Page 12 - EducationWorld March 2023

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and incentive for Indian colleges and supply of high-quality, well-trained
universities to improve the quality of teachers and education leaders ready
education they dispense. and willing to keep abreast of latest
I agree with Mohandas Pai that curriculums and pedagogies. That’s
this is a turning point for Indian CENTA’s contribution.
higher education. Now world-class Venkatesh B.
education will be delivered to CHENNAI
students at their doorstep, saving bil-
lions in foreign exchange outflow.
But foreign universities should Careful design needed
heed his advice to devise scholar- I FULLY ENDORSE the views of
ship schemes for deserving Indian Prof. Rajesh Khanna in ‘Pandemic
students who may not be able to learning loss: myths and realities’
afford their high fees. Perhaps the (EW February). As a teacher from a
government should make this a pre- tier II city, I have witnessed that all
condition of licensing them to set up children suffered learning loss dur-
FEBRUARY 2023 campuses on Indian soil. ing the Covid pandemic lockdown —
S.K. Chandrashekar but not equally.
MYSURU For instance, my students who
Welcome guidelines switched to online learning under
CONGRATULATIONS FOR a bril- supervision of parents and family
liant cover story ‘1991 liberalisation Unprecedented exposé elders, have suffered less learning
moment in Indian education?’ and YOUR WELL-RESEARCHED special loss than those living on the outskirts
informative graphics on the recent report feature ‘India’s snowballing with limited access to the internet
big deals in K-12 education and for- SEL skills deficit’ (EW February) is and family support.
eign education majors in India (EW an unprecedented exposé of the fail- This is why remedial programmes
February). ure of India’s government and best should be carefully designed bearing
Strong winds of change are indeed private schools to develop children’s in mind the differences in extent of
sweeping over Indian education. social and emotional learning (SEL) learning loss in local communities.
Samuel Fraser of ISC Research is skills. Vishnu Manohar
right in his comment that “NEP I was shocked to read the find- NAGPUR
2020 is directing education in India ings of the Cognitive & Affective
towards key principles and strategies Skills (CASS) Study 2022, especially
associated with internationally ac- that almost 70 percent of students Time to move on!
cepted teaching-learning norms”. in private schools report peer and THE ESSAY ‘Pandemic learning loss:
The recent UGC guideline outlin- teacher abuse. Although one often myths and realities’ by Prof. Rajesh
ing terms and conditions for foreign hears of cases of students exhibit- Khanna, president, NIIT University
universities to establish campuses ing aggressive behaviour in private was excellent (EW February). There’s
in India was overdue. I hope that schools, most of us don’t connect no denying that widespread learning
they will spring up soon. They will this with the neglect of SEL by school loss is a reality after the prolonged
be a great boon for students and the managements. Your detailed report lockdown of schools during the Co-
education ecosystem. is an eye opener and must be read by vid pandemic.
Anil Varma all teachers and parents. But during the past year, most
MUMBAI Charu Srivastava school managements have worked
DELHI hard to provide students reme-
dial programmes, bridge courses,
Devise scholarship schemes and special classes. Schools have
YOUR COVER STORY (EW Febru- Great contribution returned to normalcy. It’s time to
ary) titled ‘1991 inflection point for THANKS FOR publishing the list of move on.
Indian education’ is thought pro- CENTA TPO 2021 winners (EW Feb- Farha Sultana
voking. The green signal to foreign ruary). CENTA has done great ser- HYDERABAD
universities to set up campuses in vice to Indian education by assessing
India will certainly prove a game and certifying teachers and princi- Please email letters to editorial@
changer for Indian higher education. pals — the backbone of our schools. educationworld.in
They will provide stiff competition Indian education needs a continuous

14 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2023