Eminent Men and the Education System

Maths Maths - Go Away

CBSE Chief Ashok Ganguly (no less!) has proposed to the HRD Ministry to make Maths and English optional subjects for SC/ST Students.

"It will be suicidal if these subjects are downgraded to the level of optional subjects in the formative stages of the school education. It is academically unsound," - Mohd Ishaq, noted educationist and author of the book - Education as a movement and a challenge.

Links:
Maths on its way out
English, Maths as Optional !


The Education Minister and Language

The Education Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Horatti issues a directive to de-recognize 1400 private schools for having English as Medium of Instruction.

Narayana Murthy : Every Child must have the option to attend an English-medium school.

Link: Mind your Language

The Higher Education Minster and Tipu Sultan

Karnataka’s Higher Education Minister D H Shankaramurthy : Tipu Sultan is a usurper and anti kannada figure.

"We are a democracy, we all have the right to show how stupid we are – but I think the minister of education should not exercise that right" - Girish Karnad

Link: Row Over Tipu Sultan

Source: Education Challenge

Questions

When was the last time :

• that a Education Minister, HRD Minister spoke about the URGENT need for India to become 100% literate society, stressed need of Primary Education?
• that the government and its teeming bureaucrats asked themselves - why is it that Teachers in a very large number of govt. run schools in Rural areas don't even show up for work?
• govt. figured out - where is money being spent on Primary Education going - with no visible improvement in literacy or quality of education in govt. schools? Anyway - 16000 crores is planned to be spent on reservations in Higher Education - while Primary Education is in disarray. WHY?

Link:

For a country in which higher education is so valued, India's record in primary education is dismal. - Kaushik Basu - Professor of economics, Cornell University