THE SUBJECT MATTER of the cover feature on the 15th anniversary of this sui generis newsmagazine is perhaps unprecedented in Indian journalism, and has proved a more arduous task than anticipated. To facilitate readability, the history of Indian education essayed in this milestone edition of EducationWorld, has been divided into 22 narratives — big issues which have impacted Indian education since 1999 — on the presumption that readers would prefer separate narratives rather than a single linear history.
Therefore since each chosen subject has been written as a discrete, composite story, committed readers who read the entire history presented herein are likely to encounter some repetition, cross references and overlapping commentary for which I apologise in advance. (References made to historical EW stories may be accessed at educationworldonline.net archives.)
You might have noticed that although anniversaries are usually celebrated, I have refrained from using the word in my introductory paragraph. That’s because as indicated in the title of the cover feature, since this publication was hesitantly launched into the uncertain and uncharted waters of Indian education 15 years ago with the lofty ambition to “build the pressure of public opinion to make education the #1 item on the national agenda”, that goal has proved elusive. Despite India grudgingly hosting the world’s largest population of children and youth (550 million), education — pre-primary, primary, secondary, vocational and higher — still figures only peripherally on the national development agenda. Therefore, there’s little cause to celebrate.
As recounted in the cover feature and in the essays of the insightful columnists who have contributed to this anniversary issue, right across the spectrum from K-Ph D, syllabus and curriculum formulation, delivery and implementation is largely ineffective, and the education sector has become the happy hunting ground of post-independence India’s uniquely amoral politicians and bureaucrats who brazenly place profit and self-aggrandisement before the interests of the country’s uncomplaining and high-potential children and youth.
Perhaps the only promising development in the area of darkness that is Indian education, is that despite the dreaded licence-permit-quota regimen that laid Indian industry low until the turn of the century spilling over into education, and the unease of doing business in the education sector, driven by the spirit of enlightened self-interest, a growing number of citizens in all age groups are launching enterprises and institutions to drill and skill India’s children and youth who yearn for — and deserve — high-quality and fulfilling early childhood, school and higher education. Admittedly, despite our best efforts, education — especially public education — is nowhere near the #1 item on the national agenda, but the nation is approaching tipping point. And our intent is to accelerate progress towards it.
