The Hindu : New Delhi News : A case for better school education

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A case for better school education

Staff Reporter

“The condition of government schools and the standard of their teachers are unsatisfactory”

Delhi University holds its 85th Annual Convocation
Ph.D. degrees conferred on 384 students

Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Well done: Marshal Arjan Singh presenting a certificate to a student at the Delhi University Convocation on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: Though the country is well advanced in the field of higher education with IITs and management institutions doing well, the educational system needs “vast improvement” at the basic school level, said the Marshal of the Indian Air Force, Arjan Singh, here on Saturday.

Delivering the Convocation Address at the 85th annual Convocation of Delhi University, the officer said: “The condition of government schools and the standard of its teachers are thoroughly unsatisfactory. Any improvement will narrow the gap that exists in the quality of education between State-run and private public schools.”

“It requires a far more thoughtful education policy that would make modern skills more widely available. Education is not merely about making millions literate. It is also about the citizen enforcing his or her rights and realising his or her duties and responsibilities as national obligations,” he noted.

Addressing the gathering, Marshal Arjan Singh, the only “Five-Star” rank officer with the Indian Air Force, said he was strongly in favour of “brain drain”: “In my opinion, it is a good happening. Our attitudes are much like the Chinese. We never give up our culture, never break off with the country of origin, and, additionally, always spread our way of life everywhere. Every non-resident Indian, though often critical of us, and probably, rightly so, helps India in some way or the other,” maintained the 89-year-old officer, who said he had to cut short his education at Government College, Lahore, to get into the Indian Air Force.

Touching briefly on his spectacular military life, Marshal Arjan Singh asserted that any Serviceman who has seen the war, its misery, cruelty and devastation, hates it.

“In my own opinion, the only way for us to avoid war is to be fully prepared for it, particularly in the prevailing conditions in which India is placed,” he asserted.

Earlier, Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Deepak Pental bestowed Ph.D. degrees on 384 students, 95 more than in 2006.

The total number of candidates admitted to various degrees offered by the University in 2007 was 70,242 compared to 77,749 in 2006. A total of 171 students received various medals and prizes.

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