July
11, 2002
5:30
pm
To Ms. Amita Sharma,
Secretary (Elementary Education) and
Commissioner State Education Centre,
Bhopal
Sub: Your recent letter to the Collector, Hoshangabad
concerning the Hoshangabad Science
Teaching Programme.
Dear Ms. Sharma,
We have just received a fax copy of your
order no. 337 of 03.07.2002 from Harda.
The order is addressed to the Collector, Hoshangabad ordering
discontinuation of the books and evaluation system of the Hoshangabad Science
Teaching Programme (HSTP).
2. This order has preempted
a proper review of the HSTP as ordered by the Chief Minister Shri Digvijay
Singh in the meeting convened by him on March 3, 2002 in which the Collector,
Hoshangabad was also present.
3. This process of
review was proceeding along with our presentation of April 1, 2002 in your
office, and the subsequent submission of a detailed review with sets of
documents concerning HSTP addressing the questions raised by you.
4. The data shared by
you and Mr. Gopalkrishnan with us in the context of your assessment report in
the meeting on July 3, 2002 was we felt totally inadequate for any kind of decision. We conveyed our reaction in detail in our
letter dated July 8, 2002.
5. Subsequently we
had a meeting with Shri Digvijay Singh on the morning of 10th July
and he immediately ordered the convening of a meeting next week to decide on
the issues raised by us (copy of the agenda proposed by us enclosed).
6. The letter, and
hence the decision, ignores the fact that nine members of the DPC wrote to the
Collector between 12th February, 2002 and 10th March,
2002 asking for a review of the so-called "unanimous" decision in the
DPC Hoshangabad. The Chief Minister in
his meeting on March 3, 2002 asked for the DPC decision to be reviewed. The DPC in its meeting on May 9, 2002
decided to wait for the outcome of the review ordered by the honorable Chief
Minister. The decision of the Madhya
Pradesh Government must therefore be taken after the review ordered by the
Chief Minister is completed.
7. We therefore strongly submit that your order
of July 3, 2002 should immediately be put on hold and await the outcome of the
Chief Minister's meeting and a detailed academic review of the programme. This should be conveyed to all the Collectors
to whom the above referred letter has been sent.
8. As an involved
party we are shocked that a copy of the letter was not marked to us as well.
With regards,
Yours sincerely,
Kamal Mahendroo