Page 29 - EW July 2024

moting equality and fraternity to combat caste discrimi- THEY SAID IT
nation in education institutions. Speakers called for edu-
cating students about the historical and social contexts “Young India wants jobs more than temples...
of caste discrimination to create empathy and awareness, For most of us, a good education was the
encourage critical thinking about social injustices and
promote constitutional and ethical values. passport out of poverty into the middle or
“It is not enough to include chapters in textbooks. affluent class. Now, a young person with a
School curricula should be designed to eliminate caste college degree is NINE times as likely to be
discrimination by multiplying content highlighting the in- unemployed as her illiterate counterpart,
iquities of entrenched casteism. Academic bodies should according to an ILO report. This indicates
re-cast syllabuses and assessment practices,” says Prince both the quality of degrees as well as the
Gajendra Babu, general secretary of SPCSS-TN. low-end nature of work that is available.”
n June 18, a one-man committee headed by Justice Ravi Venkatesan, co-founder, Global Alliance for Mass
OK. Chandru, a retired Madras high court judge, sub- Entrepreneurship on solving India's unemployment
mitted a report to chief minister M.K. Stalin and school problem (Times of India, June 9)
education minister
Anbil Mahesh Poyy-
amozhi. In the 610- “Programmes like Atal Tinkering Labs,
page report, Justice Start-up India and Stand-up India have
Chandru called upon helped improve the capacity of youth of the
the state government country. It is due to these efforts that today
to issue a directive to India has become the third largest start-up
all schools statewide ecosystem in the world… Earlier, students
to prohibit students who studied in Indian languages faced an
from wearing coloured unfair situation. With the implementation
wristbands, rings, or of the new National Education Policy, my
forehead marks indica-
tive of caste. Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi government has been able to remove
“Despite these ef- this injustice. Now students can take up
forts, the entrenched nature of caste discrimination in engineering courses in Indian languages.”
society poses significant challenges,” says Dr. Sakthi President Droupadi Murmu in her joint address to the
Rekha, an educationist and social activist. “Incidents of 18th Lok Sabha (PTI, June 27)
caste violence and discrimination within schools reflect
broader societal attitudes and behaviour emanating from “It was agony to watch a befuddled old man
beyond the education system. The persistence of caste- struggling to recall words and facts. His
based atrocities highlights the need for multi-faceted ini- inability to land an argument against a weak
tiatives that combine policy reforms with broader societal opponent was dispiriting.”
change.”
Against this backdrop, the Centre for Social Justice Editorial on President Biden's performance in the
and Equity, funded by the Tamil Nadu government and first presidential debate with Donald Trump (The
Economist, July 4)
based at the Madras School of Social Work, is develop-
ing a curriculum aimed at the eradication of caste, which
will be presented to the state government “soon”. “From “In the 2024 summer triumph, all that
an academic or research standpoint, we refer to such in- Labour leader Keir Starmer has had to do is
cidents as afflicted polarisation. To address this, there’s be banal, avoid the curse of a self-goal, and
need for a combination of policy changes including cur- accuse Sunak of being out of touch, which
riculum reforms. Within schools, there’s need to engage has the merit of being true. Rishi Sunak is
students by promoting sports and recreational clubs open
to all children. Additionally, we will advocate specialised out of line, out of reach, out of depth, out of
training for educational administrators on best practices ideas, and by the end of this week will be out
to manage caste issues sensitively at the school level, in- of time.”
cluding proper reporting and inquiry processes,” says Dr. M.J. Akbar, author-columnist, on the British elections
Pavanandhi Vembulu, Director of the Centre for Social in which Rishi Sunak-led Conservatives lost (Open,
Justice and Equity. July 5)
Shivani Chaturvedi (Chennai)

JULY 2024 EDUCATIONWORLD 29