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I read your cover story ‘Reviving the sick child of Indian education’ (EW December) with consuming interest. EducationWorld deserves the gratitude of the nation for its comprehensive analyses of vital issues in education month after month. It’s only a matter of time before you achieve your ambition of making education the premier item on the national agenda.

In your cover story under reference, you have rightly highlighted the irony of Union HRD minister Arjun Singh condemning the higher education system as a sick child when he has resisted every proposal to reform it. With Indian industry suffering an unprecedented skills shortage currently, college/university education reforms on the lines suggested by the National Knowledge Commission are urgently required. This means that the long pending issues of permitting private universities, entry of foreign education providers and raising tuition fees need immediate attention. It’s shameful that the tuition fees of middle and upper class students in Indian universities are more heavily subsidised than in communist China. In particular, the subsidies given to IIM and IIT students are condemnable.

I am sure your insightful cover story exposing the politically inspired rot in higher education will force reform of India’s crumbling tertiary education system.

Prashanth Baliga
Mangalore (Karnataka)

I read with interest the news report on the ‘Teach for America initiative’ started in the United States (EW December). It’s a great idea to get the best university graduates to spend two years teaching students in government schools which cater to the poor. This way the country’s best minds can focus for at least a while, on trying to solve the myriad problems plaguing public education.

I wonder if EducationWorld could start something on the lines of TFA in India? If the quality of teachers in America’s public schools is bad, then in India’s government schools it’s much worse. We need an initiative like Teach for India where toppers from the country’s best colleges and universities — the IITs, IIMs, St. Stephen’s, etc — spend two years teaching children in government schools. Talented people from Indian industry — particularly the IT industry — could also take a two-year sabbatical to teach in public schools. This way, citizens who are enraged about the state of the public education system in India will get a chance to help fix it. But I’m sure such an initiative will be opposed by the heavily unionised teachers’ community.

Your career focus article on special effects i.e FX professionals, was well-written and informative (EW December). I’m a class XII student interested in a career in the films and animation industry. The article spoke to me and perhaps this is the vocation for me. Indra Gidwani detailed the nitty-gritty of qualifying as an FX professional, and has opened up a world where my talents can be transformed into a career for which I am very grateful.

Kudos also to John Barclay for his ‘Telling is not Teaching’ column. It gave a new perspective to the teaching-learning process.

Thank you for your special report ‘Education milestones of 2007’ (EW December) detailing landmark education initiatives of the past year. While some were positive, most of them highlighted government apathy in addressing vital education issues such as introduction of sex education and ban of corporal punishment in schools. The special report inspired me to go back and read the back numbers of EducationWorld where these issues were covered in-depth.

Your continued coverage of education over the past eight years and consistent efforts to bring education to the top of the national agenda deserve respect and appreciation. In fact your special report shows that there is a slow but determined effort on the part of government and society in general to give due attention to education.

The Expert Comment column by James Tooley on how low-cost private school education is helping educate millions of children from economically poor backgrounds in developing countries including India, China, Kenya and Nigeria, was also revealing.

Congratulations on completing eight years of uninterrupted publishing. I have been a reader of your much-needed publication right from the start. Therefore I have observed its evolution over the years and its transformation into a truly world class magazine. No praise is too much for you and your team for throwing the spotlight on India’s criminally neglected education sector, and doing it in an interesting and informative manner. Keep up the good work!

I have been reading the excellent sports education column contributed to EducationWorld by Los Angeles-based sports psychologist George Selleck for the past two years. The column invariably has an inspiring message about mentoring young people to succeed on sports fields and in life.

Team spirit, discipline and dedication are the key words for success — rightly depicted in the hit movie Chak de India. Education institutions and colleges must show this movie to students.

Mahesh Kapasi on e-mail