A bullock cart hobbling along on three wheels...

The tired bullocks stumble along the dusty oft-beaten path. Your eyes rest for a while on their tired beseeching eyes, then on they drift and stop when you see the load the cart is carrying. Gunny bags laden with plump ripe mangoes - the cart is fully loaded with these to the point of tipping over and is headed for the warehouse where they will be encased in wooden chests. Most of them will be exported and will reach demanding markets on foreign shores, some of them will be consumed by discerning consumers within the country. You then gaze down and are surprised. Why, the cart has only three functional wheels,one is broken and the third one is already wobbling. You wonder and dont cease to be amazed at how the fellow manages to eke out trip after trip with this contraption. Then the next day, you again spot the cart on the road, but you are aghast to see that now one of the bullocks has now given way to another frail, almost dead specimen. You want to cry out aloud and chastise the driver, how much more does he think he can tinker with the cart until it finally collapses on the road, with the merchandise strewn all over.

Well, this is the precise feeling I have at this point in time. Our educational system's in spite of all its anomalies and shortcomings, despite being at the mercy of the shortsighted polity, has delivered to some extent. Atleast the few institutions that constitute our very own Ivy League. The IITs, the IIMs, the NITs, the NIDs and the rest of these creme de la creme offer every young student in our country something to aspire for, to work for. We are given to understand, that if you study hard enough, compete with the best and prove your mettle, there are places where these efforts are recognised. You dont need to count on which community you were born into, how was your breeding, how deep are your parents' pockets. The confidence that the system still works and is objective.

Yes, these opportunities should be more inclusive and should be available to the greater deprived majority. But reservation quotas are not the answer, esp when the aim is not to seek diversity in the student intake, but to correct some perceived wrongs and shortcomings in the system. Dont give alms to the beggar, enable him to earn his livelihood. Instead the focus should be on providing better access to quality education at the primary level itself to the deprived and backward communities. subsidise the education system at this level and improve the quality of education offered esp at the rural areas. Most importantly accountability needs to be ensured. If the assembly line is turning out defective parts, then first examine the feeder, not the endofline. To those who argue against subsidies in education, I say, if the govt cant even subsidise something as basic as education, it has no business collecting taxes from me.

I hope this new proposal wont pass muster and some sane less-politically motivated souls will kill it. But I guess, in the light of the booming economy and more confident janata, there wont be massive protests like we saw during the mandal commission fiasco. Thats a pity.