Readers’ comments: Don’t students taking exams this year also deserve a syllabus concession?

Testing times

My son is in Class 10 and will be appearing for this exam next month (“NCERT syllabus will be reduced by half from 2019, says Prakash Javadekar”). I was very upset with the unplanned and unassessed syllabus change last year. That was a wrong decision, which has now been withdrawn for next year.

But did the education minister think about the children who will appear for exams this year? Batches before and after 2017-’18 enjoy the liberty of being tested on only half the syllabus. But the current batch has had to undergo so much stress and pressure. Is this right? They have not been able to cope with the syllabus. Teachers have had to rush through it. Are we encouraging students to memorise the syllabus without understanding the concepts?

Time has not been on these students’ side, and this will have an impact on their careers. How will the minister compensate students appearing for exams this year? This is unfair and demotivating. The government has no right to use trial and error with children’s careers. – Ateefa Akhtar Shaikh

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My son will appear for the Class 10 CBSE board 2018-’19. Last year, the CBSE suddenly decided to test the entire year’s syllabus for Class 10, so my son’s batch is the first to face the consequences of that. For social studies, they had to study three textbooks. We are treating children like computers. But even a computer’s memory can run out of space.

Now, Prakash Javadekar has announced a reduction in the syllabus for next year. But what about our children? Don’t they deserve this concession? I would request Javadekar to not be partial and take a neutral decision, so that all children benefit and no one feels left out. I hope appropriate action will be taken. – Sumeeta Gupta

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Didn’t the honourable minister think twice about the woes of the present batch? Until last year, students had to study just the last term’s syllabus for the exam. This year, the entire syllabus was included without a second thought. For next year, it has been halved again. Are the kids taking this year’s exams superhuman? This is very unfair. – Saman

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If Prakash Javadekar has realised that the CBSE syllabus is tougher than some undergraduate courses, I would like to know the reason for this late realisation. Moreover, the decisions taken by the government with regard to the country’s education system should be firm, not temporary or experimental. – Durva Thakare

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I am very happy to learn that the education minister has great concern about the NCERT syllabus of school-going children. It has been very difficult for children to spend so much time with their school books. Children are kept away from physical activities as they have to catch up with the competition. Unfortunately, the Indian system evaluates a student only based on their answers on the sheet. Children who are fast learners and can memorise easily are considered good whereas students who can grasp concepts but cannot articulate them in writing fall behind, which demotivates them. Along with reducing the course load, verbal examinations could also be considered for evaluation. – G Venkata Ramayya

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What about the students of this year? Doesn’t the government think this move is unjust to them? Our merit will go down in comparison to students of coming years. Please don’t play with our future. – Sharad Singh

One for the team

Hats off to the legend. He has always played for the country and the team. His contribution to the game is invaluable. He deserved more recognition. – Nagaraj Rao

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This is a nice and humble decision by the great Rahul Dravid – the Wall! I salute him. – Ashok N Dave

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Rahul Dravid did the correct thing. This is called leading from the front. I have high regard for him. – Jayant Pitke

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Rahul Dravid, you are gem. You really are a role model for the country. God bless you with a long life so that our country benefits. Long live Dravid. – Ranganath SM

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One can only wish that there were more human beings in our country like him, especially among the political class. Thank you Dravid for being what you are: a human being par excellence. – Namita Sood

Lost star

We here like Sridevi and feel sad about her untimely demise (“Before Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, Sridevi was the undisputed superstar of Tamil cinema”). l can understand the superlatives. The truth is that none of our leading heroes could make it big in Bollywood. Kamal had Ek Dhuje Ke Liye, but the Hindi remakes and dubbed versions of his Tamil films caused his downfall. Rajinikanth needed Amitabh Bachchan for the success of his movie. Only Vijayanthimala, Hema Malini and of course, Sridevi, could make it big in the Hindi film industry.

But sadly, it was not a Sadma that made Sridevi a star in Bollywood. She required Himmatwala, with a showy character, to make the breakthrough. – SP Rajkumar

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An actress of eminence has passed away but the media, will not let her soul rest in peace (“‘Maut ka bathtub’: Indian channels take news down the drain with #SrideviDeathMystery”). Numerous conjectures are being floated about how the heartthrob met her end. Many unsung soldiers and commoners lose lose their lives but nobody bothers about them because they are regarded as lesser human beings. Rather than taking a humane view of the circumstances in which the actress left this world, every Tom, Dick and Harry wants to propound myriad theories, as though there was some reward for those who unravel the mystery of Sridevi’s death. The dignity of the dead ought to respected and maintained. Therein lies a true and sincere tribute to the departed soul. – Tarsem Bumrah

IIT-Madras controversy

The sacred song Maha Ganapathim Manasa Smarami performed at IIT-Madras has enhanced the prestige of the Tamil world (“Sanskrit invocation song, instead of Tamil anthem, played at IIT-Madras event triggers controversy”). Lord Ganapathy is the most beloved deity for the South and the world at large. We should be proud enough that our lord is being praised. I don’t think this is a matter of concern. This song should not be the reason for controversy at any occasion ever. – PS Chunduri

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It is time to move IIT-Madras out of Tamil Nadu. The intervention of anti-Sanskrit politicians or any such interference is inimical to the growth of a centre of excellence. The IIT belongs to the country as a whole and not to Tamil Nadu. Students and faculty from all parts of India work there.

All students, staff and faculty must pledge to work to promote academic activities without any scope for non-academic affairs. People in authority must rule with a tough hand and put out destructive fires forever. – Murti Yerrapragada

Modi days

I seem to be living in a different country because in 50 years (I am 62) I have, for the first time, seen traffic police managing vehicles (“Modi has over-promised and under-delivered, but you may have been too distracted to notice”). I commute to Dharavi in Mumbai four times daily. I have found that the roads are much better and the repair works have survived the monsoon, which was not the case for the past 30 years. Street vendors are being managed effectively and there is more space on the roads. There’s a constant endeavour to improve things. There is much better policing than before. The author has also not noticed that the response to Elphinstone railway bridge tragedy was prompt and constructive. The inertia of 50 years, the cancer of corruption given birth to and nurtured by Congress will take time to be eliminated.

Scams happen in all the countries, it’s the response of the government that counts. The author, it seems, is living in some other country. In a country as vast as India, all kinds of things can happen. The Congress stopped bothering long time back. Modi is at least trying, and we see that in his choice of ministers. I wish from bottom of my heart that Congress never ever comes back to power, at least not in its current form. Maybe if they disown the Nehru dynasty, apologise to the nation for wrongdoings of the last 60 years and promise to change, then maybe. – Desai Jayesh

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Keep at it, guys. I hope your conscience is clear when you write this, but stop demonising Hindus. There are faults and it will take time. Obviously the Congress-led rule based on western political principles wasn’t working for India. Modi is trying something else. So is the problem that Muslims and minorities are not being appeased? Do you support triple talaq? We got rid of Sati as it didn’t conform to life today, so why not get rid of polygamy and triple talaq? Why is a uniform civl code communal?

If Modi wants to bring change, even if his reasons are not right, I would support it, if in the long run it benefits women and society in general. Who cares if he does it for the wrong reasons (that is, Hindu appeasement). We will oust him if he gets too big for his boots but for now, I’m happy with what he is doing. Indians are always taking down fellow Indians. I’m a Kiwi Indian living in Australia and have also lived in the US for seven years. If nothing else, this had given me a perspective on Indians that I’m not sure I’m proud of. – Sakshi Prabhu

In cold blood

What is the world coming to (“‘It was a merciless act,’ says mother of Adivasi youth murdered by mob in Kerala”)? Where is love, humanity and mercy? What cruelty is this? The merciless killing of A Madhu in Kerala’s Palakkad district is a clear example of the loss of love and humanity. – Anju A

Biased media

I wonder why the media is so prejudiced in reporting normal matters of everyday life (“BJP leader owned vehicle that killed nine schoolchildren in Muzaffarpur, allege Bihar Police, RJD”)! Road accidents happen all the time, especially in India, because of road conditions and the high vehicle and population density. So why should a particular accident be reported as something special? One can argue that it makes news because of the high number of casualties, but then how does it matter whether the vehicle owner was a Congressman or a BJP leader, or someone else? Was he behind the wheel? Even if he was, did his driving have anything to do with his loyalty to his party? Has the Indian media gone to dogs? – MN Rao

Serious note

Thank you for carrying this video (“Watch: Two comedians tell comedy group AIB what is wrong with female representation in their videos”). That was a brilliant analysis by the two comedians and it was nice that Scroll.in included AIB’s gracious response as well, Thanks for connecting me to this video, and keep up the good work! – Michele

Army politicisation

This is a well crafted article on General Rawat’s increasing meddling in the Indian political scenario (“Why Army chief Rawat’s comments about Assam party should worry all Indians who care about democracy”). The most troubling matter is his frenzied use of the name of the ruling party in everything, be it to praise its policies or leaders, or to belittle other parties. This man clearly is going beyond his brief.

In doing so, he appears increasingly like a former Army chief and now a BJP member and minister of state. That former chief too, while donning Army uniform, disgraced the Army and especially his brother officers through his street fighting. General Rawat should stop politicising the Army and if he cannot desist from that, he must step down to preserve the morale of the Armed Forces. Just because it suits him, Narendra Modi turns a blind eye to this, not realising that he could be sowing the seeds for an Army takeover. Maybe that is what he wants too, as he stands little chance to retain power in 2019. If so, that could be his most anti-India act ever, overshadowing even his corporates first and anti-people policies. – S Sugunakumar

Unbankable regime

The Nirav Modi-Punjab National Bank scam is a wake up call to the nation that all is not well in this country (“The PNB-Nirav Modi scam could have a negative ripple effect on India’s banking sector”). When we had an intelligent RBI governor, Prime Minister Modi and his finance minister wanted to get rid of him. Urjit Patel is a spineless RBI governor, who could not tell Narendra Modi that demonetisation is a stupid step. Narendra Modi says he is against corruption, but this Nirav Modi incident is a result of political funding and corrupt practices of parties! Why has Narendra Modi not taken any action against Adani, allegedly involved in a money laundering case, or those named in the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers? – Onkar Singh

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Public banks have no owners and that is why such incidents take place. This will continue in the future too. Without privatisation, there is no solution. It is not the government’s job to operate a bank. There was a time when there was no money available for loans and that is why nationalised banks were needed but that is no longer the case. – Bhanudas C

Alliance troubles

First, let the Rayalaseema BJP leaders get funds for backward districts of the region, as promised in the Andhra Pradesh Bifurcation Act, so that Andhra can allocate money for Rayalaseema (“Andhra Pradesh: BJP wants state’s second capital in Rayalseema, passes resolution”). How will the cash-starved Andhra government allocate extra funds? The BJP leaders who are raising a problem are first people of Andhra. It is surprising how they are falling into the Centre’ trap and destroying Andhra. – Srinivas Akkiraju

Family matters

The video shows tensions within the hallowed joint family setup, where you find a bullied daughter-in-law, bullying mothers-in-law and the stern tyrant of the family (“Watch: This advertisement has sparked off a debate as it asks people to support tough mothers”). But spare a thought for the child thrown into this emotional roller coaster. Not once was did anyone ask why he took the Rs 10. There was only sermonising. – Shashi Kiran