namaste shrI kunjuppu.
Whether J wants to dismantle the samachchIr kalvi with a watered down syllabus for all the children or not, I want such a system to be dismantled, since it is against the principles of choice in democracy and spirit of competition and innovation in education. It is not a question of leveling down, but one of building up.
Look at the other such schemes aimed at equality and much touted by the previous TN government.
• In the sama-pangkti bhojanam, the diners are not served the watery kanji which is the staple food of the downtrodden. Everyone is served a feast--leveling up.
• In the samatvapuram, the government is supposed to provide identical residential units and let them be occupied by people from all castes, clans and religions. Today's residential flat complexes in urban areas are actually such samatvapurams. While it is another issue that the previous government favoured its party men mostly to occupy these samatvapuram houses, the government did not build a poor man's hut for everyone--so, leveling up.
• TN governments vie with each other to give free consumer items such as TV, cooking gas connections--and now grinder, mixer and a laptop. The idea is to let the poor have the same lifestyle that only the haves can afford--again a question of building up, not leveling down.
• In the samachchIr kalvi, therefore, why should the government try to level down the syllabus? True, human brains and capabilities are not equal, but then, is stunting their growth a solution? What the government should do in samachchIr kalvi is to regulate the fees structure of private and elite public educational instutions, and subsidise admission of deserving poor children to elite schools, thus preserving the edge of competition and innovation which is so vital to education.
Well said!!