Overdue recognition
I was delighted to discover that my alma mater — Government Science College, Bengaluru — has been awarded recognition and ranked India’s #1 government autonomous arts, science and commerce college for two years consecutively in the EW India Higher Education Rankings 2022-23 (EW April).
I recall the college has an impressive campus in the heart of the city, state-of-the-art labs and highly qualified lecturers, but is totally ignored by media despite its distinguished alumni including Infosys co-founder K. Dinesh, philanthropist Veerendra Heggade, Justice Venkatachalaiah, Kannada actor Mukhyamantri Chandru, former speaker of the Karnataka legislative assembly Ramesh Kumar, among others.
Venkatesh M., Bengaluru
Curious welfare
Congratulations for publishing the comprehensive EW India Higher Education Rankings 2022-23 (EW April). The country’s best higher education institutions need to be acknowledged and celebrated for the herculean efforts they made to ensure learning continuity of students during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among the parameters under which you have ranked colleges, the faculty welfare and development parameter is most important. It’s a no-brainer that institutions which invest in faculty welfare and development deliver best learning outcomes. However, during the pandemic many private colleges cut the pay of faculty while forcing them to put in extra hours for online classes.
Shabana Rizwi on EMAIL
Case for deregulation
In the Teacher-2-Teacher essay, author Vedant Thadani rightly describes the BJP government’s vision of India becoming a global leader in education as a mere pipe dream (EW April). Liberalisation is urgently required in Indian higher education. A free market will breed excellence with stiff competition compelling sub-standard education institutions to shut down.
The stream of medical undergrads returning from war-torn Ukraine and Covid-stricken China is clear indication that India has an inadequate number of medical colleges. Government should urgently deregulate higher, especially medical, education to attract private investment.
Dr. Ruchi Saxena on EMAIL
Urgent necessity
The education news report ‘Political disinterest’ (EW April) stating that 1,400 budget private and government schools in Karnataka recorded zero new enrolments last year is shocking. It is proof that hundreds of children have dropped out of school during the pandemic. With parents suffering job loss, lakhs of children have been forced to join the workforce to supplement family incomes.
The state government needs to immediately launch a back-to-school campaign to re-enrol dropped-out children. Teachers should be deployed to conduct door-to-door household surveys to connect with out-of-school children and bring them back to school.
This is very urgent as children have already lost two years of school and suffered huge learning loss.
Shanti Ramanathan, Bengaluru
Stiff price
Thanks for your well-argued editorial ‘Ukraine invasion not entirely unprovoked’ (EW April). While most of us are moved to tears by the horrifying pictures of Russian aggression in Ukraine, very few of us have made the time to analyse the situation dispassionately. A constituent of the former Soviet Union, Ukraine has been defying President Putin’s repeated requests against it signing up as a member of NATO, an anti-Soviet coalition of Western countries. Now sadly, it’s paying the price.
Ukraine should withdraw its NATO membership ambitions and accept limits on its armed forces in the interest of saving the lives of its citizens. But now it’s too late, as President Putin seems hell-bent on winning the war.
P. Manjunath, Chennai
Corrigenda
• DAV College, Abohar has been inadvertently printed as DAV College of Education, Abohar in the EW India Non-autonomous Colleges Rankings 2022-23 on p.74 (EW April).
• Rajeev Gandhi Memorial College of Engineering & Technology, Kurnool has been inadvertently been ranked in Telangana state (p.88) in the EW India Private Engineering Colleges Rankings 2022-23. Its correct ranking is in the state of Andhra Pradesh #7.
We regret the errors. All corrections have been made online on www.educationworld.in — Editor
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