Enlightening comment As much as your cover story ‘National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education: Great Expectations’ (EW March) highlights the urgent need for NCF to standardise the quality of school education countrywide, it also exposes the confusion that most educators have about NCF, its purpose and implementation. Be that as it may, I was enlightened by the interview of Dr. Deepak Madhok, chairman, Sunbeam Group of Educational Institutions, Varanasi. He rightly says that NCFSE’s focus should be on developing the ‘whole child beyond academics’ through integration of non-academic activities into the curriculum, and competency and skills education to enhance children’s employability and entrepreneurship skills. Dhanya Suguna Tumakuru (Karnataka) Enter politics advice! Congratulations on your second lead feature ‘Union Budget 2023-24: 260 Million Children Shortchanged. Again’ (EW March). I am a regular reader of EW and over the years, I have observed and admired the dedication with which the Editor draws up a schema year on year for greater investment in human capital development. I humbly request Mr. Thakore to consider joining politics as the country is in urgent need of changemakers. Suresh Kumaran Coimbatore I promoted the Children First Party of India in 2013 but it received no public support — Editor Confusing headlines I not only read EW but carefully follow your website for instant education updates. On March 15, I was appalled to see an online news headline that read ‘Will consider including law on right to education in curriculum, BCI tells Delhi HC’, whereas the article was about Bar Council of India’s intent to introduce the RTE Act as a mandatory subject in law colleges. Urgent need for some editorial attention here! Chandan Mahato Patna Support gifted children! Thanks for highlighting the achievements of whizkid Rishi Prasanna (9) in your Young Achiever section (EW March), as also for beaming a spotlight on the neglect of gifted children in India. The Indian K-12 school system ignores gifted children unlike the West, where many schools offer special nurturance programmes for them. I hope NEP 2020 has made recommendations for developing gifted children. Anwesha Bose Kolkata Elephant in room The Special Essay ‘Bridge skills gap to boost job creation’ by Sanjay Viswanathan (EW March) was thought provoking and insightful. The biggest elephant in the room is that millions of youth are unemployed because they are inadequately skilled for the new era of digitalisation. To successfully bridge this burgeoning skills gap, skills training must start in primary school. Adrian Sangma Kohima Editorial opinions Re your Karnataka Education News ‘Online system smokescreen’ (EW March), although it read well, it could have done without editorial opinion especially since the state is election bound in a couple of months. Many of your education news stories have editorial opinions and analysis. My request to EW editors is to substantially expand coverage of education news without expressing individual bias. Rosamma Thomas Trivandrum EW is a news and analysis magazine. We believe in not just reporting news but also interpreting it for our readers — Editor…
