Articles
Wanted a Liberal Party
Liberals of all persuasion should come together under the banner of rule of law and fair, transparent, and accountable governance, says Parth J Shah After all is said and done, nothing much has improved in Gujarat. In Parliament, opposition parties howled, staged walk-outs, even got a resolution passed in one of the Houses, though largely of symbolic value. Symbolism is what we got from the main instrument of democracy. Politicians took tours of the affected areas, visited relief camps, walked in peace marches, a few went on a relay fast. Yes, relay-fast, an invention of the symbolic times. Nothing much is really heard from or about opposition parties and politicians in Gujarat. Secular NGOs conducted fact-finding missions, issued reports, held seminars and press conferences, filed PILs. Some NGOs are doing relief work in the background. Hardly anyone from the civil society really stood upto the raucous voices of rage and revenge. Industry
Why the poor have not done as well as the rich in New India?
After 59 years of Independence, 4 out of 10 Indians are illiterate and essentially barred from a prosperous future. Successive governments continue to launch more schemes to promote “education for all.” Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is the latest scheme. The state continues to build more schools to ensure that education is accessible to the poor. Yet, government schools are notorious for their problems: 62 % drop-out rates, students in fifth grade who can’t write their own names, teacher absenteeism and lack of accountability, tribal children taught in the state official language and not in their home language, not to mention the abysmal waste and corruption as recently highlighted by the CAG. Could these problems be solved by further raising government spending on education? Or should we ask the state to first bring up the existing schools to the standards applied to private recognized schools? These are two of the questions
Draft NEP Accurately Diagnoses The Systemic Pathology In Education
In 2016 we, at Centre for Civil Society, argued that India needs an education policy that will keep children in school and ensure consistent and high learning outcomes. To do this, we recommended that the government of the day applying new public management strategies to education, away from ‘mission mode’ to systemic transformation – building capacity, encouraging competition for quality improvement, insisting on innovative and effective delivery, monitoring accountability, and targeting resources to individual students. Such a shift would involve a rethink of the governance and regulatory frameworks guiding school operations, public or private. The 2019 Kasturirangan Committee Report tables a Draft National Education Policy, that gets us closer to this vision of an education system. Two proposals of this Draft National Education Policy are worth highlighting. The Draft policy accurately diagnoses the system pathology, and proposes correction through a paradigm shift in how all schools are governed, and not
Critics of Modi govt’s medical education reform Act are missing these 3 points
The National Medical Commission Act, 2019 has divided India’s medical fraternity, with some vehemently opposing it and others listing its many benefits. Its proponents say the Act can reform other areas of professional education too, while its detractors believe that certain provisions “subjugate federalism at multiple levels”. The National Medical Commission Act (NMC), which replaces the Medical Council Act, demands a better understanding. We address three provisions of the Act that have invited maximum criticism. These are also the factors that can have a direct impact on other professional education domains if the NMC model of reforms is applied to them. Setting standards through National Exit Test The NMC Act proposes a common National Exit Test (NEXT) for all final-year MBBS students. Only after clearing NEXT will the students get the licence to practise medicine and admission in postgraduate courses. Opponents argue that it does away with the checks and
India’s Education Sector: The Need for Better Governance and Policy Reforms
Seventy- two years after Independence, our nation has no doubt emerged from backwardness in the social sector, but there are always discussions and debates about what has not been achieved or the big gaps to be filled across many areas. One such area is the education sector that has an important bearing on the economic growth and development of the nation. At the time of parliamentary elections, it is usual for party manifestoes to discuss various issues the nation is facing and what they would do to solve them. Education doesn’t appear prominently in the agenda of most political parties, although the assessment of the current scenario matched with promised solutions is an integral part. How feasible the solutions are, and how many of these will, actually, be implemented remains a question mark. I would like to make a realistic assessment of the educational achievements and shortcomings. I am looking
Bamboo as a renewable source of energy
Times are changing. And with changing times, resources, be it of any kind, have witnessed change too. In order to keep pace with accelerating growth and development, a need for newer resources have become vital. This applies to energy too. The quest to develop renewable energy sources to their potential has seen many a research and study. One such unused potential lies in bamboo as a renewable source of energy. Why bamboo?! Well, simply because it is easy to grow, and grows fast, but, firstly, most of us need to understand even what bamboo, actually, is. Is it a tree? Is it a shrub? Is it a weed? Is it just plain grass? Did you guess the answer? Bamboo is a grass. You never thought it would be?! Well, most of us would not. With over thousand documented uses including as a building material, as medicine and even fibre, Bamboo is