Opinion Test drive
The CBSEs decision to introduce open text-based assessment is welcome.
* This refers to the editorial A test for the times (IE,October 22). The CBSEs decision to introduce open text-based assessment is welcome. Providing study material before the test and letting the students apply the concepts they find in it will open the doors to radical thinking. It will leaven the mundane task of mugging up the syllabus. This will help students become freethinkers. Moreover,a number of concepts that might have seemed dull to students otherwise could now be introduced in a more thought-provoking manner.
Gaurav Pant
* Education is a most neglected subject in India. The existing policy does not seem conducive to the nations development. Teachers only encourage rote-learning among students. This form of learning imparts no actual understanding of the subject and is not useful in the long run. The proposal to start open text-based assessments should be welcomed. The childs aptitude can be determined in the first six years of teaching,after which she can be encouraged to pursue the subjects of her choice and excel in them. This may require massive changes at the primary level. The burden of heavy tomes should be taken off young shoulders. Curiosity and creativity lead to problem solving. The process of introducing knowledge should encourage these elements. Qualified teachers,proper class rooms and adequate infrastructure will enable students to acquire practical skills. The nation will then have useful citizens.
S.C.Vaid
Black gold?
* As a prime ministerial hopeful,Narendra Modi should be guarded in his public speeches. He dragged in the religious guru of Unnao while taking pot shots at the Congress for not making an effort to trace money stashed in tax havens (With not-so-saintly note,gold dreamer gets Modi to say sorry,IE,October 22). In his accusations against the Congress,Modi seems to have forgotten that the BJP-led NDA did not take the initiative to bring back money from the tax havens either. While the people welcome his enthusiasm to track down this money,will he include it in his election manifesto and pursue it within a specific time frame,if voted into power? His rabble- rousing utterances at public meetings reflect a sense of insecurity.
K.S. Sundaram
Not so secure
* This refers to Arab League backs Saudi snub to UNSC (IE,October 21). It seems that by rejecting the UNSC seat,Saudi Arabia has thrown into sharp relief certain well-known truths about the way the Security Council works. Multilateralism takes a back seat and the vested interests of the P5 hold sway. This has led to a decline in the credibility of the UNSC.
A. Singh Panwar
Bathinda
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