THANK YOU FOR the brilliant cover story ‘India’s liberal arts renaissance’ (EW January). You have perceptively linked the failure of India’s socio-economic development effort to the continuous neglect of liberal arts education. Over the past six decades since independence, government and private initiatives have focused disproportionately on science, technology and career-oriented education, ignoring the study of the humanities and liberal arts. The current climate of religious intolerance and crude public discourse are outcomes of neglecting the study of history, sociology and the social sciences.
Congratulations to the founders of Ashoka University for breaking away from the mainstream and giving India its first liberal arts-focused university. I hope their initiative will inspire many more education entrepreneurs to do the same.
Aarti Roy
Bangalore
Commendable criticism
THE 2014 EDUCATION retrospective is well-written (Special report ‘2014: Return of Hindutva fear in academia’, EW January). After ten years of a corrupt and ineffective Congress-led UPA government, most citizens welcomed the victory of the BJP which promised development for all and doubling of education expenditure to 6 percent of GDP. But to the misfortune of India’s children and youth, the new BJP government is preoccupied with forwarding the RSS’ hindutva agenda in Indian education. Instead of drawing up a roadmap to upgrade infrastructure in government schools, improving learning outcomes, recruiting trained teachers and reforming curriculums, the Union HRD ministry is busy issuing diktats to celebrate Sanskrit Week and Good Governance Day in schools and colleges.
Thumbs up to EducationWorld for taking the lead in exposing the BJP government for losing sight of the real issues of Indian education. Consistent media and public scrutiny is needed to force the HRD ministry to do a mid-course correction.
Vinay Sharma
Mumbai
Worst crimes
RE YOUR EDITORIAL ‘Checking child sexual abuse pandemic’ (EW December), the worst crime against children is to exploit them sexually. Another glaring violation of children’s rights is child labour. Even though it’s banned in India, children are routinely employed as domestic help in many Indian households.
Children who should be in school and learning, are made to work in homes, shops and industrial establishments. It’s unfortunate and shameful that Indian society and its citizens don’t care for the welfare of children — the country’s future.
Mahesh Kapasi
Delhi
Great honour
IT’S A MATTER OF honour and pride for The Jain International School (TJIS), Kanpur, to be ranked #1 in Uttar Pradesh and Kanpur in the category of day-cum-boarding schools in the EW India School Rankings 2014 (EW September).
On behalf of the entire TJIS family, I extend my heartiest appreciation for acknowledging and acclaiming our achievements and potential. I assure you we will continuously endeavour to serve society and improve ourselves.
Ira Bhat
Principal, The Jain International School, Kanpur
Ranking confusion
THANK YOU FOR publishing a very detailed analysis of the CISCE and CBSE class X/XII results together with the EW India School Rankings 2014 (EW September). We are very proud that New Horizon School, Bangalore is ranked #1 all-India in the class X ICSE results 2014 (English + best 4 subjects).
However, I would like to bring to your notice that your website is showing New Horizon Public School as ranked #2 even though EW magazine has ranked us #1. Since all subjects up to class X are given equal importance, the rankings should justifiably be based on all six subjects and not English + best 4 subjects. If this is taken into consideration, New Horizon Public School stands #1 with an aggregate of 90.59 percent against Presidency School, RT Nagar, Bangalore whose aggregate score is 90.37 percent. I request you to change the ranking on your website accordingly.
Sandhya Raman
Principal, New Horizon Public School, Bangalore
The ICSE Top 100 (class X) list you refer to is featured on www.learningpoint.net and not www.educationworldonline.net. The latter ranks you #1 after rounding off decimal points. Please address your complaint to www.learningpoint.net — Editor