Page 12 - EW March 2025

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Pride & gratitude EW India Preschool Awards cer-
WE ARE truly honoured and grateful emony held special significance as it
to your sample respondents for rank- was a moment of professional pride.
ing Vidyasagar Preschool, Hebbal I am grateful for this honor and for
#3 among proprietary preschools in the unwavering efforts of Education-
Bengaluru. Also to EW’s Grand Jury World in recognising and uplifting
for ranking us #4 nationally and #1 the preschool education sector.
in Karnataka and Bengaluru under Poonam Shah Srinath
the category of Social and Emotional Founder, Teeny Boppers Play-
Learning. These awards have made school & Kindergarten
our entire Sagar community proud. VISAKHAPATNAM
Moreover thanks for organising
the excellent EW India Preschool
Rankings Awards ceremony in Hy- Shocking revelation
derabad, as also the educators visit YOUR EDUCATION News from
to Chowmahalla Palace and Charmi- Karnataka ‘Slipping advantage’ (EW
FEBRUARY 2025 nar — such a wonderful experience! February) was a shocking revelation.
Shashikala C Rananavare It is hard to digest that learn-
Principal, Vidyasagar Preschool, ing outcomes of children in the IT
Excellent summary Hebbal, BENGALURU capital, according to the latest ASER
YOUR COVER story ‘UDISE+ 2023- report, are worse than of children in
24: Dire Condition of World’s Larg- BIMARU states.
est Child Population’ (EW February) Disappointing & vengeful Time to pull up our socks!
is a comprehensive even if poignant YOUR EDUCATION News from Reema Mathur
analysis of the dismal state of India’s New Delhi (EW February) was a BENGALURU
K-12 education system. The author disappointment to say the least.
adeptly interprets the extensive data Firstly, the respectable UGC chair-
presented in the UDISE+ Report man’s name is mis-spelt as Madadala High price of science neglect
2023-24, shedding light on the prog- Jagadish Kumar instead of Prof. I FULLY agree with the views ex-
ress made and the challenges that Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar. Sec- pressed in your Expert Comment col-
persist in Indian education. ondly, the tone in the first half of the umn ‘Developing national scientific
While lauding improvements article against Prof. Jagadesh Kumar temper’ (EW February). Prof. Somak
in school infrastructure, the story and prime minister Narendra Modi Raychaudhury rightly recommends
rightly flags poor student retention is vengeful and has little to do with the urgent need for educators in
rates in secondary education. Thanks the new UGC draft regulations. India to introduce scientific pedago-
for this excellent summary of the Looking forward to more focused gies in classrooms to stimulate young
UDISE+ report which is an invalu- and unbiased writing. minds to question, explore and ex-
able resource for educators, policy- Kailash Kulkarni periment. It’s of utmost importance
makers, and stakeholders invested in MUMBAI to involve students in science in their
the future of India. formative years through experien-
Heena Munjal tial learning. At the same time, the
KOTTAYAM ECE impact recognition larger community also needs to be
CONGRATULATIONS ON complet- exposed to modern scientific think-
ing 25 years of EducationWorld! ing through social media, citizen
Words of appreciation Wishing the entire team many more science projects and other outreach
THANK YOU for the February issue milestones and celebrations ahead. programmes.
of EducationWorld. The content as I want to take this opportunity to As the author highlights, we
always is insightful and inspiring. It express my heartfelt gratitude to the are paying a high price for post-
beautifully reflects the passion and entire EW team for your efforts in independence education policies,
dedication which goes into creating bringing preschool stakeholders to- limiting research and development
such a well-curated publication. gether to celebrate our presence and to a few elite institutions and forcing
Dr. Shayama Chona on email impact in early childhood education. textbook-based pedagogies on chil-
— (Padma Shri Dr. Chona is the I especially thank EW for recog- dren and youth.
widely celebrated former principal of nising Teeny Boppers among the Top S. Sengupta
DPS, R.K. Puram, Delhi) 10 preschools in the country. The BENGALURU

12 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2025