Page 16 - EducationWorld November 2020

Editorial

WELL BEGUN BUT UNFINISHED LONG MARCH primaries to universities, being given
respect and currency. And perhaps for
the first time promoters and leaders
of private education institutions that
wo decades and a year ago, your ceiving professionally provided ECCE school 47.5 percent of the country’s
editors embarked on a historic (early childhood care and education); 260 million in-school children, and
Tand perhaps in retrospect, too learning outcomes of children in pri- 70 percent of youth in higher educa-
ambitious a mission. The first issue of mary schools are abysmal with over tion, are being given opportunity and
EducationWorld — The Human De- 50 percent of class V children un- platforms to air their institutional
velopment Magazine, was ceremoni- able to read and comprehend class II development recommendations and
ally launched on November 1, 1999 by textbooks; and none of India’s 1,000 share best precepts and practices. We
the late Prof. N.S. Ramaswamy (1926- universities are ranked in the WUR believe EducationWorld — India’s pi-
2012), a great institutions builder (World Universities Ranking) Top oneer education news and features pe-
and founding director of the National 200 of QS and Times Higher Educa- riodical — deserves a substantial share
Institute of Industrial Engineering, tion (THE). of the credit for sparking the overdue
Mumbai; Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Yet despite this depressing picture revival of Indian education.
However, even as we rightfully ap-
Management, Mumbai and Indian of the education system excessively propriate a large measure of credit for
Institute of Management, Bangalore. controlled and regulated by govern-
Our mission statement articulated on ment, green shoots of a renaissance the new buzz in the country’s hitherto
dormant education sector, there’s no
that day was: “To build the pressure are beginning to sprout in Indian edu- room for complacency. Despite 21
of public opinion to make education cation across the spectrum. years of sustained effort, a mere 10-
the No.1 item on the national agenda.” For the first time in living mem- 15 percent of India’s 450,000 private
On the 21st anniversary of articu- ory, education — or the neglect of it schools, 40,000 colleges and 1,000
lation of this mission statement, it’s in post-independence India — is a universities are subscriber institu-
abundantly clear that this publication subject of debate and discussion in tions.
has failed to attain its stated objec- society and media. The veil of ano- So even as we celebrate our re-
tive. Contemporary India is ranked nymity cast over the education sector cord of uninterrupted publishing for
among the most illiterate nations of has been lifted with news and views 21 years and derive some measure of
the world. Only half the country’s 165 of vice chancellors, principals, teach- satisfaction for stimulating India’s be-
million infant citizens are enrolled ers and parents waging lonely battles lated education renaissance, there’s a
in pre-primary education and/or re- to raise education standards in pre- long march ahead.

WAKE-UP CALL & SEASON FOR INTROSPECTION financed the freedom movement, had
built an industrial base for the coun-
try. And with a well-reputed collection
of schools and presidency universities,
t’s the ultim ate insult to the neta- (pop.165 million). we were far ahead of PRC.
babu brotherhood which despite Although several Indian econo- However during the past wasted
Ithe landmark liberalisation and de- mists and political pundits describe seven decades since India adopted
regulation initiative of 1991, continues this as temporary phenomenon, on socialist ideology with Indian charac-
to micro-manage the Indian economy. several parameters of economic de- teristics, the relative standing of the
In the International Monetary velopment Bangladesh has shown world’s most populous countries has
Fund’s latest World Economic Out- impressive progress. For one, it has been radically reversed. Currently,
look 2020 published last month, In- emerged as a major textiles and ap- PRC is widely acknowledged together
dia’s GDP is set to contract by 10.3 parels exporter, ranked #4 by Fash- with the United States as one of the
percent because of ham-fisted mis- ion2Fibre.com (revenue: $39 billion), two global super-powers. Its $15 tril-
management of the Covid-19 crisis cf. India ranked #5 ($37 billion). This lion economy dwarfs India ($2.9 tril-
and Bangladesh is set to surpass In- despite our historic advantage in tex- lion), and on every metric including
dia in nominal per capita GDP terms tiles and much larger population. literacy, mean years of schooling,
this fiscal. With our neighbour nation Yet the moot point is not to com- number of globally top-ranked uni-
having managed the pandemic bet- pare and contrast the massive Indian versities, industrial and agriculture
ter, its nominal per capita income is economy with Bangladesh but with productivity, defence capability, life
projected to rise from $1,820 in 2019 our neighbour nation to the north by expectancy and Olympic medals tally,
to $1,890 in 2020 surpassing India’s north-east — the People’s Republic PRC is leagues ahead of 21st century
$1,880. of China (PRC, pop. 1.5 billion). On India.
It’s pertinent to recall that in De- October 1, 1949 when the PRC was The IMF’s World Economic Out-
cember 1971, in a brilliantly managed proclaimed in Peking (now Beijing), look 2020 report is a wake-up call to
17-day war, the Indian Army liberated India was way ahead of China, rav- the Indian establishment including
East Pakistan from the oppressive rule aged by the Japanese invasion during the academy, to acknowledge this re-
of a united Pakistan taking 90,000 of- World War II, on almost every metric ality and deeply introspect about ways
ficers and men of Pakistan Army pris- of national development, especially and means to arouse the deeply bur-
oner, and enabled proclamation of the education. Newly independent India’s ied capabilities of our high-potential
independent nation of Bangladesh pioneer leaders of industry who had nation.

16 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2020