Page 58 - EW November 2024

Cover Story

decency and morality. Dharmendra Pradhan’s second innings. On June 13 Dhar-
Consequent to this formal UGC notification, Deakin mendra Pradhan was re-appointed education minister for
University, Australia became the first foreign university a second term after the NDA coalition led by the BJP won
to establish a campus in the Gujarat International Finance a majority in General Election 2024. However within two
Tec-City (GIFT City), near Ahmedabad. weeks of his being re-appointed as education minister in
EW comment. In a detailed Special Report ‘Half-hearted the Modi 3.0 government, Pradhan has become embroiled
invitation to foreign universities’ (EW January 2024), your neck deep in the NEET-UG ex-
editors commented that “bristling with a gamut of discre- ams scandal which jeopardised
tionary rules, regulations and conditions, the UGC Regula- the future of 2.4 million school-
tions are unlikely to enthuse top-ranked foreign universities leavers who wrote the exam.
to establish owned campuses in India”. EW comment. In a detailed cover
“Even modest success of this foreign universities’ initia- story titled ‘Dharmendra Prad-
tive requires UGC to loosen its regulatory grip and create han’s second innings priorities’
inviting ground conditions to attract the world’s best for- (EW July), EW highlighted that
eign universities. For foreign, especially Anglosphere uni- though under Pradhan’s leader-
versities, institutional autonomy is a live and serious issue. ship the ministry has fast-tracked
India’s ubiquitous educracy needs to learn to respect this “some important recommenda-
concept,” wrote your editors. tions” of the revolutionary NEP
2020, progress of implementation has been slow and con-
NEET exam scam. Results of NEET-UG strained by inadequate budgetary outlays. “In his second
(National Eligibility-cum-Entrance- innings which has got off to a shaky start, Pradhan needs
Test-Undergraduate) 2024 — a central- to speak up forcefully in Union cabinet meetings for greater
ised national exam for aspirant medical expenditure allocation for education which has to rise to 6
practitioners introduced in 2016 — were percent of GDP as recommended by the Kothari Commis-
announced on June 4. Immediately sion way back in 1967 and promised in every BJP election
thereafter, reports and evidence emerged of widespread manifesto,” wrote your editors.
exam malpractice including bribery of officials conducting Moreover your editors lamented that although “Educa-
and supervising this centralised exam written by 2.4 mil- tionWorld has published three lead stories featuring him
lion school-leavers aspiring for admission into medical col- on the cover, he has stubbornly refused to respond to im-
leges countrywide. Following extensive public protests over portant questions demanding accountability for progress
NEET exam paper leaks, unprecedented grades inflation, of policy initiatives and directives emanating from Shastri
and bribery, the NDA/BJP government constituted a high- Bhavan, Delhi.” We advised him to shed this “communica-
level seven-member committee under the chairmanship of tion deficit” and invited “his cooperation in our common
Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, former chairman, ISRO, to “quickly cause to provide high quality pre-school to Ph D education
establish a robust tamper-proof exam system”. to the world’s largest child and youth population, to enable
EW comment. In an in-depth Special Report titled ‘Rec- India to attain a place of honour and respect in the comity
tifying NTA exams disaster,’ EW reported on widespread of nations in the 21st century”.
cheating, favouritism and swindles in NEET-UG 2024 and End Note. The abridged history of Indian education recited
suggested ways and means to fix this mess. “The scale and above features the major milestones of the quarter century
impact of the NEET-UG 2024 con- past as documented — and perhaps
tretemps has again highlighted the It’s important to note that during influenced — by EducationWorld.
sustained neglect of education and this epochal period, your editors It’s important to note that during
human resource development by this epochal period, your editors
successive administrations and the have uninterruptedly published 289 have uninterruptedly published
establishment. The NEET-UG scan- editions of this sui generis news 289 editions of this sui generis
dal is the inevitable outcome of this publication news publication which translates
national blindspot. It has shaken the into 17.34 million printed and cu-
faith and trust of students, parents rated words. On the occasion of our
and teachers communities in the country’s education sys- 25th anniversary, we once again call upon all right-thinking
tem which has a long history of public exam malpractices citizens in pre-primary to Ph D education, politics, bu-
because of capacity shortage across the spectrum. Restor- reacracy, business and industry to enable our mission to
ing this massive loss of faith requires more than band-aid “make education and human resource development the #1
solutions from the BJP-led NDA 3.0 government which has item on the national agenda.” Sine qua non.
begun its new shaky innings on the backfoot,” wrote your
editors. See www.educationworld.in Archives

58 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2024