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‘bromance’. and bridging the digital divide
Had the prime minister allocated (7); promote blended learning in
even 1 percent of his loudly pro- K-12 education (7); prioritise 21st
claimed Rs.20 lakh crore economic century skills in future education
stimulus package to education, it reforms (6); deregulate controls on
would have helped budget private private schools and universities (6);
schools, currently facing severe involve parents and democratise
financial crises, to survive. Special school administration (6); promote
thanks for the national round-up of research on education (4); increase
fees and online classes regulation in expenditure on public education in
different states of the country. Very the Union budget (4).
useful. Other suggestions included ac-
Aarti Singh cording priority to co-curricular
DELHI and sports education, prioritising
early childhood education, promot-
ing vocational skills, caring for rural
JULY 2020 Support Katha! schools and the underprivileged,
I AM A regular reader of Education- conducting TETs, setting standards
World and loved your Eyewitness for online education, reforming the
report ‘Katha: Alternative education examination system and adopting
Disastrous consequences success story’ (EW July). education vouchers.
YOUR COVER story ‘Neta-babu Geeta Dharmarajan, founder of The Union HRD ministry and
brotherhood destroying private Katha, must be complimented for state education departments will
education’ (EW July) is overdue using alternative pedagogies such as greatly benefit if they study the
and timely. Although government storytelling to provide education to recommendations of these education
animosity towards private schools 9.8 million slum children deprived of leaders with excellent track records.
— which provide education to half half-decent schooling. In particular, Again, compliments for this mega
of India’s school-going children — is Katha’s initiative to mobilise 3,000 exercise!
several decades old, it has become librarians to promote the reading Dr. A.S. Seetharamu,
more blatant in the Covid-19 era. skills of 1 million children needs the Former professor, ISEC & senior
Several state governments are support of all right-thinking people. consultant, SSA, BANGALORE
making the most of this unprec- Baby Singh
edented crisis to push privately CHENNAI
promoted schools over the edge Identity confusion
by isssuing ill-considered circulars We are greatly enthused that SSN
advising deferred payment and/or Amazing coverage College of Engineering, Chennai is
waiver of school fees. In the circum- MY SINCERE compliments to ranked among the Top 10 private
stances, it is imperative for educated the EducationWorld team for the engineering colleges countrywide in
middle class parents to support their labour-of-love cover story (EW June) the EW India Private Engineering
children’s schools. featuring 50 great institutional lead- Colleges Rankings 2020-21 (EW
They need to understand that ers nationwide. I was amazed that April). Re our NIRF ranking, your
non-payment of fees will have di- not only national, but also state-level magazine has published NR (not
sastrous long-term consequences. It education leaders across 15 major ranked).
is time to stand up for the future of states of India were included in your Please note that our college has
our children and the nation which is inspirational cover feature. been ranked #44 in NIRF 2020.
intrinsically intertwined with the fate My computation of the common However on the official NIRF web-
of India’s private schools. solutions by number recommended site, SSN is ranked as the Sri Sivasu-
Mira Sawhney on email by these leaders are: rectify poor bramaniya Nadar (SSN) College of
Internet connectivity (11); modernise Engineering. But your survey ranks
teacher training, pedagogy and us as SSN College of Engineering.
Useful information modes of student-teacher interaction Please note that both are one and
THANK YOU for your insightful (10); reform/revisit/reorganise the same institution.
cover story (EW July) which high- school curriculums (8); provide V.E. Annamalai
lights the negative impact on educa- for infrastructure enrichment, Principal-in-charge
tion of India’s politician-bureaucrat specifically for digital learning SSNCE, CHENNAI

14 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2020