One of the reasons why higher ed academics tend to scorn this upstream-swimming publication is your editors’ unrelenting insistence for the quarter century past, to raise annual national outlay (Centre plus states) for education to 6 percent of GDP as recommended by the high-powered Kothari Commission way back in 1967, and to allocate a major share of it to early childhood and primary education. Against this, the foolish neta-babu brotherhood which has ruled this unfortunate country with an iron hand since independence, has averaged a mere 3.5 percent. This fatal negligence has reduced post-independent India to an also-ran in the global development race.

The majority of academic dons punch drunk with bankrupt communist ideology, argue that “input doesn’t result in output” and “expenditure efficiency” are magic mantras of the education sector. However your editors believe that given the extraordinary self-learning capabilities of India’s children, if provided supportive, enabling infrastructure, they could suo motu transform the country into a high-productivity nation.

Latter day success stories from the world of sports and games are testimony to the self-learning capabilities of India’s children and youth. In cricket, Yeshsahvi Jaiswal was obliged to sleep rough in the maidans of Mumbai and vend snacks and savouries, before his self-learning capability transformed him into a global batting sensation. Moreover from Bihar, India’s most educationally backward state, 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi has emerged as another batting superstar. Dozens of stars in other sports have emerged as world champions without any infrastructure or other support from government in their formative K-12 years.

We believe that if provided half-decent enabling infrastructure in government schools which have an aggregate enrolment of 1.4 million children per year, India could produce millions of world champions. Pity the neta-babu brotherhood and their compliant apologists in the academy can’t figure this out.

Also read: Neta-babu brotherhood destroying private education