Bringing talent to the fore
The Union Education Ministry on Monday notified guidelines for implementation of bagless days and making learning in schools more joyful, experimental and stress-free. The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 has recommended that all students in classes 6-8 participate in a 10-day bag-less period.
The idea behind this move is to make them an integral part of the learning process rather than the existing education. It will give them a first hand experience of important vocational crafts such as carpentry, electric work, metal work, gardening, pottery-making among other disciplines as decided by the states and local communities.
In Goa, it would be desirable to introduce music classes in schools covering different music genres including Indian classical music. Love for music is inherent in Goans. As of now children attend private music classes which not everyone can afford.
The talent in children needs to be nurtured from an early age. It helps them develop better confidence, resilience and self-regulation skills. It ignites creativity thereby allowing kids to delve deeper into their passions. A talent can be something that a child is born with, but it can also be something that a child learns, develops, and comes to love. Talent exists not only in children but even in those who belong to all ages. Goa government could start an annual program ‘Goa’s Got Talent’ on the same line as ‘America’s Got Talent’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Administration failures spreading like virus
We are seeing yet again a series of administration failures riddled with corruption, driven by connections of who knows whom and marred by carelessness. The case of Rao’s Study Circle in Delhi being the incident in point where 3 budding youth aspiring for the Central services met a sad end by of all things drowning in the basement where a library of the establishment was functional and right in the middle of the capital city of India.
Apart from the owners of the building who had misutilised the basement assigned for storage and parking, the franchisee as also the operational and top management of the Rao’s Study Circle should be charged with criminal negligence and manslaughter. That the basement was being used by the franchisee as a library would have been known by the management of the Rao’s Study Circle since inspections take place at regular intervals.
Why did they not raise objections to this looking at the safety of the students? The chalta hai, chalne do attitude seemed to prevail. Why did the MCD authorities allow the continuation of this illegal usage of the basement? Were regular checks not done or were their hands greased to look the other way.
The MCD are now saying that they will conduct inspections at all tutorial classes to check for irregularities. What stopped them from doing this earlier then maybe innocent lives could have been saved at the Rao’s Study Circle. The same thing we saw a few months back in Mumbai where a massive hoarding adjacent to a petrol pump collapsed due to wind and rain. This was yet again found to be an unauthorised installation and many people died in that incident. It was later found out that the municipal authorities had turned a blind eye when the hoarding had come up. A clear case of corruption again. Thus these kind of incidents are rampant across India and it is time that the administration is made to perform properly.
Srinivas Kamat, Alto St Cruz
Donald Trump on a sticky wicket
When the 81-year-old American President Joe Biden was in the Presidential election arena, his opponent, the 76-year-old Donald Trump, the former American President was over confident that it was going to be a cake walk for him and was really counting the days to enter the White House again.
He never had an inkling even in his dreams that Joe Biden would be replaced with the much younger and vibrant Vice President Kamala Harris and the election arena will become a real level playing field.
Moreover, the spontaneous support Harris was able to augment from the Democrats including former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle coupled with the surge in donations for her campaign to the tune of $200 million in such a short time that too from most of the first time voters has stunned the temperamental Trump, lose his balance and call Harris names and express his tantrums in the form of unparliamentary diatribes against her.
His appeal to the American Christians to vote for him and send him to the White House this time so that there won’t be any need for another election to chose a new President raises many questions in the minds of the people. Is it a life threat- warning to Harris if she defeats the quixotic Trump or a cheap game played by him to garner the mandate of the Christian community? Both ways, it is unpalatable and it is really unbecoming of a former President in uttering such a statement which is in very bad taste.
When at the election booth to cast their votes,the Americans should think for a minute the ruckus created by Trump and his right wing followers at the Capitol Hill and the mayhem that followed the defeat of Trump at the hands of Joe Biden. Hope better wisdom will prevail on the peace- loving American citizens to conscientiously veto Trump another term in office.
Tharcius S Fernando, Chennai
