This refers to the article, “ >The nightmare of school admissions ” (Open Page, March 23). The admission criteria in schools where the demand is high should be revised. There should be an admission test for every class and priority should be given to students who live close to a given school. But most important, parents should become aware that admitting students in sophisticated schools and colleges by itself will not help a child to do well. The commercialisation of school education by private schools can be prevented only when in government schools sanitation facilities are improved, good teachers are employed with better wages, and the curriculum is upgraded. Better publicity should be given to the advantages of government schools. The general perception among people from the middle class and upper middle class — that government schools are only for the children of those from the lower income groups — should change. The demand for government schools should increase in the same manner in which it has for government institutions such as IITs and NITs. All this will surely see the true implementation of the provisions of the Right to Education Act.
Pudi Pavan Kumar ,
Kanchipuram
