Extraordinary Dr. Kumar
Congratulations for the inspirational success story ‘The very extraordinary Prof. Raj Kumar’ (EW October), a welcome departure from routine EW cover features. This visionary educator dared to dream of establishing India’s first global university, and how! I applaud his grit, determination and extraordinary project conceptualisation and management capabilities.
It’s amazing to read how over the past 12 years since admitting its first batch of 100 students, the O.P. Jindal Global University in rural Haryana has grown to attract 8,200 students mentored by 900 highly qualified faculty including 100 full-time international faculty from 41 countries. This is an indication of the high education standards maintained by this liberal arts institution under Prof. Raj Kumar’s able leadership.
May his tribe increase!
Adithi Ananda
Chennai

Also read: The Very Extraordinary Dr C Raj Kumar

Not so extraordinary
I am a regular reader of EducationWorld and follow with great interest your lead education features. However your cover story ‘The very extraordinary Prof. Raj Kumar’ (EW October) was disappointing.
In my knowledge and opinion, there are many unsung heroes in education with inspirational success stories and Prof. Raj Kumar’s story does not even come close. I am surprised that an education magazine of two decades standing dedicated not just the cover page but also several inside pages to his life history, including details about his wife and family. It’s time your magazine got back on track!
Himaja Naidu
Hyderabad

Laudable patriotism
Thank you for the well-written and motivating cover story on the “extraordinary” Dr. C. Raj Kumar, vice chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University (EW October). His single-minded dedication to building a world-class university is laudable and inspiring.
I especially want to congratulate him for his nationalism and patriotism to return to India and contribute to education development of this country, even as many of his contemporaries decided to remain and teach abroad. After his education at Oxford and Harvard, he could well have landed a comfy highly-paid job in US academia. That he chose to return to India to put his blue-chip education to good use is reflective of his loyalty for this country. We need more people like him.
T. Surya Kumar
Chennai

Public utility call
To read about the digital divide in India’s much-hyped Silicon Valley known for its transformative IT revolution in your special report ‘IT capital’s shocking digital education divide’ (EW October) was truly a shocking revelation. I shudder to think of the extent of disparity in tier II and III cities.
I agree with Nooraine Fazal’s views that there is urgent need to address the mounting learning loss suffered by children in the over 60-weeks campus lockdown by declaring Internet connectivity a public utility like electricity and water supply. I also urge EducationWorld to explore the ground situation in other metro cities.
Karthik Ravishankar on e-mail

Learning loss challenge
‘Learning loss nonchalance’ (Education News, EW October) that cites data from the Pratham Education Foundation’s ASER 2020 Karnataka Rural Report establishes what experts have feared all along since the Covid-prompted mass schools’ closure in March 2020.
I am a government school teacher. Despite our best efforts to remain connected with students, I must admit we failed to do justice in terms of quality of education imparted. The ASER report rightly states that we need much more than mere bridge courses to restore learners’ loss of learning.
Clearly this is an issue that must be addressed jointly by the government and education institutions. The sooner the better!
Sahadev Avarsekar
Pune

Welcome initiative
I read with interest ‘Patriotism curriculum gambit’ (Education News, EW October) about the Delhi state government introducing a deshbhakti curriculum in all its schools with the objective of developing self-awareness, ethical social behaviour and social and civic responsibility.
This is a welcome initiative that other states could emulate provided an independent committee of experts with no political affiliations or agenda, objectively frames the curriculum before implementation.
Sreemoyee Chatterjee
Kolkata