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EW Cover December 2024 FinalPreschool rankings praise

I am a committed reader of EducationWorld. Thanks for publishing the well-researched preschool rankings survey of 19 cities (EW December). The inclusion of Indore and Vadodara this year is most welcome. I hope to see more cities included next year.

In most cities, I noticed several new preschools being ranked in the league tables. This shows that after being ignored for decades, demand for early childhood education is rising steadily. The rankings offer valuable information to parents seeking admission of their children into preschools which are evaluated on ten parameters of early childhood education excellence. Great work!

Dileep S.

Indore

Eye-popping revelation

The Expert Comment essay ‘K-12 teacher shortage myth’ (EW December) was a real eye-opener. Authors Sandip Datta and Geeta Kingdon have done a great job of busting the myth of teacher shortages in government schools. I agree with their contention that through efficient deployment of students and teachers, the RTE Act’s mandated 1:30 teacher-pupil ratio can be achieved easily.

Also, their suggestion to consolidate 1.3 lakh ‘tiny’ schools with less than 20 students needs urgent consideration. Such consolidation would result in huge savings in terms of new teacher salaries, which can instead be used to improve infrastructure facilities and invest in professional development programmes for teachers.

Nandini Iyer

Bengaluru

Extraordinary achiever

Despite all odds, young achiever Sayani Das’ commitment (EW December) to excel internationally in long-distance swimming is extraordinary. Unlike cricket or badminton or even chess, long-distance swimming is given little social encouragement or media coverage.

I want to thank EW for beaming a spotlight on the remarkable achievements of this dedicated sportsperson. It’s tragic that Sayani has to fund her training and travel costs through crowdfunding. I request the state government of West Bengal to step forward to fund her Ocean Seven global challenge.

Sumona Chakraborty

Kolkata

Vote for blended learning

Your Teacher-2-Teacher essay ‘Blended learning to shape future-ready children’ (EW December) was insightful. Author A.K. Srikanth emphasises that to create independent thinkers, comprehensive education that enables emotional, social and intellectual development together with advanced technology-driven teaching-learning is necessary.

Although the traditional vs. contemporary pedagogies debate rages on, I am aligned with the author’s views that a balanced approach is needed to create opportunities for students to build essential life skills and prepare for the complexities of the future. Blended learning will also empower the teachers’ community. With routine admin tasks taken care of by digital devices and AI, teachers will have more time to self-learn and nurture children.  

Mathew Phillip

Hyderabad

Alarming trend

Your Special Essay ‘Health education should be a separate school subject’ (EW December) makes a good case for the inclusion of health education in K-12 curriculums.

Physical and mental well-being of children is the prerequisite of success in academics and all other fields. In particular, mental health is a subject that India has pushed under the carpet for several decades. The rise in the number of suicides, especially among students of premier higher ed institutions, shows that children and youth are unable to cope with rising academic stress, parental and peer pressure. This is an alarming trend we cannot ignore

Deeksha Jain

Delhi

New emerging coalition

The news despatch from West Bengal ‘Emerging reforms consensus’ (EW November) is interesting. Just like the emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party from a movement against corruption and apathetic governance, there’s a good chance of consolidation of a grand coalition of students, professionals and the common man into a political party dedicated to cleaning up corrupt party-based politics in Bengal.

The fact that anti-government protesters have stood strong for 71 days and counting, reflects their conviction to set things rolling in the right direction. Although it is sad that we needed the RG Kar murder case to awaken the system, there’s a good chance it will force some action.

Abhishek Dutta

Mumbai 

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