Page 10 - Education World July 2020

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coronavirus pandemic. ferently”. But, unfortunately most
However my fear is that HRD teachers in India are preoccupied
ministry officials will ignore the with covering prescribed syllabuses
excellent reform recommendations and have little time for ideating inno-
proposed by these worthy represen- vative pedagogies.
tatives of India’s private and public I believe it’s time our teachers are
education sectors. given the freedom to teach beyond
V i shak ha J ai n prescribed textbooks and engage in
MUMBAI curriculum design to make teaching-
learning meaningful.
A nk i ta S i ngh on EMAIL
Reinvigorate Digital India
DR. ASHWIN Fernandes’ Teacher-
to-teacher essay on the QS IGAUGE Higher ranking enthusiasm
Further Academic Interest Report WE SINCERELY appreciate the
2020 (E W May) highlights the initiative taken by E duc ati onWorld
JUNE 2020 greatest challenge confronting to rate and rank higher education
Indian education in the Covid-19 institutions across the country and
era — the glaring digital divide and for especially dedicating a separate
inadequate IT infrastructure and league table to private autonomous
Comforting cover story connectivity. colleges (E W April). Autonomous
I’M SURE your brilliant cover story According to the 2017-18 Na- colleges are indeed “a class apart and
‘50 leaders who can revive Indian tional Sample Survey report, while above the vast majority of the coun-
education’ (E W June) has brought 66 percent of India’s population try’s undergrad colleges”.
considerable cheer to many parents lives in villages, only 15 percent of Therefore we are greatly enthused
like me who are disillusioned with rural households have access to the that Bhavan’s Vivekananda College
the quality of the education system. Internet. Moreover only 24 percent of Science, Humanities & Commerce
Now with the Covid-19 pandemic of India’s households have Internet is ranked #6 in the state of Telan-
forcing closure of all education in- connectivity and a dismal 8 percent gana and #45 countrywide among
stitutions, the future of our children of children and youth in the 5-24 age autonomous colleges. As for our
and youth is uncertain. group have access to a computer and NIRF ranking, your magazine has
I was comforted by reading the Internet connectivity. published ‘NR (not ranked)’. Kindly
interviews of the 50 leaders who Therefore without delay, the Cen- note that our college has been ranked
have outlined innovative solutions tral government should assess the in the lower 151-200 bracket by the
and ideas to revive Indian education, effectiveness and implementation Union HRD ministry’s NIRF in 2018
including the shift to online learning bottlenecks of its Digital India cam- and 2019.
to ensure education continuity. I was paign launched by prime minister A i r Cm de (R etd. ) J L N S astry ,
especially impressed by the solutions Narendra Modi in 2015 with much Vice chairman, Bhavan’s Vidya
outlined by prominent educators fanfare. Clearly, there is urgent need Bhavan, SECUNDERABAD
such as Dr. K. Kasturirangan and for substantial government invest-
Gerry Arathoon. ment in building IT infrastructure to
Keep up the good work! ensure underprivileged children can Right direction
J hi m li Bose avail online education. CONGRATULATIONS FOR your
KOLKATA S heela Chi tni s pioneering initiative of ranking the
HUBLI country’s government and private
universities separately in the EW
Inspirational but… India Higher Education Rankings
COMPLIMENTS TO the E duc ati on- Free teachers! 2020-21 (E W May). I believe this
World team for highlighting 50 great THE ‘CORONA in the curriculum’ is a step in the right direction for
institutional leaders across India expert comment column (E W June) fostering a spirit of competition and
who offer hope of reviving KG-P hD written by eminent educationist Dr. attainment of higher education. Your
education (E W June). It was inspi- Krishna Kumar is a wake-up call for detailed league tables will greatly
rational to read how these leaders Indian educators. I totally agree with help school-leaving students to make
and their institutions have adapted Dr. Kumar when he says “it is never informed higher ed decisions.
to learning challenges posed by the too late to imagine doing things dif- K am lesh S . on E-MAIL

10 EDUCATIONWORLD JULY 2020