Page 4 - EducationWorld October 2020

From the
Editor
THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT MAGAZINE

Volume X XI No.10

BOARD OF ADVISORS I t’s the most unkindest cut of all. In the prime minister’s May 12
N.R. Narayana Murthy, H.V. Gowthama, Shukla
Bose, Dr. Glenn Christo, Dr. R. Natarajan, Anand Rs.20.97 lakh crore pandemic aid package for small-scale industry,
Sudarshan (Bangalore); Dr. F.C. Kohli, Mala agriculture, public health and free foodgrain for migrant workers that
Ramadorai, Adi Godrej, Dr. Augustine Pinto,
Krishan Khanna, Guilherme Vaz, Ketan Gala, stimulated 48-point headlines in the media, there was no provision
Kirit Mehta (Mumbai); Dr. Ramdas Pai (Manipal); for the country’s collapsing education system with 300 million chil-
Dr. Geeta Kingdon (Lucknow); Rajiv Desai, Dr. dren and youth on their muster rolls. This despite the demographic reality that
Parth Shah, Jeroninio Almeida, Premchand Palety
(Delhi); Robindra Subba (Kurseong); Sanjeev Bolia 21st century India grudgingly hosts the world’s largest cohort of young citizens
(Kolkata); Dr. Achyuta Samanta (Bhubaneswar); in the 0-21 age group.
Shyama Thakore (London)
Given the massive size of contemporary India’s child and youth popula-
EDITOR tion, it’s unsurprising that there are 1.4 million anganwadis (government-run
Dilip Thakore early childhood nutrition and pre-primary education centres), 60,000 private
MANAGING EDITOR preschools, 1.2 million government and 450,000 private K-12 schools, 52,000
Summiya Yasmeen undergrad colleges and 1,000 universities across the country. All of them have
CHIEF SUB-EDITOR been shuttered since mid-March following outbreak of the devastating Coro-
Sundar Anand navirus pandemic which has infected 7.1 million and killed 109,000 citizens
Paromita Sengupta, Jeswant J.M, Gopi Chand N, countrywide (October 12), and shows little sign of tapering off. This prolonged
Akhila Damodaran (Bangalore), Autar Nehru
(Delhi) 9868256512, Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata) closure of education institutions has turned the lives and learning of the coun-
9836491981, Shivani Chaturvedi (Chennai) try’s already educationally under-served students’ community upside down.
9500506102, Dipta Joshi (Mumbai) 9920243111 Children enrolled in 90 percent of private schools — especially India’s
CHIEF EXECUTIVE unique 400,000 budget private schools (BPS) — are particularly hard hit
Bhavin Shah +91 9867382867 because their managements can’t afford end-use digital devices (PCs, lap-
MARKETING tops, smart phones) for online teaching-learning. Moreover, their already
West: Tejas Pattni (General Manager) 9022487997 low incomes — only 9.4 percent of private schools charge tuition fees above
E-mail: marketing@educationworld.in Rs.2,000 per month — have been disrupted by foolishly reckless notifications
Shruti Srivasatava +91 98216 66019
South India: S. Vijaya Lakshmi 98456 80696 and circulars issued by populist state governments, advising parents to stop
Poonam Shah 9731966373 paying tuition fees of the lockdown period. Therefore, BPS across the coun-
North: Hannan Ahmed 9810302768
try are reeling under heavy financial loss and thousands of them are up for
GRAPHICS sale. These and other myriad problems of private schools obliged to continue
Suresh K.
paying teacher and staff salaries, are highlighted in our detailed cover story
SUBSCRIPTIONS
researched and written by managing editor Summiya Yasmeen, who makes
Ajay Kumar: 9108225694/ a strong appeal to the prime minister to carve out an education aid and relief
080 43711141
sub@educationworld.in packet from his May 12 pandemic package.
ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION: RS.1700 In our special report feature, against the backdrop of the huge ruckus in
OVERSEAS SUBSCRIPTION: USD95 Parliament caused by passage of three Bills crafted to direct the winds of
Cheques/drafts in favour of DT Media & liberalisation and deregulation into much-neglected rural India, we highlight
Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore
the sins of omission and commission of the country’s 71 ivory tower agri-
EDITORIAL culture universities whose managements, ever ready to grovel before their
C3-36, 3rd Floor, Devatha Plaza political masters, are hell-bent on remaining unaccountable to the larger
131 Residency Road, Bangalore 560 025.
Tel: 080 22480880; Fax: 2227 5962; public. There’s much more in this information and insights-packed issue. This
E-mail: editorial@educationworld.in time, there are four insightful expert comment essays, an informative people
Website: www.educationworld.in section, interesting international news and engaging book reviews. All highly
Printed and published by Dilip Thakore on behalf recommended. Stay well, stay safe.
of DT Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Printed at Rajhans Enterprises, 134, 4th Main, In-
dustrial Town, Rajajinagar, Bangalore-44. Published
at 703-704, Devatha Plaza, 132 Residency Road.
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Editor Dilip Thakore.
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4 EDUCATIONWORLD OCTOBER 2020