HRD Minister Kapil Sibal is apparently a man in hurry to prove himself. He is unnecessarily tinkering with the time-tested systems and well-established institutions of education. Except for the decision of allowing the IIMs to set up campuses overseas and appointment of their directors and board members through an independent collegium, his initiatives like scrapping of the high school board examination have drawn flak from educationists and others.
If IITs are a global brand with the existing JEE parameters, where is the need for the ‘reform’ of which Sibal talked about a day earlier and backtracked following widespread criticism? He should bother less about the professionally-managed institutions of higher education which have a record of excellence and instead work on improving the miserable state of affairs in the fields of secondary and primary education.
M C Joshi, Lucknow
