The discrepancy between a student’s standards and their perceived performance increases the likelihood of them having higher anxiety levels and, in time, higher levels of depression, according to new research from Nyenrode Business University.

Can a school timetable trigger a political storm? In India, it certainly can. Here, language is never just about alphabets and grammar books. It is emotion. It is identity. It is memory. Sometimes, it is even a battlefield.

एक पुराना किस्सा आज भी भारतीय शिक्षा व्यवस्था का आईना लगता है। स्कूल इंस्पेक्टर अचानक क्लास में पहुंचा। मास्टरजी बच्चों को ‘गर्ल’ की स्पेलिंग पढ़ा रहे थे ‘ग्रिल्ड, “बोलो… ग्रिल्ड।” इंस्पेक्टर भड़क गया, “ये क्या पढ़ा रहे हो?” मास्टरजी ने भी तल्ख़ी से जवाब दिया, “तीन महीने से तनख्वाह नहीं मिली। जब तक वेतन नहीं मिलेगा, ‘गर्ल’ को ‘ग्रिल्ड’ ही पढ़ाऊंगा।...

A teacher who cannot speak proper English teaches English grammar. A classroom packed with sixty children runs without a blackboard and a fan in May heat. A B.Ed. topper freezes before noisy students on the first day of school. Parents touch a guru’s feet at weddings, but bargain with school management over teachers’ salaries like vegetable prices. Welcome to the strange contradictions of India’s education system.

A 28‑year‑old Uday Nath, a heavy bag slung over his shoulder, weaves through traffic toward Defence Colony. Ramesh Choudhary, who came from Bihar, climbs four flights of stairs to deliver groceries. Outside a sweet shop, Babu Lal stares at his phone, waiting for the next order. Economists, cataract-eyed ones, call this the ‘startup revolution’. But is it really a revolution, or merely a digital remake of an old feudal order?

Ask the young men and women camping outside Delhi’s UPSC coaching centres what they want to become. The answer comes quickly: “An IAS officer.” And why? “To serve the country.” “To serve society.” “To uphold the Constitution.”