sriram
Executive Director, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai
JNU’s bounty
I enjoyed reading your cover story ‘50 Leaders Re-shaping Indian Education’ (EW June). I am happy to note that you have included me as one of the leaders.
Your write up on JNU is also appropriate, especially our focus on the Nehruvian vision of science, technology and development. For your information, the current budget of JNU is Rs.90 crore. In addition, this year we shall get an additional grant of Rs.50-60 crore to modernise our infrastructure and to create new facilities.
As regards myself, I have recently joined as vice-chancellor after serving as director of the Institute of Economic Growth for five years.
Prof. B.B. Bhattacharya
Vice-chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi
Informative and inspiring
Your cover story ‘Reservation shadow over campus India’ (EW May) was informative and inspiring. The feature presented both sides of the debate and made balanced suggestions.
More such features are needed to profoundly impact decision makers to bring about positive change and provide new hope for a better tomorrow.
A.K. Khetan
CEO, Zee Interactive Learning Systems Ltd, Mumbai