Right to free compulsory education is here! And the television channels and print media is filled with articles on how difficult it is to implement, thereby displaying the pathetic infrastructure of the government primary schools in various parts of our country! This actually disturbs me. Media should focus on the success stories of villages where a small group of people transformed the standard of education there. Why doesn't the televisions start with programmes that teach these children instead. I used to love watching shows like Chutti-Chutti, Tarang, Turning Point, Bournvita quiz contest and Surabhi. I credit them highly for the knowledge I hold today. Why are these channels filled with mindless reality shows?
Why should the education ministers of MP or West Bengal and other reputed educationists only complain about lack of infrastructure instead of suggesting and innovative ways and means to make the Act succeed? The big private schools have agreed to admit 25% of the students from deprived class. I understand that we need more 5 lakh teachers to meet the expected teacher student ratio (30:1). I understand training them will be difficult. Can't we use media for training them? Especially voice and Digital media! Japan implements this successfully. We must learn from IPL how to extract money from rich men's pockets. We can bring in private players into the education sector.
Let all the stakeholders of this Act act! And when I think of the stakeholders, I can see an entire nation that has to participate in it. From an engineer leaving his job and becoming a teacher, to a farmer deciding one fine day to send his child to school. It needs some drastic changes in the mindset of people of every strata. Lets build a nation!