Education
Education
Issue Articles
There is Much to Gain and Little to Fear from Reopening Schools
There is ample scientific and epidemiological evidence to indicate it is safe to reopen schools for children of all ages. It is not a question of whether to reopen schools, but what should be done to bring children back to the classroom.
The English Education of a Kashmiri
"In a conflict-ridden space like Kashmir, can working-class people express and understand the world in a language that is not their own, while simultaneously aspiring to be upwardly mobile? Is that desire worth the struggle it takes to reach there?"
Rote Learning and the Destruction of Creativity
The shallow form of schooling with its emphasis on information kills rather than develops curiosity and creativity, all made worse by the importance given to 'marks' recorded in exams. An overhaul is needed but not one driven by digital delusions.
Misreading the Past
The UGC’s New Framework for Indian History
A new undergraduate history curriculum reduces the complexity of the past to simplistic ideas of religious difference. The official promotion of such ahistorical thinking adds weight to the project of misreading the past to fuel divisive passions.
For A Bahujan Economics
A Personal Statement
Bahujan students face hostility in universities but they cannot give up. They must fight to assert their identity, reject being called “non-meritorious” and master their subjects. One scholar recounts her struggle and demands a more compassionate Economics.
Why I’m Losing Hope in India
A socialist, secular, democratic reflection
It is not the economy that makes one worried for India. It is the flattening of diversity, the undermining of education that gave mobility to so many, and the entire 'banality of evil' around us that makes me lose hope. A young Indian responds to another.
School Teachers in NEP 2020
Contradictory messages and silence on critical issues
The New Education Policy pays obeisance to school teachers but while the policy makes some interesting recommendations, there is no radical change in the offing that will improve the quality of teaching or the working conditions of the all-important teacher.
The National Education Policy on School Education
Putting the Private before the Public
The National Education Policy lacks a coherent strategy to strengthen public education. It does not own the narrative of education as a public good, instead the policy pushes for private practices antithetical to public goals.
Aspects of School Education in NEP 2020
Some Innovations, Some Familiar Prescriptions, Many Unrealistic Timelines
The New Education Policy has new as well as old interesting ideas on school education but execution will call for a change in mindsets to broaden horizons and the training of a vast number of highly skilled teachers, all within impossible timelines.
NEP 2020 on Higher Education
Wishing Away Structural Problems, Wishing a Magical Solution
The National Education Policy 2020 does not address the structural problems in higher education today. It instead merely rejigs the existing edifice, creates new institutions & reimagines the system, all in the hope that a new, creative one will then emerge.
Academic Freedom In India
A Status Report, 2020
Academic freedom is about the right to study, teach and research a diversity of viewpoints. Yet, this right that is so crucial for the pursuit of knowledge has seen widespread attacks in colleges and universities across India.
The Pedagogical Problems of the Census
The policy in the census of ‘rationalising’ languages has a debilitating impact on the speakers of unrecognised languages; they are condemned not to access education in their own languages.
Skilling the Last First
"Our skill ecosystem has to be flexible and inclusive as this can be crucial to overturn the social constructions of worth in a society that is ridden with inequalities."
Randomization in the Tropics Revisited
A Theme and Variations
Randomized control trials are a useful tool in development economics. But RCTs are not a gold standard; like other tools they face problems of inference, they cannot claim to have established causality and some of them raise serious ethical concerns.
Indecent Proposals in Economics
The 2019 Nobel laureates in Economics should use their new stature to call for a moratorium on experiments done on vulnerable populations since poor ethical standards often mark the design and conduct of Randomised Control Trials on these groups.
The Closed Nature of Indian Universities
Inbreeding and nepotism have for long been features of universities. The favoured students go from being postgraduates to doctorates and then become lecturers, all within the same university. This has naturally had a negative impact on academic culture.
The National Medical Commission: A Renaming or Transformation?
Medical education in India has been beset so far by scandal. In medical practice, professional bodies have been opposing plans for a mid-level professional. Can the new National Medical Commission reform education and regulation to enable better healthcare?
Structural Violence of Casteism
A Personal Narrative by an Adivasi University Teacher
In West Bengal, the symbolic violence of caste is more intense than physical violence. A university teacher describes the everyday exclusionary experiences of adivasis in education spaces and the operation of caste-based glass-ceilings when they do find jobs.
Understanding India's Jobs Challenge
Unemployment today is at an all-time high but that is not the only challenge in jobs: more and more workers are withdrawing from the labour force, the wages of casual workers are below a reasonable minimum, and regular workers are largely without a contract.
The Story of My English
Can an autobiographically-inclined social history reveal the role of English in shaping caste privilege, regulating class mobility and enabling individual agency? This essay risks an answer.
Building Foundations Well: The challenge for primary education
The draft New Education Policy gets it right in emphasising the importance of Early Childhood Care and Education and the need to urgently work on establishing foundational literacy and numeracy at the primary stage, where there is currently a learning crisis.
School Differentiation in India Reinforces Social Inequalities
In promoting schooling that is differentiated by class, caste, region, religion, language and standards, the state is working against the possibility of realising a democratic and equitable society.
The Language of Learning
Should children in Indian schools be taught in their mother tongue or English? This should not be an either/or question. The time to teach multiple languages in primary schools is now, it will mean better learning outcomes for children.
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