Now, students expect only guidance from the teachers, rest they can manage from the vast ocean of latest databases and the Internet.

It is heartening to note that today’s student is capable of distinguishing relevant and irrelevant information available on the Internet. Today when the boundaries between pure sciences, applied sciences and humanities have virtually diminished it is desirable that our classroom teaching should be in conformity with the latest concepts of educational technology and also the future job profiles of students.

Dr V K ANAND, Chandigarh

II

R S Grewal brought to the fore emerging learning needs of modern students. Students of today prefer autonomous learning through interactive technological gadgets. LCD projectors, power-point presentations: Internet etc. are their favourite mode of learning. Teachers need to prepare themselves for these changes. Their teaching styles must be in sync with the learning styles of students. They must understand the learning habits of the new generation. Forward-looking attitude of teachers and self-analytical methodology of teaching is the need of hour.

RAJNISH KUMAR, via e-mail

Emphatic victory

The editorial “India’s knockout punch: Ah, the thud of Australian fall!”  (Mar 26) rightly described the India-Australia quarterfinal match that  India won as the “final for most of the cricket-crazy spectators.” It was indeed a “final’ match as it was a knockout stage for both the Aussies and Team India. Indians batted, bowled and fielded well as compared to the Australians. They out-smarted in all the fields of the game and proved to the world that they are surely the ones who deserve to win the 2011 World Cup.

Hats off to Yuvraj Singh who, almost single-handed, took India  into the semi-finals of the World Cup. After a good start given by Virender  Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar and superbly supported by Gautam Gambhir, the men-in-blue were on a solid platform. It was definitely Yuvraj who stole the show with his powerful batting and equally splendid bowling spell against the Australians.

The editorial rightly opines: “This is proving to be Yuvraj’s World Cup, who picked up his fourth man of the match title and is in line for the man of the tournament crown as well, but it was a team effort all the way.” Suresh Raina too is becoming a trustworthy batsman with each passing innings.

Now Team India need to keep their tempo and morale high as they take on  traditional rivals Pakistan in the semi-finals in Mohali. This will certainly be “The Match of the tournament” as the editorial defines. Both teams will fight tooth and nail to earn a berth in the final. If India performs the way it did against the Aussies, they are sure to win the World Cup 2011.

R K KAPOOR, Chandigarh

De-stress the distressed

Society in general, teachers and parents in particular are cautioned to keep an eye on the activities of adolescents as reports about youngsters committing suicides are reported from all parts of the country. With advancement in communication technology, we may have come closer to the other parts of the world, but in fact we have gone far away from our own family members under the same roof. All members of the family are busy with their own lives, and have no time to sit together and share feelings, apprehensions, happiness or achievements. Children have become so short tempered that even friendly advice evokes sharp reactions. They are only happy if parents keep fulfilling their ever-increasing demands. Families must at least have dinner together sans mobile and television. Only then can a whole family spend quality time and communicate with each other. The mind of young children is being impacted with TV serials, so-called reality shows, movies and the Internet.

We must not take these things lightly and mass awareness is required at the national level to check causes of stress among adolescents that prompts them to take extreme steps.

Dr PAWAN DVIWEDI, Solan

Motivated teachers

It is not the curriculum which is at fault (article, “Make teaching child- friendly”, Mar 22). The fault lies partially with the teacher who handles it and to some extent, with poor infrastructure, especially in the government schools.

Even in the present curriculum, there is ample scope for active participation of students. At the end of every chapter of all subjects some activity for the students is suggested. The teacher must be motivated and well-equipped.

Audio visual aids are tools to make lessons interesting. If the teacher is capable, he or she can motivate students.