Page 4 - EW August 2021

From the
Editor

THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT MAGAZINE

Volume X XII No.8

BOARD OF ADVISORS B y any yardstick the novel Coronavirus, which originated in
N.R. Narayana Murthy, H.V. Gowthama, Shukla
Bose, Dr. Glenn Christo, Dr. R. Natarajan Wuhan China in late 2019, and has infected over 200 million
(Bangalore); Adi Godrej, Dr. Augustine Pinto, individuals worldwide and inflicted 4.2 million fatalities —
Krishan Khanna, Guilherme Vaz, Ketan Gala, including 31 million and 427,000 in India, i.e, Bharat — has
Kirit Mehta, Balkishan Sharma (Mumbai); Dr.
Ramdas Pai (Manipal); Dr. Geeta Kingdon taken a grim toll of lives and livelihoods. The evidence that it
(Lucknow); Rajiv Desai, Dr. Parth Shah, Jeroninio has severely damaged the Indian economy which was already losing momen-
Almeida, Premchand Palety (Delhi); Dr. Kannan
Gireesh (Chennai); Robindra Subba (Kurseong); tum prior to December 2019, is accumulating and fast becoming overwhelm-
Sanjeev Bolia (Kolkata); Dr. Achyuta Samanta ing. It’s now official that the economy (GDP) contracted by 8 percent in the
(Bhubaneswar); Shyama Thakore (London)
fiscal year ended March 31, 2021. Since then it is limping back to normal and
EDITOR is forecast to grow by 9-10 percent this year on a lower base. This means GDP
Dilip Thakore in 2021-22 will be on a par with 2019-20.
MANAGING EDITOR In particular the future looks grim for the world’s largest child and youth
Summiya Yasmeen population struggling to realise its potential in a backward society, ignorant of
CHIEF SUB-EDITOR the critical importance of human capital development.
Sundar Anand The fact that schools, colleges and universities in India have been shuttered
Paromita Sengupta, Reshma Ravishanker, Gopi for almost 60 weeks — the longest education freeze of any country worldwide
Chand N, (Bangalore), Autar Nehru (Delhi) — is proof enough of the low importance accorded to education, i.e, human
9868256512, Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)
9836491981, Shivani Chaturvedi (Chennai) capital development, by the Central and state governments and society in
9500506102, Dipta Joshi (Mumbai) 9920243111 general. Admittedly, in the interests of child safety, caution should be the
CHIEF EXECUTIVE watchword on the issue of reopening schools and education institutions. But
Bhavin Shah +91 9867382867 caution has to be balanced against the hugely damaging consequences of
MARKETING children’s loss of learning and in the long run, of respectable livelihoods and
West: Tejas Pattni (General Manager) 9022487997 national productivity. Especially since available medical evidence indicates
E-mail: marketing@educationworld.in that children are less vulnerable to the dread virus than adults.
South India: S. Vijaya Lakshmi 98456 80696
Poonam Shah 9731966373 That’s why schools were quickly reopened in most countries after initial
North: Hannan Ahmed 9810302768 panic. Last month EducationWorld presented an unprecedented media
GRAPHICS report on this issue titled ‘Why Schools Should Reopen Right Now’ (EW July).
Suresh K. Nevertheless despite the Centre having belatedly devolved this decision upon
SUBSCRIPTIONS state governments, dithering on this issue continues. Apart from Punjab no
Kiran Kumar: 9108225694/ state government has decreed reopening of school campuses.
080 43711141 Meanwhile as government vacillates, institutional leaders have been left to
sub@educationworld.in
their own devices to devise ways and means to maintain learning continuity
ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION: RS.1700 of students. A minority of the most dynamic and innovative have successfully
OVERSEAS SUBSCRIPTION: USD95
Cheques/drafts in favour of DT Media & switched to new digital technologies to provide online classes and learning.
Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore But there are many shades and permutations and combinations of online
EDITORIAL education. In this Independence Day issue we present a selection of institu-
C3-36, 3rd Floor, Devatha Plaza tional leaders — eduleaders — who have formulated creative responses to the
131 Residency Road, Bangalore 560 025. Covid-19 tsunami to sustain continuous learning for children under their care.
Tel: 080 22480880; Fax: 2227 5962; Your editors wish readers a happy Independence Day with a call to all
E-mail: editorial@educationworld.in
stakeholders in education to put their shoulders to the wheel to aid and enable
Printed and published by Dilip Thakore on behalf
of DT Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. the faltering national development effort. Meanwhile advice to the Central
Printed at Rajhans Enterprises, 134, 4th Main, In- and state governments: Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
dustrial Town, Rajajinagar, Bangalore-44. Published
at C3-36, 3rd Floor, Devatha Plaza, 131 Residency
Road. Bangalore 560 025.
Editor Dilip Thakore.
RNI No. KARENG/1999/00234
Website: www.educationworld.in

4 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2021