Off the mark

Refer to Class XII results; 100% pass percentage undermines quality control. Candidates cheating in the exams are common, but when school boards and universities cheat the public with their results, the problem becomes serious. In many exams, education boards and universities pass candidates who do not deserve, and in some cases with distinction. The most important point to decide is what capacities to test. Should it be the candidate’s memory or his power of expression and judgement? The stress would vary with different subjects at different levels. Exams do not test such capabilities as creativity and leadership. But we do expect our seats of learning to foster and develop these qualities among the young.

Anil Bhatia, Hisar

Little to cheer

The Class XII results should not make students and parents proud as the session had been a freak one. Boards should also not make any tall claims. Neither could students attend regular classes due to the pandemic nor could schools conduct online classes in an excellent manner. The truth is that a majority of the students didn’t seriously appear in various online exams conducted by the schools from time to time. Taking advantage of the situation, students, parents and even the teachers tend to be non-serious.

Sunil Chopra, Ludhiana

Qualifying exam

Class XII exam is a qualifying examination. The aim is to gauge the knowledge a student has gained out of the prescribed syllabus. Therefore, the question is whether the present system of assessment gives a fair idea of that or not. Of course, the efficacy of any system depends on the integrity of the people operating it. As far as admission to institutes of higher education is concerned, it can take place through competitive exams. However, the true solution lies in increasing the opportunities for higher education. Punjab has an abysmal record in this regard. It has less than 50 government colleges in the state as compared to more than 100 in Haryana. There are as many as 931 posts of assistant professor lying vacant in the state’s colleges. Instead, many private universities have proliferated without any quality control.

Lt Col GS Bedi (retd), Mohali

Cooperatives Ministry

In reference to ‘New ministry to spur cooperative reforms’; the Ministry of Cooperatives, led by the Union Home Minister, instead of creating more aspirations, has created anxiety. According to the Constitution, cooperatives is a state subject. Another question is whether this ministry has been set up to target the farmers who have been protesting since last year.

Gurshan Singh Sidhu, Mohali

Parliament session

Parliament has functioned for a total of 18 hours out of 107 hours in the first two weeks of the Monsoon session. The Lok Sabha was allowed to function for about seven hours out of 54, while the Rajya Sabha functioned for 11 out of nearly 53 hours. Thus, around 89 hours were wasted and people-related issues have been abandoned. Rs 133 crore of the taxpayers’ money was lost. Is it democracy in the real sense to just trade charges and disrupt Parliament?

RK Arora, Ambala City

Privacy rights

Refer to ‘Right to be forgotten merits attention’; there is currently no law that specifically provides for the right to be forgotten in India, but the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 has recognised this right. Given the rapid technological advancement and increased Internet accessibility, it is important that information publicly available won’t hurt a person’s reputation and dignity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. However, this right, if recognised legally, will possibly lead to a conflict between ‘right to information’ and ‘right to privacy’. Hence, there is a need to comprehensively discuss each aspect of the Bill to devise India’s data protection framework.

Nikhil Chopra, Jagraon

Afghanistan mess

India might be engaging all stakeholders in Afghanistan, including parts of the Taliban, but it can’t be forgotten that the Taliban are allergic to peace. The increased violence and the rapid territorial gains by the militant group show that they have no intention of bringing political stability in the war-ravaged country. For India, this is a cause of great concern. First, if the Taliban capture the government by force, there is a likelihood of insurgents from the outfit being used by terror groups in Pakistan to target India. Second, it is likely that the Taliban will disrupt development projects. New Delhi must salvage its investments in infrastructure and trade projects in Afghanistan.

Tushar Anand, Patna

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