Around this time each year, the various private schools put out advertisements for enrolments for the coming academic year. And thus begins the race amongst parents and their kids to secure a place in one of the ‘chosen’ schools.
And, each year I wonder about the policy around ‘home schooling’ in India. The boards like CBSE and ICSE have their syllabus published and available. Isn’t there a way that they can admit as candidates students whose parents have taught them stuff based on the syllabus but haven’t enrolled them into schools ? Is this being done already ? Since the syllabus provides the framework, parents would be in a position to select books and self-pace the learning.
That would perhaps also mean that parents could pool in expertise to form study circles. There are a large number of qualified parents out there who can become better teachers for their children. Looking at the fact that both government and private schools are straining for infrastructre, this might work out. Just a thought.
A little while back I had written about mayhem. This is another along the same lines.
and me took a Jet Airways flight 9W 102 to Kolkata (CCU). As it happened, we saw (and heard) a bunch of doctors speaking Bengali at around the baggage check-in. Turns out that all of them were attending the IRACON 2008 at Pune. And, I was muttering to myself about the chance of this happening to us. The real fun was looking at how the docs were more like 3 year old kids with lollipops in side of the airport. Arguing with the ticketing assistants, creating ruckus at the reservations desk, being muddled at the security check in procedures. But mostly, the sheer abandon with which they spoke loudly into their cell phones all the while trampling over toes and stuff was hilarious.
The icing on the cake was when the good doctor sitting next to me decided to claim that he did not receive candies and got the cabin crew to get him two bags of the stuff. Priceless.
Conversation of the day (that day) : মা, বম্বে এসে গেছি। কিছু বলার নেই। গিয়ে খাব। Which if somewhat ill translated becomes “Mom, reached Bombay. Nothing more to tell. Shall eat when I return.” – when the plan stopped over at BOM on the CCU leg.
A look at life – lived, loved and longed for.
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