Page 24 - EducationWorld August 2022

Education News

cause unless there is a sharp improvement of learning THEY SAID IT
outcomes — the prerequisite of industry, agriculture and
government productivity — in India’s most populous “ e BJP is a well-organised electoral
state, the country’s transformation into a global super- juggernaut, it is ruthless in using state power
power will remain a pipedream. to intimidate opponents... But a formidable
Nishant Saxena (Lucknow) opponent and repression often galvanize

WEST BENGAL an Opposition, not make them comatose.
But the Opposition is not held back by the
Shame & scandal power of the BJP. Its besetting sin is its own
excruciating littleness."
EST BENGAL’S STOP-GO GOVERNMENT SCHOOL Pratap Bhanu Mehta, public intellectual, on raids by the
teacher recruitment process stretching back Enforcement Directorate on opposition party leaders
Wto 2015 ,which has been subject to con- (Indian Express, July 23)
tinuous street demonstrations, court injunctions and
sporadic appointments — as regularly reported by your “Be it technical education, medical education
correspondent — came to a head on July 22-23 when or law education, when we do not teach all
the Enforcement Directorate, a financial frauds investi- these in Indian languages, then we limit the
gation unit of the BJP-controlled Central government, capabilities and potential of our country. But
raided the residences of art ha Chat t e rje e and his when teaching all this in Indian languages,
P
close aide cinema actress rp it a Mu k he rje e and we will be able to utilise the 100% potential of
A
discovered a cash mountain of Rs.21 crore. Subsequent
raids on 15 properties including three houses owned the country.”
by Chatterjee and four upscale apartments owned by Union home minister Amit Shah on second anniversary
Mukherjee unearthed another Rs.50 crore in cash and of the National Education Policy 2020 (Hindustan
Times, July 30)
title deeds of 12 properties.
A heavyweight of the ruling Trinamool Congress
(TMC) government and close confidant of three-term “Too many kids fight for too few seats in
chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Partha Chatterjee was hallowed academic institutions. ey are
industries minister of the forced to sacrifice everything that gives
TMC government which them some pleasure and fun in life to mug up
trounced the BJP in the answers to questions that they would most
state legislative election of probably never encounter in their life after
2020. More significantly, the examinations.”
Chatterjee (now suspend-
ed from party member- Anand Neelakantan, author of Bahubali trilogy, on the
rising incidence of suicide among students (The New
ship) was West Bengal’s Indian Express, July 31)
education minister for
seven years (2014-21)
when 50,000 primary “Indian industry has to become more
teachers — from 2.8 mil- competitive and productive. In 2021 the
lion applicants who wrote Partha Chatterjee estimated output per worker was worth only
the TET (teacher eligibility $6,413 as compared to China's $16,697.”
test) in 2015 and 2016 — were belatedly recruited and Aroon Purie, editor-in-chief, on the sinking rupee and
appointed in government schools earlier this year. its fallout (India Today, August 1)
Teaching jobs in government schools (and higher ed-
ucation institutions) which are high wage islands paying “India is open to capital for education from
salaries benchmarked with pay scales decreed by Pay everywhere. We must ensure that market
Commissions appointed by the Central government to forces don't overpower institutions and there
ring-fence government employees against inflation, are
highly prized countrywide as they offer life-long security is no commercialisation. Anyone is welcome
with minimal accountability, relatively high salaries to our system with one expectation — it
(compared to private schools), healthcare coverage and should not be exploited.”
three vacations per year. Government school jobs are Dharmendra Pradhan, Union education minister (The
especially prized in West Bengal (pop.91 million) which Economic Times, August 3)

24 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2022