Letters from Edinburgh III

Parents taking their young children to their school in the morning is one scene I see almost everyday here. The children are normally jumping around; enthusiastic about going to school. There isn’t much to study during the first few years. Seeing them on their scooters, I am reminded of how the school going children of the same age group in India are. Back home, seen on the streets, are children walking unwillingly to school. They have a heavy bag on their shoulders (might be the reason for our lower average height when compared to people in the west!); shoulders drooping. The only time in a week we see them smile are on Fridays; that too on the condition that they do not have any test or exam scheduled for Monday. The children face the brunt of competition (for space in the school bus, to a window-seat in their class!) right from a very young age. This very efficiently kills creativity.

I am sure things are improving in India; our actions on this front might accelerate the change.