Missiles and drones can be built, and Shuklaji can be given a piggyback ride to space. However, until there is radical reform in primary and secondary education, and six per cent of the GDP is allocated to implementing the New Education Policy, Indian students will continue to struggle in science, mathematics, and language communication. This is no way to achieve a developed India by 2047!

Dust-choked roads, bridges collapsing at breakneck speed, and schools reduced to rubble—this is the reality of our so-called ‘development’! In a country where billions of rupees from the public treasury are poured like water, the common people are left with shoddy work and broken promises. This contractor system has turned the nation’s progress into a looting spree, where quality is sacrificed at the altar of corruption. It’s a poison eating away at India’s development from within.

Ever since university campuses have fallen silent and lifeless, the country’s politics has faced a drought of new youth leadership. Student union elections have either been banned or reduced to mere formalities. The echo of debates no longer resonates in universities like Lucknow, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna, and Gorakhpur, once traditional hubs of ideas.

"Back in the days when we studied at St Peter's, we five brothers, who were in different classes, used to study from the same book. For years, the Radiant Reader, Wren's Grammar, history, and geography books were not changed. Second-hand books were available on Hospital Road. We had just one uniform, khaki, and one pair of black shoes that we polished daily to keep them shiny. But now, every year brings the same lament—everything changes in the name of business." This was the anguish of Tauji Prem Nath, who studied in the 1950s.

​"Rote learning bears no fruit" This phrase, often heard from teachers, has sparked an ongoing debate: Which is better—India’s rote-based education system or the Western model that emphasizes creativity and critical thinking?

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin may have his political reasons for opposing the implementation of Hindi through the 3-language formula, but shifting to a two-language formula in the face of growing needs for scientific education and the challenges of Artificial Intelligence would be a prudent step.