This refers to Shubhashis Gangopadhyay's article "When girls refuse school" (October 26). The author talks about the pilot study that covered girls dropping out of school after class VIII. There are a few other reasons that may be applicable to even boys dropping out similarly. The main reason could be that the academics suddenly gets tougher from class IX onwards, with students expected to cram history, geography as well as three languages and science. This proves beyond the capability of many students, especially if they have no help available at home because their parents are not educated enough. A possible solution could be to provide students an option to branch out to one of the many subject streams after class VIII. Currently, this happens only after class X. In doing so, students who are inevitably variously endowed can all find a subject stream appropriate to their aptitude and capability and continue their education. The crux is to tailor education to the differing needs of variously endowed children as also the widely varying needs of the society, instead of the current one-size-fits-all academic design.
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Kishor Kulkarni Mumbai
Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard
Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201
E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number