Page 12 - EW January 2025

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Also, their suggestion to con- empower the teachers’ community.
solidate 1.3 lakh ‘tiny’ schools with With routine admin tasks taken care
less than 20 students needs urgent of by digital devices and AI, teachers
consideration. Such consolidation will have more time to self-learn and
would result in huge savings in terms nurture children.
of new teacher salaries, which can Mathew Phillip
instead be used to improve infra- HYDERABAD
structure facilities and invest in pro-
fessional development programmes
for teachers. Alarming trend
Nandini Iyer YOUR SPECIAL Essay ‘Health edu-
BENGALURU cation should be a separate school
subject’ (EW December) makes a
good case for the inclusion of health
Extraordinary achiever education in K-12 curriculums.
DESPITE ALL odds, young achiever Physical and mental well-being of
DECEMBER 2024 Sayani Das’ commitment (EW De- children is the prerequisite of success
cember) to excel internationally in in academics and all other fields. In
long-distance swimming is extraordi- particular, mental health is a subject
Preschool rankings praise nary. Unlike cricket or badminton or that India has pushed under the
I AM A committed reader of Educa- even chess, long-distance swimming carpet for several decades. The rise
tionWorld. Thanks for publishing the is given little social encouragement in the number of suicides, especially
well-researched preschool rankings or media coverage. among students of premier higher ed
survey of 19 cities (EW December). I want to thank EW for beaming a institutions, shows that children and
The inclusion of Indore and Vadoda- spotlight on the remarkable achieve- youth are unable to cope with rising
ra this year is most welcome. I hope ments of this dedicated sportsper- academic stress, parental and peer
to see more cities included next year. son. It’s tragic that Sayani has to pressure. This is an alarming trend
In most cities, I noticed several fund her training and travel costs we cannot ignore
new preschools being ranked in the through crowdfunding. I request the Deeksha Jain
league tables. This shows that after state government of West Bengal DELHI
being ignored for decades, demand to step forward to fund her Ocean
for early childhood education is Seven global challenge.
rising steadily. The rankings offer Sumona Chakraborty New emerging coalition
valuable information to parents KOLKATA THE NEWS despatch from West
seeking admission of their children Bengal ‘Emerging reforms consen-
into preschools which are evaluated sus’ (EW November) is interesting.
on ten parameters of early childhood Vote for blended learning Just like the emergence of the Aam
education excellence. Great work! YOUR TEACHER-2-TEACHER essay Aadmi Party from a movement
Dileep S. ‘Blended learning to shape future- against corruption and apathetic
INDORE ready children’ (EW December) was governance, there’s a good chance
insightful. Author A.K. Srikanth em- of consolidation of a grand coalition
phasises that to create independent of students, professionals and the
Eye-popping revelation thinkers, comprehensive education common man into a political party
THE EXPERT Comment essay ‘K-12 that enables emotional, social and dedicated to cleaning up corrupt
teacher shortage myth’ (EW Decem- intellectual development together party-based politics in Bengal.
ber) was a real eye-opener. Authors with advanced technology-driven The fact that anti-government
Sandip Datta and Geeta Kingdon teaching-learning is necessary. protesters have stood strong for 71
have done a great job of busting the Although the traditional vs. con- days and counting, reflects their
myth of teacher shortages in govern- temporary pedagogies debate rages conviction to set things rolling in the
ment schools. I agree with their on, I am aligned with the author’s right direction. Although it is sad
contention that through efficient views that a balanced approach is that we needed the RG Kar murder
deployment of students and teach- needed to create opportunities for case to awaken the system, there’s a
ers, the RTE Act’s mandated 1:30 students to build essential life skills good chance it will force some action.
teacher-pupil ratio can be achieved and prepare for the complexities of Abhishek Dutta
easily. the future. Blended learning will also MUMBAI

12 EDUCATIONWORLD JANUARY 2025