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Identifying talent

The reforms suggested by Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Kabil Sibal in our education system are highly praiseworthy. In India, so far we are into habit of judging the intelligence and brightness of students by looking at the percentage they score, ignoring other talent that they bring along. Now, with the era of reality shows and mass awareness, kids have got a platform to showcase their hidden talent. But still a lot has to be done to save the students and their parents from the trauma which begins as early as at an age of two when parents want their kids to attend to best of kindergartens. For long it has been suggested that we should adopt the practical approach in our educational system. Kapil suggested the use of same building as a private and as a municipal school, which I think is a recommendable thought whereby the same teachers teach both the category of students. Hope his attempts to lay the foundation of a modern, vibrant education find the light of the day so that India marches forward and competes with the world.

Ritu Chauhan

Via mail No work, no pay

It refers to Prasoon's column "For holidays, join govt jobs" (TSI, June 29–July 5). Holidays seem to come in the line of duty as those in government service have more days of official leave available to them as against the total number of working days. Successive governments have been talking about reforms ever since Independence, but the exercise has remained mostly on paper. The problem may be phrased in terms of control, accountability and responsibility. The salaries of government employees should be linked to better performance. The present hikes don't seem to have any realistic link to performance. Honestly speaking, it is not at all justifiable. The government has become an over-manned establishment, besides adding to the disguised employment, acts as a huge drain on resources. This needs to be checked immediately.

Ruchika H

Via mail Damaging reality

Prasoon has hit the nail that reality shows are using children to raise their TRPs and if they actually mean to do some good to kids participating in the show, they should provide them with a platform to not just showcase their talent but improving it and taking it to the next level. But it’s in reality a damaging trend that’s growing at a startling speed and has a huge potential for psychological damage in these children. The distress of losing in the show is likely to have long term consequences for many of the kids. Rather, parents are also getting increasingly carried away with the fast money they can make to secure their child’s future — yes acting a bit selfishly. They are happy to put children at psychological risk by doing this. So is it in reality a success?

Kapil

Via mail