Page 22 - EW July 2021 final

Education News

fees payable by students is vested in every school’s THEY SAID IT IN JUNE
“management alone” and that the government had no
right to vary the terms of contracts voluntarily conclud- “Central Government is beginning the ‘Free
ed between parents and school managements. Vaccination For All campaign’ for every Indian
Against the backdrop of learned judges of the Su-
preme and high courts countrywide, hitherto overly from today. The biggest beneficiary of this
influenced by apex court judgements deploring “com- phase of India’s vaccination drive shall be the
mercialisation of education” of the past becoming poor, the middle class and youth of the coun-
belatedly aware of the importance of private and budget try. All of us should pledge to get ourselves
private schools which educate 119 million children vaccinated.”
countrywide as also of the sanctity of contracts, the PM Narendra Modi’s address to nation (June 21)
Karnataka government should perhaps focus on raising
teaching-learning standards in its woefully rundown “For all its social and economic progress in
government schools, instead of pandering to its middle recent decades, in political terms the South
class constituency to reduce the state’s 21,000 private continues to count for far too little in the life of
unaided schools — many of them globally respected —
to government school level. the Republic. And it may soon count for even
Reshma Ravishanker (Bengaluru) less. On the anvil is a proposal to re-allocate
Lok Sabha seats afresh on the basis of popu-
WEST BENGAL lation...”
Teachers recruitment priority Historian Ramachandra Guha in an essay ‘South India
counts for too little in national politics – and may
diminish further’ (Scroll, June 20)
vidently chief minister mamata banerjee, fresh from
her resounding third time sweep of the West Bengal “No other dictatorship has been able to
Estate legislative elections, is convinced that her ini- transform itself from a famine-racked di-
tiatives to reform the state’s moribund education system saster, as China was under Mao Zedong, into
and raise teaching-learning standards in 92,000 govern- the world’s second-largest economy, whose
ment primary-secondary schools, played a major role in cutting-edge technology and infrastructure
her famous electoral victory in the assembly elections that puts America’s creaking roads and railways to
concluded on May 2. By any yardstick, her Trinamool
Congress Party’s tally of 213 of 294 seats in the legislative shame. China’s Communists are the world’s
assembly is impressive given that she successfully defied most successful authoritarians.”
two-term anti-incumbency, and was confronted with a The Economist on the centenary of the Communist
formidable challenge mounted by the Bharatiya Janata Party of China (June 26)
Party, which rules at the Centre. Therefore, right after
convening the first cabinet meeting, she announced the “Caution is always in order while extolling
government’s intent to set up English-medium schools in the creation of a new advisory body such as
all of the state’s 341 administrative blocks. this. Its success or failure will depend on the
Moreover on June 21, she receptivity of the government it advises.”
announced that her govern-
ment will be recruiting 32,000 Vivek Dehejia, professor, Carleton University, Canada
on the DMK government of Tamil Nadu appointing an
teachers for government pri- Economic Advisory Council (Mint, June 28)
maries by March next year.
“The appointment process to
fill up at least 14,000 vacan- “Job creation is the single biggest challenge
cies in the upper primary level for India. To ensure that we need more people
(classes V-VIII) and 10,500 in from job-creating sectors to work with the
the primary level (classes I-IV) government, either as full-time ministers or
will be completed before Dur- as advisers interacting with ministers and
ga Puja in October. Moreover, the PM regularly... and suggesting steps that
Mamata Banerjee 7,500 more posts for primary
teachers will be filled up by need to be taken.”
March 2022. All appointments will be made on the basis TV Mohandas Pai, director, Manipal Universal Learning
of merit lists and no lobbying will be required,” Banerjee (news18.com, July 5)

22 EDUCATIONWORLD JULY 2021