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THEY SAID IT IN MARCH

“Education must deal with the deeper anxi-
eties of the young in order to retain its own
sanctity and credibility. The hatred that found
open expression for some days in north-east
Delhi has put a question mark on the capacity
of the system of education to nurture the core
values a democratic order demands.”
Krishna Kumar, former director of NCERT, on the
damage done to education by the recent communal
riots in Delhi (The Hindu, March 16)

“The treatment of the poor in this crisis seems
Nooraine Fazal: backlash warning
to bear all the hallmarks of what the State
broadcasts recorded lectures from its studios across the did to them during demonetisation: They are
country to students preparing for the IIT-JEE and UPSC asked to sacrifice disproportionately for the
public entrance exams on the subscription model. Currently common good, they are treated with impu-
the company has 280,000 registered subscribers who pay nity, and the state acknowledges their needs
Rs.2,000-38,000 dependent upon the duration of their only very grudgingly.”
subscription to access its lectures. “We have experienced a Pratap Bhanu Mehta, former vice chancellor of Ashoka
50 percent surge in subscriber registrations. The Covid-19 University, on how the national lockdown has ignored
epidemic lockdown has forced students who were reluctant the poor (The Indian Express, March 28)
to use digital technologies to do so. With the passage of
time, they will become increasingly comfortable with it until “The coronavirus pandemic is not going to rob
online learning becomes normative,” says Pandit. China of its DF-41 intercontinental ballistic
ut while the Covid-19 crisis and mandatory shutdown of missiles or the J-20 Mighty Dragon stealth
Ball education institutions has created boom conditions
for edtech and online education providers, experienced bombers. But it will most certainly take away
educators warn them against rushing to market with ill- a far more potent weapon: Global trust. In the
designed programmes which could provoke a backlash. A last four months, it has suppressed facts, lied,
major complaint against early mover K-12 digital learning silenced whistleblowers, bullied its citizens
companies such as Educomp, Edurite and School Net was and the world community... despite being the
that they were driven by marketing rather than production originator of this apocalyptic outbreak.”
and process implementation priorities. Abhijit Majumder on why China must pay for its cover-
“The prime market of edtech companies is in tier-II-IV ups of the Covid-19 pandemic (firstpost.com, March
cities and towns where it’s difficult for schools to recruit 25)
good teachers. But edtech companies should take care to
develop teacher-friendly and enabling programmes and “Like many disease outbreaks, Covid-19 does
thoroughly train teachers to use their technology. If they not distinguish between rich and poor. There
don’t iron out all wrinkles in their online education pro-
grammes, they will waste the good opportunity to popula- is worldwide attention on it because it threat-
rise online and digital learning provided by the Covid-19 ens every country regardless of development
crisis,” warns Nooraine Fazal, co-founder and CEO of the status.”
Inventure Academy, Bangalore, ranked among India’s Top Mami Mizutori, head UN Office for Risk Reduction on
5 co-ed day schools in the EW India School Rankings 2019- the rampaging Covid-18 epidemic (Times of India,
20. Currently this K-12 school is using Zoom and Google March 23)
Classroom platforms to deliver online learning during the
shutdown period. “There was supreme irony in the PM’s call for
The Covid-19 pandemic and the national lockdown has applauding health workers. It led to complete
unexpectedly created a huge business opportunity for In- disregard of the basic principle of avoiding
dia’s hitherto struggling edtech companies. It would be a crowds.”
pity if they wasted the opportunity generated by this crisis. TJS George in an essay ‘When leaders set bad
Dilip Thakore (Bangalore) examples’ (Sunday Express, March 29)

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