Page 74 - EW-June-2025

Postscript

Why Irani lost athletes — Gulveer Singh (10,000 & 5,000 metres run),
Avinash Sable (3,000m steeple chase); Jyothi Yarraji
HE SHARP REDUCTION OF BJP SEATS IN THE (100m women’s hurdles); Parul Chaudhury (3,000m
Lok Sabha in General Election 2024 aside, argu- women’s steeplechase) Nandini Agasara (women’s
Tably the most dramatic result of that election was heptathlon) and Pooja Singh (women’s high jump) are
the shock defeat of Smriti Irani, incumbent BJP candi- especially praiseworthy as they bested competitors from
date from Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. Contesting in General China, Japan and South Korea who bag way more medals
Election 2019 from this constituency — the safe pocket than India in the Olympics. Ditto several of India’s bad-
borough of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty for over half a minton stars. They deserve greater prize money, sponsor-
century — Irani trounced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ship and rewards currently flowing into cricket, a game
by a record margin of 55,000 votes, and was promptly seriously played in less than ten countries.
appointed Union minister. Corporate leaders and marketing wizards pouring
Therefore, it’s a matter of considerable speculation millions by way of sponsorships and advertising into
how and why this giant slayer of 2019, when she re- cricket where their brand is one of a crowd, would be
contested from Amethi five years later in General Election well-advised to invest in sponsorship and training of the
2024, was thrashed by a record 167,196 votes by Kishori country’s newly emerged athletics champions to get more
Lal Sharma, a modest servitor of the Gandhi dynasty. bang for their buck.
This conundrum was resolved and all became clear in
end-April when Irani accepted an invitation of the O.P.
Jindal Global University to address students and faculty. Belated critique
Instead of attempting to win friends and influence people,
ab initio Irani adopted the style and tone of a stern OMETHING NOT RIGHT WITH INDIA’S intel-
headmistress talking down to the audience. In the hour lectuals, especially dons, deans and faculty of the
she spent onstage interacting with earnest JGU students Scountry’s 1,168 universities. Almost all of them have
— even your ‘umble editor was slapped down for “hiding lavished praise on the National Education Policy (NEP)
behind students” — Irani provided an object lesson on 2020 without meaningfully debating this important 66-
how to lose friends and dis-influence people. page document.
Such hauteur despite her not holding any government EducationWorld raised some red flags by highlighting
office following her election rout. Obviously, that’s how a contradiction in the policy which decrees establishment
she lost friends and dis-influenced the Amethi electorate. of almost a dozen government regulatory committees
Now she’s a BJP loose cannon wandering the wilderness (SRA, SSRA, HECI, NHERC, NAC, HEG, GEC among
without power, but still a lot of attitude. others) to supervise the education sector. Simultaneously,
NEP 2020 recommends that all higher ed institutions (in-
cluding 47,000 undergrad colleges) should progressively
Unsung new sportstars transform into autonomous degree-awarding universities.
This contradiction hasn’t evoked a squeak of comment
N 2007 WHEN EDUCATIONWORLD INTRODUCED from the academy.
India’s first ever school rankings league tables, sports Somewhat belatedly, a forthright essay penned by
Ieducation was accorded equal weightage with almost all two eminent Bangalore-based academics — Dr. Gautam
14 parameters of primary-secondary education excellence. Desiraju, Professor Emeritus at the Indian Institute of
This message has been absorbed by educationists and Science, and Prof. Mirle Surappa, Senior Scientist at the
school managements and leaders, especially of India’s National Institute of Advanced Studies — surfaced in The
5,000 (out of 1.5 million) most well-reputed schools rated Hindu (May 14). In the essay titled ‘In India, Education
and ranked in the EducationWorld India School Rankings. without Employment’, the learned professors dispute the
The outcome of greater attention to physical fitness government claim — dutifully echoed by the academy —
and formal field games has paid off for India, hitherto a that NEP 2020 “will enable an educational renaissance”.
perpetual laggard in international athletics and sports On the contrary, they highlight graduate
arenas. But while test, one-day and T-20 cricket matches unemployability (42.6 percent) four years after
grab all media headlines, it’s also noteworthy that new promulgation of the “outdated and financially unviable”
Indian sportstars — hitherto dismissed as debilitated NEP 2020. They also belittle official claims about the
vegetarians — are winning gold medals in more physically progress of Indian universities in the QS and THE league
strenuous and demanding track and field sports. Right tables; enquire about the fate of vanished mega research
now several Indian track stars are setting new records in projects (CSIR-NMITLI, $10 Akash tablet, IMPRINT);
the 86th Asian Athletics Championships being staged in highlight India’s low rank in the Global Innovation Index,
Gumi, South Korea, but getting minimal coverage in the overblown start-ups and lament obsolescence of the
media where all eyes are on the Indian Premier League University Grants Commission.
2025 cricket tournament. Unsurprisingly, academia and media response is
However, the performance of our track and field stars deafening silence. But Dear Professors, dailies have a
in the Asian Athletics Championships marks a great leap shelf life of five minutes. If you venture out of your ivory
forward for Indian track and field sports. Because India’s towers and improve your market intelligence, you might
tally of 24 medals (8 gold, 10 silver and 6 bronze) is its discover that the education-focused EducationWorld with
highest ever in the championships, the first of which was a shelf life of 30 days, and archival value, offers a better
staged in 1973. The top podium finishes of India’s best forum.

74 EDUCATIONWORLD JUNE 2025