Education at a price
India is in the midst of state of art technology, yet we behave like people from the Stone Age today (“Girl hangs herself after school stops her from writing exam over non-payment of fees”, Gulf News, February 3). What an irony! The main fault lies with the government. They should formulate clear and strong policies to allow students to attend regular classes or appear for the exams, even if they have not paid or are unable to pay the fees for any reason. No one can stop them except a government body. Whether the student pays or does not, the school does suffer any lose or they do not have to hire additional staff to support the snag, so why stop them from classes? Take the issue to the ministry of education. Let the government impose heavy fines on those who take the law in their hands and impede innocent children’s future.
From Mr Anthony A D’Souza
Mumbai
More security, less incidents
I am writing a letter on this subject with deep regret. The loss incurred by the family members of the deceased is grave. We all need to pay homage to them. In this case or in general, the school management has to be questioned thoroughly by an independent body of specialist, along with the police department. Any foul play behind the death should be investigated, and the culprits should be punished to avoid such incidents in the future. These days, bullying and using narcotics are largely reported among various schools. Such things should be confiscated forever. The management of the institution has to deploy officials in the premises during school hours and extra class hours. Regular student-teacher meetings, counselling, and involving parents with teachers is a must.
From Mr Prabhakaran Adiyodi
India
Don’t deceive the public
Ipsos Connect’s reveled that the numbers published in the Khaleej Times newspaper are misleading (“Khaleej Times numbers are misleading”, Gulf News, February 2). After the emergence of visual media and online news portals, reading habits of the print paper have declined. There is a stiff competition between the print media to gain popularity. Here, according to the reports, Khaleej Times has exaggerated the figures to gain credibility, but it will damage the reputation of the paper. Any media outlet, either print or visual should be transparent and bring out actual facts and figures. Do not mislead the public to get more readership or viewership.
From Mr Eappen Elias
Dubai
Checkmate, you lose
I think what such a reputable newspaper did was embarassing. They should have been sure before they printed such a story. I think journalists need to be responsible because they are the ones giving us news. Unfortunately mistakes like these make the organisation uncredible. They shot themselves in the foot with this move.
From Mr Satish B
UAE
Bring up your boys right
The Indian society needs to be revamp because of the current outlook towards bringing up children (“Man jailed for rape after posing as policeman”, Gulf News, February 4). It’s very sad when boys are allowed to behave rowdy outside their homes and girls are almost always attacked when they are outside their house. Boys have always been given utmost importance in Indian households. They get the best of everything as compared to their sisters. Parents simply place a lot of expectations on their sons. That leads the sons to think that everything they do is okay and will be accepted by all, no matter what. The kind of movies they see also influence them a lot. Instead of changing the society for the better, movies these days come packed with a lot of violence and sex, which ultimately influence the younger generation in a negative manner.
From Ms Agniyah Shaikh
UAE
Budgeting for the country
The recent budget announced by the Indian Finance Minister was mainly focusing on farmers and the agricultural sector of the country, indirectly aiming for the 2019 elections (“India’s 2018-19 budget presentation: What to watch for” Gulf News, February 2). Salaried people and people of the middle income group’s had high hopes, which were not taken into account. Senior citizens who are not getting a pension and are managing with a poor fixed deposit interest are completely neglected. This is painful. The current inflation has not reduced nor has interest rate given by banks, increased. Where the senior citizens not under the income tax will go? As a senior citizen I am completely disappointed with this budget. Will the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) take care of its senior citizens who have also contributed to this country? It is a sad state of affairs.
From Mr K Ragavan
India
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