Letters to the EDITOR: Weather change

Weather change

Through your esteemed daily columns, I write to you with grave concern regarding the recent policy note from the World Bank, which highlights the profound and detrimental effects of climate change on education outcomes worldwide. The findings revealed in your front-page story from the Sunday edition paint a stark picture of the challenges faced by education systems in the wake of increasingly prevalent extreme weather events. Over the past two decades, extreme weather occurrences such as floods, cyclones, and heatwaves have wreaked havoc on schools, resulting in prolonged closures affecting over five million individuals globally.

This disruption is exacerbated when school infrastructure is compromised or when educational institutions are repurposed as evacuation centers. Moreover, the adverse impacts of climate change extend beyond physical infrastructure, directly affecting students' health, well-being, and academic performance. What is particularly alarming is the ripple effect of climate-induced educational erosion on future earnings and productivity, disproportionately affecting families and communities in lower economic brackets.

In regions like Assam, where the annual onslaught of floods disrupts education access and quality, urgent action is imperative. Schools and colleges, especially in rural areas, face prolonged closures due to inundation, submergence, and the conversion of educational facilities into temporary relief camps. Even after floodwaters recede, the threat of post-flood diseases looms large, further compromising the educational journey of children. The World Bank's call to action, urging governments to fortify education systems for greater resilience, demands immediate attention from policymakers. Key areas highlighted, including education management, school infrastructure, empowerment of students and teachers, and ensuring learning continuity, serve as a roadmap for mitigating the adverse effects of climate change on education. I implore the Government of Assam to heed the recommendations put forth by the World Bank and take decisive steps to adapt education systems to the realities of climate change.

It is incumbent upon us to safeguard the educational opportunities of current and future generations, ensuring that no child's potential is compromised by environmental challenges beyond their control.

Sabina Ahmed,

Dibrugarh University

Deafening silence

Sometime back one Nupoor Sarma publicly passed some very derogatory remarks against the supreme prophet of Islam. The whole nation condemned her in one voice. The Supreme Court too was rightly very vocal in this regard in condemning her for her unfair act. Smt Sarma even started receiving even death threats from some radical secular elements. Again, sometime back a DMK leader and current CM of Tamil Nadu and a lady SP leader publicly accused one religion to which the majority of countrymen belong to. Of course, there were some protests across the nation from some so-called ‘communal forces’ in this regard but pseudo liberal gangs refused to utter any word of condemnation.

Very surprisingly, the very SC is so far maintaining a deafening silence due to reasons not known to majority Indians.

Lanu Dutta Chowdhury,

Guwahati

Timely editorial

Being an ex-subscriber of your esteemed daily, yours truly was after sometime once again impressed by your timely and judicious editorial published on May 13, captioned School dropouts which by chance I went through. It is really very alarming to note the increase number of school dropouts in the state which in the long run may pose a problem to our society as those dropouts may resort to any criminal acts.

Along with the authority concerned I also believe that our society too has a role to play.

Dr. Ashim Chowdhury

Guwahati

School dropouts

The state's overall educational scenario does not quite paint a rosy picture. In your May 13 editorial ‘of school dropouts’ you have rightly said that the alarming dropout rates at the primary level in the state is indeed a matter of serious concern. The learning abilities of a vast segment of our future citizens stand hindered largely because education at the primary level has not been imparted in the manner it should. Many students in rural areas cannot do simple arithmetic calculation or read or understand simple sentence in English. The latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASERs) assessment is merely yet another validation of what has been a grossly neglected sphere of human resource development. The rot lies in the downward slide of government-funded school education. The persistent lacuna on the part of the goverment is effective qualitative changes at the primary level. The high dropout rates in the South Salmara-Mankachar district is a colossal wastage of human resources just because our government and policy makers have failed to put adequate thrust on the qualitative aspects of education. The urban-rural divide remains another serious concern.

Unless it is addressed with appropriate interventions, the practice will leave long-term and disturbing effect on our education. The spiraling fallout will also impact the state's socio-economic sphere. To check the disquieting trend, the sphere of school education must be treated as a high priority area.

There is need for sustained intervention in the aspects like appointment of competent and trained teachers. Teachers and school management must be made answerable for students’ poor performance and school dropouts. Use of various teaching technologies in the primary level must merit attention of the authorities.  The practice of enrolling more students on paper to meet the targets instead of ensuring quality education to enrolled students is a serious ill afflicting our school education today needs to be checked with an integrated approach. It is absolutely true that unless the society as a whole rises to the occasion, the prevailing situation is unlikely to change for the better.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati.