Page 24 - EW March 2025

Education News

And BJP leader of the opposition in the state’s legisla- THEY SAID IT
tive assembly Suvendu Adhikari demanded documents
detailing actual investments that had flowed into the “I urge parents not to compare their chil-
state from seven previous business summits and resul- dren with those of others and not to treat
tant employment generation.
Rising to the occasion, feisty chief minister Baner- their children like podiums on stages. We
jee responded that since the BGBS held on January have also seen that those parents who have
7-8, 2015, investment valued at Rs.19.5 lakh crore has not been very successful in their lives have
been made in West Bengal. Moreover, while present- nothing to say or want to tell the world about
ing the state’s Rs.3.4 lakh crore budget on February 12, their successes and achievements, make
finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said nearly the report card of their children their visiting
20 million jobs have been created in industry and other card. Whenever they meet someone, they
sectors, bringing down the state’s unemployment by will tell them the story of their children...”
40 percent as a result of which unemployment in West Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, addressing students
Bengal is 4.14 percent against the national 7.93 percent. and parents at the seventh edition of Pariksha Pe
While these figures are impressive, academics in Charcha (January 31)
the state are less than impressed. They cite a January 7
Union education ministry report that says the percent-
age of dropouts from West Bengal’s secondary schools “Curiously the UGC seems to have nothing to
in 2023-24 was 18.75, the highest nationwide. Also, say on the quality of education in universi-
against last year’s 7.9 lakh candidates who wrote the ties. Instead, it deploys all its resources and
class XII board exams, only 5.09 lakh candidates wrote energies to procedural matters that are best
the exam this year. left to the educational institutions them-
oreover, according to ASER 2024 report only selves.”
M53.9 percent of Bengal’s class V children can read Pulapre Balakrishnan, honorary visiting professor, Cen-
class II level textbooks, and only 34.3 percent of class tre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, in
V children can do simple division sums. This means 66 an essay titled ‘The UGC’s mandate is to elevate, not
percent of children in class V have been over-promoted. strangulate’ (The Hindu, February 25)
Shockingly, almost 30 percent of children in class VIII
— one year before they enter high school — can’t read “Considering the current social and
class II textbooks and 66 percent can’t manage simple economic conditions, the country requires a
division sums. system where anyone from any region can
Dismal learning outcomes despite a massive surge find employment. This necessity, keeping
in the school education budget — from Rs.975 crore in mind the social, cultural and economic
in 2010-11 to Rs.41,153 crore in 2025-26 — is being
interpreted as rampant mismanagement and misuse of needs, has been emphasized by experts and
budgeted education expenditure. West Bengal’s deplor- they suggest that the trilingual formula for
able public schools plagued by poor infrastructure, lack education is a useful system.”
of qualified teachers, and inadequate facilities, are a Dharmendra Pradhan, Union education minister,
critical bottleneck for the state’s overall growth. endorsing the NEP 2020's three-language formula
“A weak foundation in primary and secondary educa- (The Indian Express, March 4)
tion results in an unskilled workforce, limiting the ben-
efits of higher education advancement and industrial “If Indian women were freed from the burden
expansion. Without strong schooling, many students, of preparing elaborate meals (with some
particularly in remote areas, are unable to acquire additional help from other family members),
necessary skills for employment, leading to persistent think of the labour, talent and skills that
unemployment and underemployment. This education- could be redirected into the economy? How
al disparity has widened socio-economic inequalities in much could that alone contribute to our
the state and hampered long-term economic progress. GDP? Instead of whipping up daily feasts,
The TMC-led state government has failed to strengthen
West Bengal’s public school system. Therefore, much of they might work harder at their jobs, start
the investment promised in the recent business summit businesses or develop new skills.”
won’t materialise,” predicts Swapan Mandal, General Chetan Bhagat, well-known author, in an essay 'MUGS
Secretary, Bengal Teachers and Employees Association. and Mrs: Phulka patriarchy comes at a cost' (Times
Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata) of India, March 9)

24 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2025