Curbing groupism beyond limits

Among all the mixed messages and information overload we are subjected to every day in the news, one thing stands out for me this month: a young medical student’s death by ragging. While recognizing that what we read or see Read More …

Making every child count

After having sat up to watch the Oscars and celebrated A R Rahman’s recognition on a global platform, one is struck by the whole phenomenon of appreciation and validation. To receive, and even expect this for technical and creative excellence, Read More …

A hard look at soft skills

I am at a conference; people are milling around the coffee service station, lines forming and unforming at an alarming rate, some brash young upcoming professionals elbowing out older, gentler stalwarts. People are huddled in important-looking clusters and others stand Read More …

Time for clean talk!

December is a month of special days, and we are not just talking about the Christmas holidays! There is World AIDS Day, World Disability Day, World Human Rights Day, World Anti-Corruption Day, and so on. On World Human Rights Day, Read More …

Re-think, revise, reform

From time to time, the nation – and the media – focus on school education, debating such issues as the size of school bags, the dearth of teachers, the lack of infrastructure, and the woeful limits of the reach of Read More …

Stepping up: One reader at a time

What does it take to put together a magazine? Well, it takes some ideas, a team to work on them, people who understand text and pictures and the way they play together in the reader’s mind, and a way to Read More …

Beyond profiteering

A multitude of messages assail your senses every waking hour, advertisements in the morning newspaper, notices pasted on walls despite the ‘stick no bills’ warning, superhuman size hoardings popping off rooftops and lining the roads, signs on buses and autorickshaws, Read More …

Staffroom politics, student perceptions

When a bunch of people get together, there are bound to be differences – of opinion, values and practices. When the people are professionals, the differences may be even more signifi cant, particularly if there are areas where interaction is Read More …

Left out of the loop… Again?

A lot of newsprint has – quite unusually – been devoted to school education in Andhra Pradesh in the last month. The AP State Government has drawn the ire of civil society organisations and teachers’ groups with its recent announcement Read More …

Staying Fresh

As the heat bears down on me my mind fixes on an image; a fi gure reclining in a chair, dressed in cool white, one arm resting across the back of the chair while the other holds a book. A Read More …