Are we being PENNY WISE and POUND FOOLISH?

Hi All,

The government's recent directive to all its ministers to shed luxury and lead an austere life jolted most ministers out of their comfort zones. Some gave defiant interviews while others just twittered away. But when the message was reinforced, one by one fell into place. Suddenly, being austere became the latest fad. Minister after minister 'voluntarily' gave up all of his luxuries. Flying economy became the order of the day and taking Re 1 salary was just something that was ordinary. Now for those of you who haven’t been watching the news and wondering where this is all happening guess what. It’s all happening right here in India. [No I am not kidding...:)]



As comforting as it might sound, the government's latest directive may not really make any difference. I read an article on CNN IBN today which showed in numbers that a Key Figure is just saving Rs10000 by flying economy. Considerably nothing! I would say this directive is mere tokenism; to avoid the wrath of the people at a time of severe drought and mind boggling rise in prices.

It would be wiser to indulge in real cost cutting measures like weeding out government schemes that stink of wasteful expenditure. Removing subsidies from quarters that don’t require it will help as well. Government ads in newspapers every time a power station or a bridge is christened are a gross waste of taxpayer money and have to be stopped if the government wishes to give its latest directive any real credibility.

So what do you people think of the government's latest austerity drive. Is it just mere tokenism or something concrete?

Class 10 exams optional

Hi All,

The decision to make Class 10 exams optional has caught most of us by surprise. After years and years of practically stagnant educational policies, we finally have something that at least smells of change and that too refreshing at that. Though I tend to agree with this decision on the policy level, I am a little anxious on how much actual change is there going to be on the ground. Moreover, the proposed change itself and the consequent discourse has been very urban centric.

First, this decision applies only to CBSE students. One wonders what happens to large swathes of students who are affiliated to other boards esp. the state boards. There is no talk about a similar arrangement for them. Why doesn’t the central government want to bat for these kids too? Paraphrasing the education minister, don’t these kids deserve to be de-traumatized as well?

Apart from making exams optional, other venues of making education more enjoyable and stress free could have been ventured. How about a greater percentage of classes conducted using audio visual aids? Or even tweaking the examination pattern to make assessments application oriented rather than ones that test memory power. How about incorporating achievements in extracurricular activities into the core system so that more children will be encouraged to take up these activities?

As we all know government schools in this country are in a pathetic shape and can be best described as tokens of government presence in the education sector. If the government was truly interested in revolutionalizing education, then it should pour in more money for constructing AND maintaining primary and secondary schools.

So for the reasons mentioned above, I feel that the proposed changes will only benefit a section of the society and will not bring out the real and necessary changes in the existing system.