Achievers in different fields pursing relentlessly their professions and public speakers addressing their captive audiences from various platforms don’t seem to be giving up their penchant to lament the steep decline of standards in all walks of life, the most favoured area of human activity being education, particularly in the domain of Universities across the country. Their wailing in wilderness as it were prompts one to cite the Biblical line “I will weep for the mountains and wail for the wilderness pastures. For, they are desolate and empty of life; the lowing of cattle is heard no more; the birds and wild animals have all fled…” The print media deserves to be complimented for their closely following the events featuring the lament, tending to be louder and longer. The latest such event happened in Mysuru this week marked by the often-heard views of two eminent speakers holding the government squarely accountable for the decline. Action to arrest the decline still lies in the region of wilderness, except for the prescription of raising the budgetary allocation for education.

The field of medicare seems to have reduced the chances of incorrectly diagnosing the diseases, thanks to the instruments used in exploring the functioning of various organs of the body, one wishes such a facility was on hand to zero-in on what has gone wrong in education and where, instead of conjecture.

While one should feel gratified about the enlightenment that has dawned upon the literati, namely the decline in the sector of education on various counts, the questions of when the decline began and when it witnessed public glare in the country should be fascinating for finding the answers. If the galaxy of luminaries in various fields of science, technology, arts, literature and administration, all belonging to the past, not ignoring the few of their counterparts in our times, it may be worthwhile to dwell on what were the points to be noted in the education they received and the profile of the teaching fraternity of their times.

Wailing about the various incongruities of the education sector without highlighting the incompetence of the current administration to restore order seems to be a journey through a bottomless hole. Those in charge of the portfolio, in the august company of the few indulging in aranya rodhana (crying in wilderness) have betrayed the future generations.