I passionately believe that we need a public library system that is on par with the best in the world, and is accessible to all.
I have not met any Indian who has not returned from the US, glowing with praise for the public library system there. I myself think most of my real education happened rather late in my life, in the early eighties, when, for
seven years we led a nomadic existence in the US, with little opportunity for entertainment except for the free libraries in every city we lived in. I will always be grateful for the warm welcome, the quality and the variety of books and the frequent events and discussions held there.
Type: Article
Making the system respond
t’s been a good year in Bangalore and Karnataka for primary education. The Right to Education Bill will soon
become law and the state is gearing up to put mechanisms and resources into place to get the last child into school. The numbers of children enrolling into class one, has shown continuous improvement. Some infrastructure development – addition of classrooms, toilets etc., has taken place. Much more is needed but it will happen.
Answer is blowin’ in the wind – Today, the situation is such that even the mighty Cauvery is not enough to slake the thirst of this city.
In all the crises that have overtaken the city, one that looms grey and large is the effect of excess ram. Overflowing lakes, tanks and drains have almost made us forget that other and worse crisis that often affects the city – water scarcity.
When rainfall is inadequate, the water supply dries up alarmingly. And then begins a whole parade of woes.
Apparently the city can manage neither plenty nor scarcity.
It is strange that after 5 7 years we have not managed to create an emergency access number such as 911 In the US
SPEEDING to somewhere. Suddenly… .Craaaashhhhhh! Imagine if you were cruising happily along a segregated highway
on an arterial road in Bangalore. Imagine if you were knocked down by a truck rumbling along on the wrong side of the road. I know of two cases that played out like that scenario. The ones who died were very dear friends.
Bangalore has the dubious distinction of being among the country’s worst in
terms of traffic accidents and road deaths.
Dr. Venkaramana not only made up such a list, which included dozens of patients who came into his neurosurgery
clinic, he began to wonder what were the simple solutions that could be initiated to alleviate the situation.
The Comprehensive Trauma Consortium (CTC).
At Ashvasan it’s future perfect
WORLD Elders Day came and went as a feeble reminder that even though India as a whole is getting
younger, senior citizens are growing rapidly in absolute numbers.
Yet others, such as the ever-elegant 77-year-old Lalita Ubhayaker, are busy knitting safety nets for their less fortunate peers. Ashvasan Foundation, set up more than a decade ago, reaches out to the old, the lonely and the sick, through a network of volunteers, themselves able and capable senior citizens with big hearts and ready smiles.
It’s elementary, education matters
Across sectors, parents want to educate their wards, at great cost to themselves.
Can India Inc engineer, or partner in a revolution to elevate our performance in elementary education?
APPARENTLY, Indians have begun to believe in themselves. We all think we belong to a country with a future. For 50 years we were not quite sure. All our actions demonstrated that uncertainty. Free markets, nationalisation, ora combination of the above—once this, then that, all half-heartedly espoused and quarter-heartedly implemented.
Imagine there was no illiteracy
Countries in the West have autonomous school boards that report to citizens and encourage participatory practices. Sure they have their share of problems, but at least these problems are aired and responses are required to be made.
Let me start with Akshara Foundation, with which I am most familiar. Since early 2000, we have had only one mission: Every child in Bangalore in school and learning well.
New indignation, new alignment
Sometimes, it seems as though much of the world is trying to crowd into Bangalore. Hold that thought. At almost seven million, our population in this city is already more than the population of new-age countries such as Ireland, and almost half of that of Chile.
Do cities have DO cities have a self image? Does Bangalore think of itself the way others see it?
Over the past three years, I have had occasion to travel around the world, attending conferences and meeting thought leaders in different countries. Maybe 1 should not be surprised, but I always am, when many of the people I talk to are keenly aware of Bangalore. Primarily of course, they see it as the software capital of India. Woefully, they have also picked up stories of its inadequate infrastructure. And yet, whether we like it or not, Bangalore has clearly become one of THE cities of the world.
Campaign Read India: Get Them Glued To Books, Happily
ON International Literacy Day, it is time to do some stock-taking. And statistics do not console when it comes to the continuing high rate of school dropouts and the inability of even 50 percent of children going to government schools to read fluently.
But the picture is not entirely bleak. In Bangalore, the Akshara Foundation is spearheading the ‘Read India’ initiative, a nationwide campaign by Pratham Resource Centre. ‘Read India’ is a three-pronged strategy which aims to inculcate the reading habit in one million children in the next five years.