Education is the lighting of a fire

Education, they say, is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. If that’s the case, we, at Edex, are die-hard arsonists who work hard to fill this weekly education paper with news and views that set alight the minds and curiosity of college students. In this fast-moving world, there’s no dearth of developments to be curious about.

Consider the ideas that are changing the shape of the world. The Buddha said: “An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.” Edex agrees with that and uses its second anniversary issue to examine 10 ideas that already have or are changing the face of higher education in India.

From free-to-all websites where you can learn from uploaded video lectures to satellite campuses, rise of e-cells and the spurt in student entrepreneurship; they’re all put through the microscope in this bumper issue. We trace the path of education consultants who arrange everything, right from campus design to curriculum planning, for investors. We evaluate what foreign collaborations bring to the table and take a sneak peek into the barely year-old IIM-Tiruchy.

Our pages also contain debate. We scrutinise the government’s plan to set up more IITs and IIMs and question whether the move will dumb down education or help build a vibrant scientific community across the country. We look at the stress on placements — every institute has a cell whose job is to ensure all the students find employment — and wonder whether they’ve edged out the original reason for going to college, i.e, gaining knowledge.

In Section II, we profile students who have excelled in their respective fields. For instance, 22-year-old Abhimanyu Vinaykumar holds the record for the youngest short-story writer and youngest director. Mitesh Lohiya and friends started Street Cause, an NGO, in 2009 to raise funds for students of government schools and conduct medical camps. They have adopted orphanages and slums and have over 8,000 student volunteers. We also talk to Sindhuja Rajamaran, India’s youngest animator and CEO of Seppan Technologies, Chennai.

Over the last two years, we’ve been inundated with your letters, ideas, articles and photographs. Please keep them coming.

Happy second anniversary, dear readers; it’s as much yours as ours.

Prabhu Chawla
Editorial Director