EducationWorld July 09

Poverty, community pressure and the low quality of education mean that 25 percent of children in Afghanistan aged seven-14 are at risk of leaving school and drifting into exploitative work environments, according to a new report by a Kabul-based think-tank. A report by the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), published in late May, includes a number of recommendations for the government and NGOs. The report recommends early intervention to stop children from prematurely entering workplaces by focusing on improving the quality of education, and providing more employment opportunities for adults. High price of education, lack of role models and family pressures are commonly cited reasons for the visible employment of children in backstreet workshops, factories or as domestic servants in households across this war-and insurgency-ravaged country (pop.32.7 million). Child labour linked to the high incidence of poverty, is a serious problem in Afghanistan. While the study shows poverty alone does not drive families to put children into work, it does raise the risk that children will work. Inability to protect children… will have long-term implications for development in Afghanistan, says AREU director Paula Kantor. Education quality and access play key roles in household decision-making about child labour. The shortage of professional teachers, books and schools also has an impact on children leaving school prematurely, adds Fawad Sahil, external relations officer of Unicef (Afghanistan). According to Unicef, 24 percent of Afghan children aged seven-14 are in employment. This despite the UN General Assembly having proclaimed the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989, which prohibits engagement of children in work deemed to be hazardous or likely to interfere with a childs education, or to be harmful to childrens health. Moreover Afghanistan is one of 14 countries which has not signed the 1999 International Labour Organisation Convention 182 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Against this backdrop, Unicef has established 3,724 community based schools in remote rural areas, increasing the number of children in education from 1.78 million in 2002 to more than 6.14 million in 2008, of whom 2.19 million are girls, says a Unicef statement. Support and in-service training at national level for teachers is also being provided by the fund, in partnership with the US Agency for International Development and the World Bank. Children should not be used as labour. They need to be in school for education and have the opportunity to access proper food, basic health services and playgrounds, says Sifat Rahimee, assistant minister of education. Accordingly, the education ministry is planning to increase the number of schools to 17,000 within the next five years, recruit qualified teachers, and expand the network of teacher training colleges, says Rahimee. The ministries of labour and social affairs, rural development and the Afghan Red Crescent have welfare programmes which support poor families and working children, he adds. (Excerpted and adapted from www.irinnews.org)

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The ethics of Chinese scholars have come under intense scrutiny following a recent scandal in the country. In mid-February, 80 people in Guangzhou city were poisoned after eating pork that contained ractopamine, a drug that ensures pigs grow big and lean. It has been banned as an agricultural food additive in China for seven years.At first, this appeared to be yet another food safety story, but subsequent investigations have turned it into a debate about scholarly ethics. According to a report in the Southern Weekend newspaper, academics have allegedly taken part in the research, production and distribution of agricultural food additives such as ractopamine and clenbuterol hydrochloride for the past two decades, despite being aware they are poisonous. Ironically, research into clenbuterol hydrochloride in China reached its peak at the end of the 1980s, just as Europe and the US were banning it in response to the poisoning of hundreds of people in Spain, France, Italy and America. One of the whistleblowers who spoke to Southern Weekend is a former academic at the College of Animal Science at Zhejiang University. He alleged that during research studies conducted in the early 1990s, he and his team learnt of the side-effects of clenbuterol hydrochloride, and also heard that it had been banned by the US Food and Drug Administration. However, they omitted this information from their papers on the drug. If we talk about side-effects in the papers, they wont get published, he explains. Moreover it was reported that in 1993, Zhejiang Universitys Sunny Nutrition Technology Co. Ltd was founded and became a key distributor of clenbuterol hydrochloride. Through product and technology transfer, the Institute of Feed Science at Zhejiang University fostered many agricultural feed enterprises in China, with its turnover growing to more than 3.5 billion yuan (Rs.2,430 crore). Clenbuterol hydrochloride and ractopamine were banned by the ministry of agriculture in 1997 and 2002 respectively, yet they are being researched and marketed. A big difference in terms of potential harm is that while clenbuterol hydrochloride was used primarily by small farms, ractopamine has been targeted at bigger farms, in the search for greater profits. It is alleged that some experts even give instructions to clients about how they can ensure their pigs pass testing by the authorities. While topics such as plagiarism trigger doubts about scholarly ethics, the pig-feed scandal has raised more profound issues for Chinas universities. Fu Jianfeng, an investigative reporter of Southern Weekend, argues that it proves that some scholars are too close to vested interests and that in the extreme instances their research is based on greed. An editorial in Southern Metropolitan News blamed universities too, arguing that the trend towards co-operation with business has played a part. It said that because of meagre government funding, universities switch to research projects to satisfy business needs. In so many cases, the outcome is that public trust in scholars is compromised, says its edit. (Excerpted and adapted from Times Higher Education)

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Vice-chancellors in nigeria (pop. 140 million) have agreed to set up a quality-assurance system in a bid to drive up standards and boost the Nigerian university sectors global standing. At a workshop organised in late April by the countrys National Universities Commission (NUC) in Nigerias capital, Abuja, the vice-chancellors agreed to introduce a national system of institutional accreditation, in addition to the 20-year-old system of accrediting individual courses. The delegates, who received a presentation on the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings, set a target for Nigeria to have at least two institutions among the top 200 universities in the world rankings by 2020 — the so-called 2/200/2020 vision.Opening the two-day event, Sam Egwu, Nigerias education minister, said: The emergence of high-quality Nigerian universities will enhance the possibility of (their) being ranked among the best in the world. He said that he wanted to see a robust system that will leave no stone unturned, and would examine every facet of universities to drive up standards and ensure value for money. He confirmed a new N42 billion (Rs.1,353 crore) Special Intervention Fund, under which six universities, three polytechnics, three colleges of education and the Nigerian Defence Academy will receive funding to improve their infrastructure. The minister said the fund would be the first phase of a wider intervention programme designed to meet the best global standards. The second phase will be launched next year. Nigerias higher education sector has seen explosive growth, from one university in 1960 to 93 in 2008. Its annual public funding has increased from about N12 billion (Rs.385 crore) in 1999 to N62 billion (Rs.1,990 crore) in 2006. However, according to an analysis last year by the British Council and the Economist Intelligence Unit, the rapid expansion has come at the expense of quality, with some domestic provision likely to remain substandard and drive students abroad. Nigeria introduced accreditation of individual university programmes in 1989. Peter Okebukola, former president of NUC who presented the proposals for institutional accreditation at the meeting, says that Nigeria, the giant of Africa, has woken up now. According to Okebukola, institutional accreditation will not only enhance quality and stimulate efficiency, but would also promote accountability and bolster the university funding provided by their proprietors. He promises harsh sanctions for failure, such as the closure of institutions, required to persuade proprietors to release resources. The audits are likely to consider information on institutions vision, mission and goals, governance and administration, resources, effectiveness and efficiency, including student dropout rates, financial management and stability, and relations with external constituencies. (Excerpted and adapted from Times Higher Education)

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For the first time in living memory, the appointment of a Union human resources development (aka education) minister has created as much excitement and attracted as many newspaper headlines as has the swearing-in of high-profile Congress party spokesperson and legal eagle Kapil Sibal to this vitally important, but traditionally devalued ministry. Suddenly cleansing the huge mess in Indian education — primary, secondary and tertiary — the consequence of decades of neglect, heavy politicisation and fudging of vital issues, has become a top national priority.This development is of particular satisfaction to us in EducationWorld whose prime objective, indeed raison detre, as encapsulated in our mission statement, is to build the pressure of public opinion to make education the No.1 item on the national agenda. Ten years ago when this monthly publication began ploughing a lonely furrow in a forlorn field, there was none so poor to do us reverence. Although they are the largest users of well-educated youth, captains of Indian industry — many of whom were brought into the national limelight by your editor in his previous avatars as the first editor of Indias very first business magazines — were indifferent and even hostile to the idea of an education news and analysis magazine. Nor did educationists and academics particularly welcome media intrusion into their campuses and ivory towers. And ironically the greater proportion of the investment required for growth and development of this publication had to be raised from well-wishers of Indian education and democracy abroad. Be that as it may, now that even if coincidentally, education — or the chronic lack of it — has risen to the top of the national agenda, the challenge is to ensure that it remains the top priority of the recently elected Congress-led UPA-2 government at the Centre, and of state governments across the country. Its a matter of amazement that post-independence Indias 15 governments in New Delhi and more in the state capitals, gave expansion and development of education — particularly primary education — such low priority in a country with the worlds largest child and youth population. But hopefully neglect of Indian education is now history, and there is a new national consensus and resolve to reap the nations demographic dividend through thorough and comprehensive education of generation next. HRD minister Kapil Sibal has the huge task of cleansing the long-neglected augean stables of Indian education. This months cover story celebrates his appointment and spotlights areas of darkness in Indian education. Hopefully it will make a contribution to the national debate which is a vital precondition of his success as the new incumbent of Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi. Re our special report, David Wightman, a Canadian journalist and writer who was recently in Australia, offered to write us an in-depth feature on the causes and effects of the rash of violent assaults on Indian students in that country. The offer was accepted with alacrity, and the outcome is a racy narrative which casts an illuminative light upon the anti-Indian rampage…

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Fortuitously Indias best bet — its hitherto much-maligned human resource base — is transforming into a huge opportunity for the skills development and training industry. Given that the vast gap between the inputs of Indian academia and requirements of industry is expanding continuously, skills development and executive training firms are multiplying. Training is a long-term business, one that needs to grow more in reputation than size. Thats our objective, says Ajay Kumar Sharma, president and CEO of the Delhi-based New Horizons India Ltd (NHI, estb. 2002), a company which has earned itself a good reputation in the national capital and its environs for its high-quality training services.Jointly promoted by the once-famous Shri Ram Group (DCM, Shriram Pistons etc) and New Horizons Worldwide, a well-known name in executive training in the US, NHI started operations in 2002. Now, after all these years, were poised to export our services to the world, says Sharma, an alumnus of Delhis Hans Raj College with an MBA from Moscow Commercial University, Russia. Sharma signed up with the Shri Ram Group in 1979, moving in and out of companies such as DCM Toyota Ltd, DCM International, and DCM Benetton India prior to engineering the launch of NHI seven years ago. Operating from 15 offices and 150 centres across the country, NHI is currently training an estimated 80,000 justice system employees ranging from data entry clerks and district magistrates to Supreme Court justices, in developing IT skills. Government spending on e-governance infrastructure development has created a Rs.50,000 crore market for IT goods and services, of which 10 percent will be spent on training. Simultaneously institutional and corporate demand for customised training is growing. This translates into a huge business opportunity, which prompted us to tie up with front-rank IT companies such as Oracle, Red Hat and Microsoft to provide e-governance training and solutions, says Sharma. Currently NHI, which has 30 franchise partners and 30 authorised delivery centres, provides skills development training to its growing number of customers from 250 client sites. And recently the company has diversified, delivering applied learning, supplementary education, IIT-JEE coaching and content development services to schools. Development of domain skills in retail, insurance, hospitality and tourism and microfinance, among other sectors, can help realise the dreams of 80-100 million youth in this country. Therefore we have entered vocational training in a small way, training 40,000 youth in Rajasthan. Hopefully, the experience we gather in India will help us to go global in the near future, says Sharma. Fly high! Autar Nehru (Delhi)

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After completing my B.Tech (computer science) degree in 2010, what study programme would you recommend — M.Tech or MBA?Vijay Raghavan, Chennai Both degrees — M.Tech and MBA — are stepping stones to successful careers. However, if youre not enjoying the B.Tech curriculum, you should opt for an MBA which offers a great future, particularly with your computer science background. The best course of action would be to complete your B.Tech, acquire some work experience and then enrol in an MBA programme. Ill be completing my Plus Two (science) next year and want to make a career in biotechnology. Please advise. Neelam Kothari, Bangalore Since biotechnology is a knowledge intensive industry, career opportunities are mainly in research and development, teaching and consulting. You could chart out a career path by enroling in a B.Tech programme or an integrated five-year M.Sc programme in biotechnology after class XII. Another option is to sign up for a bachelors degree in biotech, followed by M.Sc in the subject. Graduation from a reputed institution and a consistently good academic record will attract good job offers. The biotech industry offers a variety of employment options in the agriculture, food, waste management, environment pollution control, health and medical sciences sectors. Please suggest colleges/universities which offer an MBA in agri-business management. Vijay Kelkar, Pune Institutions offering an MBA in agri-business management or equivalent programmes include: Institute of Rural Management, Anand (www.irma.ac.in); College of Agri-Business Management, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (www.cabm.ac.in); Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management, Pune (www.vamnicom. org); Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (www.iimahd.ernet.in/pgpabm); IIM Lucknow (www.iiml.ac.in); Symbiosis Institute of International Business, Pune (www.siib.ac.in); National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management, Hyderabad (www.manage.gov.in); Indian Institute of Plantation Management, Bangalore (www.iipmb.edu.in); Garware Institute of Career Education and Development, University of Mumbai, Kalina Campus, Mumbai (www.mu.ac.in/garware/pgagri.html). Moreover a certified analyst diploma programme in global commodity markets and derivatives is offered at the Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development by the FT Knowledge Management Company Ltd (www.ftkmc.com) in association with the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited. A three-month diploma in commodities markets is also offered jointly by the Multi Commodity Exchange of India, FT Knowledge Management Company and Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai (www.mcxindia.com). After graduating next year, I want to enrol in a postgraduate course in human resource development. Please recommend some reputed business schools and universities. Neeta Fonseca, Panjim Well-reputed schools for HRD are TISS (Mumbai); XLRI (Jamshed-pur); MDI (Gurgaon); IISWBM (Kolkata) and UBS (Chandigarh). Im keen on a career as an airline pilot. What are the eligibility requirements? Can you also suggest institutes offering training programmes? Sunil Puri, New Delhi You need to have completed Plus Two with physics and mathematics, and possess a PPL (private pilots licence) with flying experience of at least 60 hours including three hours solo in the past three years, to qualify for admission into the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Academy (IGRUA), Rae Bareli 229310, the premier flying school in the country administered by the…

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The new age generation is living in the most exciting times of human history, within increasingly diverse communities and cultures, newer and fast-evolving technologies and ever expanding horizons. Against this backdrop, the challenge confronting school managements is to ensure that their students evolve into sensitive, responsible citizens of the new world. Therefore, it is vital for schools to establish a robust team of counselors and teachers who can empathise with the young, and successfully provide guidance and support to students regardless of age and grades.A high schooler is in the phase of transition from adolescence to adulthood. This is the time when teenagers begin to assert themselves, demanding greater freedom to make decisions as they explore newly-acquired privileges and define their independence. This is the time when they need guidance most, but will resist it utmost. It is therefore essential for school managements to provide competent and experienced teacher-counselors who can anticipate and intuitively understand adolescent turmoil, and caringly respond to the needs of students, especially teenagers. Teacher-counselors responsibilities vary depending on institutional size, focus and unique requirements. Day schools — especially smaller ones — may not need coun-selors whereas its essential for residential schools to have a team of teacher-counselors because of the additional responsibility of providing personal and social guidance to boarders. However, the fundamental respons-ibilities of teacher-counselors are to build an environment of mutual trust and goodwill, establish strong personal rapport with students and discharge the role of catalysts, enhancing and complementing the academic and social progress of students. More specifically, teacher-counselors must assume the following responsibilities: Counseling. It has been proven extensively that in times of crisis, the only person other than a parent that youth turn to are teachers whom they find worthy of their trust and confidence. Great mentors have the ability to recognise the need for timely intervention and guide their mentees through any kind of difficulty, especially emotional and behavioural. With their ability to empathise, counselors help improve students attitudes and motivation, encourage positive social behaviour, cultivate a sense of responsibility and set appropriate career goals. Consultation. Trained counselors are patient, open-minded and flexible. Those with good interpersonal skills and instinctive understanding of the disposition of students are usually given the responsibility of providing consultative assistance to class teachers. Progressive schools encourage class teachers to collaborate with counselors and seek their support in resolving specific problem cases in classroom situations. Likewise, teacher-counselors also host student-parent-teacher meetings and initiate discussion of specific issues. Document cases of problematic behaviour and devise solutions. Identifying, recording and reporting cases of misconduct and disruptive behaviour is an important responsibility of teacher-counselors in most schools. They work closely with school administrations to devise codes of conduct and implement policies to curb anti-social behaviour. Teacher-counselors play a key role in defining aberrant behaviour and drawing up guidelines for students. Conflict resolution. Due to regular interaction with students, counselors are more aware of their individual traits and better positioned to provide timely intervention. They are usually called upon to resolve…

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The managements of the Lavasa Corporation Ltd and Christel House India Pvt Ltd have signed an agreement to construct and operate a school for underprivileged children in the Lavasa hill station township being developed near Pune. Christened Christel House, Lavasa, the school will be constructed by Lavasa as per the design principles specified by Christel House India.Christel House will offer services related to the operation and management of the school in accordance with the comprehensive standards and expectations set forth in the Christel house policy and operations manual. The first phase of construction will be completed by April 2010. The school will become operational from June 2010 as a primary (K-class II) for 120 children to begin with, and will be gradually expanded to cover 780 children upto class XII by June 2014. Lavasa is free Indias first and largest hill city being developed by the Mumbai-based Hindustan Construction Company Ltd around the lakes and picturesque surroundings of the Sahyadri hills. Over 12,500 acres of land situated around the 20 km long Warasgaon Lake is currently under development. Lavasa is a three-hour drive from Mumbai and an hour from Pune. Dalai Lama wows IIM-Indore His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited IIM-Indore on June 10 to bless the commencement of the second year of the postgraduate programme of the class of 2010. Dr. N. Ravichandran, director of IIM-Indore, L.N Jhunjhunwala, the chairman and members of the board of governors, faculty and students received His Holiness on the institutes campus. The Dalai Lama was welcomed to the dais with a huge roar of applause. In his discourse on the subject of ‘Compassion and non-violence, he said that theres potential in India to build a new peaceful and compassionate society of the 21st century. Mutual respect is the only way to create genuine harmony between all religions of the world, he said. Dismissing all claims made on his behalf of his divine status, HH described them as false. I have no healing power, I am not a divine person, I dont do magic. I am talking to you as a fellow human brother, trying to convey my message, he said, highlighting the importance of truth and trust in all interaction. Concluding his historic address to the faculty and students, HH advised them to lighten up. Smiles break all language barriers. It is the humanness in all of us which enables us to connect with each other, he said. Pearsons two new ventures The London-based education publishing and communications transnational Pearson plc announced investments totaling $30 million (Rs.144 crore) in two of Indias leading education companies — the Bangalore-based TutorVista Pvt Ltd, and the Delhi-based Educomp Solutions India Ltd, on June 24. Under the agreement with Educomp, Pearson will acquire a 50 percent equity stake in the formers vocational training business. The new business will deliver a full span of world-class training, assessment and accreditation across a variety of skills and industries at a time of strong and growing demand for effective adult learning…

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“As of now, only 0.37 percent of GDP is spent on higher education. This has to increase if academic reforms are to take place.” UGC chairman Sukhdeo Thorat (Business Standard, June 8) “The focus of the Indian government should be on science education in high schools. You just cant talk about science and innovation. Youve got to encourage kids outside of their restrictive curriculum in schools.” Nobel prize winning scientist Sydney Altman (The Hindu, June 8) “Even with the good schools, we have got to pick up the pace, because the world has gotten competitive. The Chinese, the Indians, they are coming at us and theyre coming at us hard, and theyre hungry, and theyre really buckling down.” US President Barack Obama (Times of India, June 12) “We are up against a person who says black is white and four equals five. He looks into the camera and lies with self-confidence.” Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Iranian presidential candidate, accusing the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of lying about the state of Irans economy (Time, June 22) “The right to education cannot mean the right to attend a government school where little teaching is done and students finish school functionally illiterate. This crime against children must be rectified by the new minister for human resource development, Kapil Sibal.” Editorial in The Economic Times (June 25) “Sleepless nights over class X examinations are not needed. We will reform it and make the class X examination optional. We should not traumatise education. It is unacceptable.” Kapil Sibal, Union HRD minister, announcing the ministrys ambitious 100-day plan in Delhi (June 26) “The best question Ive been asked in my meetings with students is: ‘What are we learning that is most wrong?” Investment guru Warren Buffet (Business Today, June 28)

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Parents of students, if not students themselves, enroled in Maharashtras 192 upscale schools affiliated with the Delhi-based CISCE (Council of Indian School Certificate Examinations) and CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Educa-tion), are reeling with shock following a June 8 announcement made by Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, the states education minister. Patil announced that the government will reserve 90 percent of capacity in the states 630 junior (Plus Two) colleges for students completing their class X school-leaving exams from schools affiliated with the SSC (Secondary School Certificate) examination board of the state government.In effect, this means that of the total number of 157,500 seats on offer in state government aided junior colleges at the start of every academic year, only 15,750 seats will be available to top-graded CISCE and CBSE students. Against this, an estimated 30,720 students in Maharashtra write the CBSE and CISCE boards class X exams every year. The only saving grace of this shock announcement is that the government intends to seek legal clearance of this proposal prior to translating it into law. Parent communities in Indias most industrial state (pop. 98 million), which has witnessed a rash of new schools affiliated with the Delhi-based exam boards (widely perceived to offer high- quality, globally benchmarked curric-ulums), are outraged by what they perceive to be an attempt by the state government to give students from state board-affiliated schools an unfair advantage over students from more upscale (and expensive) schools affiliated with the pan-India boards. With parents of CBSE and CISCE-affiliated schools openly vowing to challenge the June 8 ministerial pronouncement in court, Vikhe-Patil was forced to issue a supplementary statement saying that the government will solicit legal opinion prior to enforcing the 90:10 admissions proposal. The prime cause of the latest school education row, which has provoked a flood of letters to the editors of Mumbais top five English language dailies and jammed the telephone lines of top legal firms, is the multiplicity of examination boards in the country. School managements have the option of affiliating their institutions with CISCE and CBSE — which demand superior infrastructure and higher investment in applicant schools — or with state examination boards, which are less demanding. Nevertheless for reasons of political correctness, averages obtained in the class X exam of state board-affiliated schools are given equal weightage with marks and grades obtained in the class X exams of CISCE and CBSE schools. But of late, with a growing number of school managements preferring to affiliate with the two pan-India boards, in typical Indian style the state government has resorted to reservations, instead of raising teaching-learning standards in SSC schools to make the latter more attractive to students. The consensus of informed opinion within the academic community is that there is already an inherent bias in favour of SSC students applying to junior colleges in all states including Maharashtra, inasmuch as notwith-standing their less rigorous syllabus, curriculum and examinations, their marksheets are given equal status with those of class X school leavers from CBSE and…

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First off the blocks in the race to showcase some achievement after completion of the first 100 days in office by the new Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA-2) government, which was sworn in on May 22, is Kapil Sibal, the new incumbent of Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi which houses the Union HRD ministry. Within 27 days of being sworn in on May 25, Sibal rolled out a 10-point agenda for radical reform of primary-secondary education and 24-proposals for recasting higher education, raising hopes as well as eye-brows. What the economy underwent in 1991, education will in 2009, Sibal promised a specially convened press conference in Delhi on June 25.Certainly by the soporific standards of post-independence Shastri Bhavan and of the past decade in particular, when incumbents Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi of the BJP and dyed-in-the-wool socialist Congress party stalwart Arjun Singh heavily politicised the ministry without initiating any worthwhile academic reforms, Sibal is moving at whirlwind speed. In school education he has announced an intent to make the school-leaving class X board exam optional; enact the long pending Right to Education Bill; devise a framework for public-private partnerships; explore the possibility of setting up an independent accreditation body for schools and constitute a madrasa board for upgrading the primary-secondary education dispensed in the countrys 30,000 madrasa schools. In higher education as well a rain of legislative measures have been promised. They include establishing an overarching authority for higher education on the lines of the National Knowledge Commission and Yash Pal Committee recommendations, enactment of the Foreign Education Providers (Regulation for Entry and Operation) Bill; constituting a tribunal for fast track adjudication of disputes between stakeholders in education; review of the status of deemed universities; setting up National Institutes of Technology; and devising a national teacher curriculum, among other proposals. Even if partly actioned, they would radically transform Indian education. People have been waiting a long time for such meaningful education reforms. The ministers statements of intent are in the right direction. But the details need to be worked out carefully with a balanced approach and attention to detail, warns Prof. Furqan Qamar, professor of management studies at Jamia Milia University and advisor (education) to the Planning Commission. Inevitably, not everyone is enthused, least of all leaders and acolytes of the two communist parties — CPM and CPI — which were roundly trounced in the recently concluded 15th general election. The governments of the left-ruled states of Kerala and West Bengal in particular have been quick to criticise the proposal to abolish the class X boards and to initiate public-private partnerships (PPPs) in education. Never in the history of India has a Union minister made so many announcements unilaterally. He should have consulted the state governments first. He is destroying education in the country without regard for the federal system and Parliament. Moreover Sibals heavy emphasis on PPPs will commercialise education. Thus far private educationists were only getting free or concessionally-priced land; now they will get money as well. The impression…

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