Dear Sir, This is to point out that despite the rise in fees for education in schools, the standards of teaching have not gone up. On the contrary, considering the skills of the students, they have not been able to pick the basic skills in mathematics or English, for that matter. Teachers’ salaries have been raised but the standards have fallen. The syllabuses have been updated but still the outcomes of teaching are still not satisfactory. Schools are demanding and charging exorbitant amount of fees, which is not fair and affordable to the parents. In addition, schools collect donations from parents, but they find that enough is not being taught at the schools. Students are increasingly relying on private tuitions, which not only add to the load on the students but also raise the parents’ expenditure on education. When the students are learning privately, what is the contribution of the institutions where they study? It is time to think on these issues so that all can work to improve the education system in the country. Yusuf Khan Nemat Khan Via email
Dear Sir, Kejriwal visited Mumbai recently to gather support for the Aam Aadmi Party. He was criticized in some quarters for coming to the city unannounced and flouting the poll code of conduct for the elections. There were some crowds at his rallies and people listened to his claims that the Congress had done nothing for the Muslims and the BJP had done nothing for the Hindus. 49 EASTERN CRESCENT | APRIL 2014
But some political pundits feel that he does not enjoy majority support in the city. He might win some seats but he may find it difficult to replicate his limited success in Delhi, here and elsewhere. Nevertheless, it is an undeniable fact that he has succeeded, to some extent, in changing the rules of the game. A recent newspaper report published a survey that showed that corruption is only a urban issue while employment, water, electricity and are more significant for rural voters. It remains to be seen how AAP can manage to woo both urban and rural voters with its brand of politics. Muhammad Zaki Allahabad
Dear Sir, This is a major issue for the citizens of Bhiwandi, Malegaon , Ichalkaranji and other small towns which are dominated by the power loom industry. Some weeks ago, the loom owners launched an agitation for relief from the government on the high electricity tariffs. Besides this, they face the problem of high prices of yarn input for their looms and low prices for the finished products. This mismatch makes them barely able to make ends meet. A large number of labourers in these textile towns are linked with the power loom industry. They are daily wage earners and rising prices are eating into their meager wages. The authorities took notice of the strike but the government of Maharashtra did still not do enough. The government, in a belated move,
ordered raids on some raw material suppliers and found that the big players to hike their profits were hoarding yarn. What the government should do is to ensure a supply of electric power to the power loom industry at low rates; secondly, they should make it a level playing field by ensuring the supply of raw yarn at reasonable prices to the industry. Unless the government takes proactive steps, the power loom industry might suffer huge losses, resulting in massive unemployment for poor workers in the industry. M.J. Qasmi Mumbai
Dear Sir, I want to say that I have been reading your magazine EC since last three years. I found your magazine much useful more than other magazines because it consists of Islamic and good articles and current affairs of the world. The most important thing is that Islam is attracting Westerners. This is because they follow it with conviction. Most Muslims follow Islam only because their parents were Muslims. Many of them leave aside the basic tenets of Islam such as salah, fasting and good behaviour. This is because they have not embraced Islam after making sacrifices like those of old. They must be warned that if they do not change their attitude and do not follow Islam in the right spirit, Allah (swt) can create another people who are more mindful of Islamic tenets and will love him more. Mohammed Anzar Bihar