Your well-designed cover and story ‘Dharmendra Pradhan’s second innings priorities’ (EW July) should serve as a wake-up call to the hon’ble minister who clearly suffers a communication skills deficit. I couldn’t agree more that the second time education minister should speak up forcefully in Union cabinet meetings demanding greater budgetary allocation for education. Time he became aware that he presides over a ministry responsible for the future of the world’s largest child and youth population.
The minister’s contempt for the media especially towards EducationWorld, for several decades the country’s #1 education magazine, is condemnable. As member of Parliament and minister, he is obliged to answer to the public through the media. This is fundamental in a democracy.
Saisha Chandra
Chennai
Urgent overhaul needed
Your well-researched Special Report ‘Rectifying NTA exams disaster’ (EW July) exposes NTA’s shocking mismanagement of NEET-UG, the common medical entrance examination written by 2.4 million school-leavers. You have uncovered ugly truths about a faulty exams system replete with question paper leaks and marks for money scams.
One hopes the newly constituted K. Radhakrishnan committee holds meaningful consultations with students, parents, assessment and cyber experts to quickly establish a tamperproof exams system. If the hon’ble education minister is to be believed, a switch to SAT-like computer-based multiple times a year testing is in the offing. The extreme mental distress our children have had to endure because of the NEET mess calls for urgent overhaul of the exams system.
Lopamudra Sen
Kolkata
Teacher accountability
Re Education Notes (EW July) titled ‘Show-cause notices’, my congratulations to Rohit Thakur, Himachal Pradesh’s education minister, for issuing show-cause notices to teachers of 116 schools which reported pass rates below 25 percent and 30 schools recording zero pass percentage. Well-paid government school teachers should be held accountable for poor academic outcomes.
Sheela Jabin
Bengaluru
Appalling negligence
I have been keenly following the NEET-UG scam on social media and read your insightful Special Report on this controversy (EW July). I am appalled that in a national entrance examination of this scale, a multiple-choice question in physics had two possible answers.
It is shocking that such ambiguous questions — which a committee of IIT-Delhi experts constituted by the Supreme Court had to solve — are presented to students without second revision. What are the qualifications of the so-called experts appointed to set NEET question papers and why are they not held accountable?
Dheeraj Krishna
Hyderabad
Upskilling mantra
Your Teacher-to-Teacher essay ‘Successful management of lifelong learning’ (EW July) reflects the sentiment of Union Budget 2024-25 presented in Parliament by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23 . Looks like she had her ear to the ground!
I agree with author Nikhil Pingle that with technologies evolving fast, economic landscapes are shifting. Upskilling is the mantra to success as skills — if any — acquired in college and universities no longer guarantee lifetime employment. The rise of ICT and globalization of commerce mandates acquisition of new skill-sets, digital skills in particular. Job seekers can navigate the volatile jobs market and build successful careers only if they have a learner’s mindset and invest in continuous upskilling.
Chanda Biswas
Delhi
Game-changer invention
I am a regular reader of EW and especially look forward to your Young Achievers section. In your July edition, your feature on Team Think was inspirational.
I am a resident of Bengaluru, and this summer was particularly warm with temperatures spiking to 38oC, unimaginable in the garden city. I am not surprised that the World Bank’s Climate Investment Opportunities in India’s Cooling Sector Report 2022 predicts that future heat waves will pose challenges to the survival of the human race. Team Think’s innovative ‘Kavach’ invention to keep cool in the summer heat — if commercialized — is sure to become a game-changer.
Sheela Rao
Bengaluru