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I am a primary school teacher and I read the issue of EducationWorld featuring the cover story ‘India’s best school teachers’ (EW January) with great interest. Although several other organisations offer teachers awards, none of them celebrate excellent teachers to the same extent as your publication. The profiles of the award-winning teachers and finalists were meticulously researched and detailed, and a source of inspiration to the neglected teachers’ community countrywide.

Moreover, the fact that the Tata Consultancy Services-EducationWorld Teachers Awards 2006 received 25,000 nominations indicates that these awards have become established as the most prestigious in the country. The TCS management deserves the thanks of the teachers’ community for instituting these generous annual awards. Your cover story highlighting the numerous teaching innovations and best practices introduced by unsung teachers in far corners of the country "despite generally unsupportive environments" will generate greater public empathy for this noble profession.

Sadhna Mendonza on e-mail

The special report titled ‘Emergency! India’s children at grave risk!’ (EW January) made sad reading. It’s shocking to learn that India is among the worst offenders with regard to the number of children being deprived of essentials such as education, food, healthcare and shelter. Children begging at traffic lights or working in tea shops and restaurants are common sights in India. But to read your special report is necessary to understand the depth of child deprivation in this country.

However I really wonder whether indictments from Unicef and Reuters Alertnet will goad the Indian government into action mode. The inertia of government agencies towards any form of child welfare is well-established. Child researchers and activists are doing their bit to highlight the neglect of children. But I think ordinary citizens must get involved in demanding childrens’ basic rights to food, clothing, shelter, education and healthcare.

In particular I am concerned about the denial of quality education to children, the key to helping them break out of the cycle of poverty and deprivation. If we don’t educate our children, they will inevitably get caught in the vicious cycle of illiteracy and poverty.

Your outspoken special report feature ‘Emergency! India’s children at grave risk!’ (EW January) made depressing reading. The degree of child neglect and abuse in India is unbelievable and I am amazed this subject is not publicly discussed. The facts and details in your report are incontrovertible. But I find it difficult to agree with your hypothesis that "deep within its collective sub-conscious — perhaps as a consequence of the crude family planning propaganda of 1960-80 — contemporary India is a pervasively child-phobic society".

In my opinion Indian families are as caring and protective of their children as any other worldwide. Parents in all strata of society value and cherish their children. The difference between India and the developed countries is that in the latter, governments are more caring and make provision for all children in terms of high quality public primary and secondary education. In this respect your publication has rendered a valuable public service by highlighting the scale of official child abuse in India.

I am a regular reader of EducationWorld. I find the career focus and institution profile sections very useful. The one in the January issue on paint technologists was particularly informative and unusual. However I have a request. Please include some more articles on studying and working abroad and admission information on institutions offering courses in music, dance, performing arts, martial arts, karate and aerobics. This will help students such as myself who are interested in offbeat, new age careers.

The Teacher-to-Teacher page essay on building dyslexia-friendly schools by Remediana Rodrigues (EW January) was encouraging and insightful.

Dyslexia is a much misunderstood learning disorder. As Rodrigues writes, dyslexic students experience difficulty in learning to read and write, but are not necessarily of poor intelligence. In most private, including progressive schools, difficulty to read and write is misinterpreted as poor intelligence. This results in children being humiliated and discouraged in the classroom. Many dyslexics such as Albert Einstein, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg overcame their disability to emerge as leaders in their respective fields.

It’s commendable that several schools in Goa — Manovikas School, Sharada Mandir School and Vidya Vikas Academy — have taken the lead in providing enabling environments for dyslexic children to flower. Identification of the problem and subsequent supplementary attention can go a long way in helping dyslexics achieve their real potential. Moreover creating awareness about dyslexia within teachers’ and parents’ communities will provide the emotional support children need to deal with learning and attention disorders. Schools countrywide should follow in the footsteps of these schools in Goa, and become more dyslexia friendly.

Dyslexic children need to be given attention, love and understanding. But sadly our society is intolerant towards failures, especially those who fail in academics.