Page 7 of the Sunday Times of India held an irony of sorts for its readers. Bang in the centre of the page was the horrific report of a 6-year-old in Delhi, who was stripped in class for not doing her homework. Immediately below that news item, was a refreshing one about an IIM graduate from Jamshedpur who is setting up a chain of preparatory schools in an effort to improve education in India.

India has always been a country of ironies and contradictions living side by side. These ironies are, perhaps, what lends our beloved country its colourful nature. In the field of education, however, time and again we have been forced to look at the stark contrasts. Quality education is meant only for the children of those who have the money to buy it. The rest, the tremendous majority of the population, are ‘thrown to the wolves‘, surviving those crucial formative years amongst minimal development and sub-standard educators.

For Rakhi, the 6-year-old pupil of Star Shine Public School, school is now a place of abuse and terrible memories. Without a doubt, the young ignorant teacher must be held accountable for the crime, and educational institutions must be taught that putting young children in the care of qualified educators is something that cannot be compromised. But in Rakhi’s case, unfortunately, the damage has already been done.

The other side to the Indian education story is that there are saviours, as found in the form of Gargi Agarwal De, the IIM-A graduate. Gargi has turned her back on a high-flying career in the corporate world to make a difference in the quality of education. Her schools will teach through interaction, with qualified teachers who will be partners in the school - 50 percent of the earnings will be divided among them. A laudable concept, it will finally begin to give qualified teachers remuneration at par with their esteemed profession, as opposed to the lowly wages they generally earn.

While salaries in the IT and corporate world continue to spiral upwards, the very people entrusted with shaping the impressionable minds of future generation are earning peanuts.