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Noteworthy achievement Congratulations upon the completion of five years of uninterrupted publication of EducationWorld. This is indeed a noteworthy achievement for a niche publication entirely focussed upon the unsexy but vitally important subject that is education. You are quite right to give yourself credit for this singular achievement because there seems to be a complete news blackout about EducationWorld in the mainstream media. But envy and denial of achievement come quite naturally to Indians in all walks of life. I myself experienced this as a research scientist in India and was obliged to migrate to the US to be appreciated and allowed to work freely. I read your Special 5th Anniversary issue from cover to cover and was astonished by the amount of information, informed opinion and data provided therein. In particular I felt uplifted that a growing number of high achievers such as F.C. Kohli, Prof. Ramaswamy and Azim Premji are taking an interest in education reform and provided valuable suggestions for modernising Indian education. And it was especially heartening to learn that the new generation of members of Parliament have education at the top of their list of priorities. Richard Naickam on e-mail Special accolades The anniversary issue is looking and reading wonderful. Congratulations on the great achievement of completing five years of uninterrupted publication of EducationWorld, despite the fact that you have not been well supported by industry. This is indeed a great achievement for a magazine entirely focussed upon education. I went through the issue and found it extremely informative and entertaining. The special report ‘Young champions of education in Parliament’ deserves special accolades. Your correspondents have untiringly pursued these elusive politicians and quizzed them. I definitely hope that with so many highly educated and young MPs in the current Lok Sabha, the hitherto dumbed down education system of the country will undergo a major overhaul. One glaring lacuna in the report I feel is that you have not interviewed some of the major political figures like Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia etc. These leaders (esp. Rahul Gandhi) have more clout than other MPs in deciding the future of the country. I once again congratulate you on EW’s 5th anniversary and wish you all the best for the coming years. Indira Ramnath
Secunderabad We pursued Gandhi and Scindia, but failed — Editor Distinguishing characteristic I read the special report ‘Young champions of education in Parliament’ in your 5th anniversary issue (November) with great interest. The author of the feature, Summiya Yasmeen notes that real interest in education is the distinguishing characteristic of the new crop of MPs who have been elected to the Lok Sabha. For the past half century the worthies who have been representing the people’s interest in Parliament have had little awareness that a sound education system is the foundation of national development. This explains why India is the world’s most illiterate and poverty-stricken country. But the old generation politicians have no understanding of this. Sincere congratulations and very best wishes on your 5th anniversary. If you join forces with the new generation of MPs you may be able to lift Indian education out of the deep rut in which it is stuck. Best of luck for the next five years! Bikash Bhattacharjee
Kolkata Kaziranga success story The leisure and travel piece on Assam (EW October 2004) was enlightening. Many of us living in south India are not even aware of the natural, cultural and historical relevance of north-east India. I was particularly impressed by the conservation success story of Kaziranga National Park where the number of one-horned rhinos has increased more than ten times. I wonder why Bittu Sahgal has never mentioned the north-eastern jungles in any of his environment education columns? I feel that EducationWorld should also highlight similar success stories elsewhere in the country. I wish the Karnataka state forest department would learn a lesson or two from Kaziranga and protect the dwindling population of tigers and elephants in Nagarhole and Bandipur forests respectively. Mohan Gowda
Mysore Service to a cause Kindly accept my hearty congratulations on the 5th anniversary of your prestigious publication, its healthy growth and success. You are doing a great service to the cause of education. I wish you all success in your endeavours. May God bless you. Jagdish Gandhi
Manager, City Montessori School
Lucknow Centre for Civil Society prescription Great 5th anniversary issue (EW November)! I am very glad to see that you chose education reform as the cover story. Given that the cover story is on reforms, my column on the Centre for Civil Society’s national education choice campaign is hardly noticeable. In terms of eye balls, the campaign would have gotten more of them by being a box in the cover story rather than a separate piece! To get some response from your audience I’m listing the centre’s reform ideas as under: • Remove license-permit raj to expand the supply of education • Do not subsidise school and college education for all — let those who can afford, pay for it • Help the poor through education vouchers and loans • Grant autonomy to government schools and colleges • Link government grants with learning performance • Decentralise and depoliticise decisions about syllabi, textbooks, and examinations • Convert departments of education from producers of education to financiers and supervisors • Encourage independent evaluation and certification agencies • Confront the hypocrisy of non-profit education — openly allow for-profit institutions at all levels • Pass the Private Universities Bill • Declare education an ‘industry’ so that edupreneurs can access credit and venture capital. Parth Shah, President
Centre for Civil Society, Delhi
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