भारतीय वायु सेना का विमान मिराज-2000 आज मध्य प्रदेश में मिण्ड के नजदीक दुर्घटनाग्रस्त हो गया। इस विमान ने ग्वालियर के एयरबेस से उड़ान के प्रशिक्षण मिशन पर उडान भरी थी। विमान के चालक एयर मार्शल अनिल चोपड़ा और विंगकमाण्डर रामकुमार दुर्घटनाग्रस्त विमान से सुरक्षा के साथ बाहर आने में सफल रहे दुर्घटना से न तो किसी मकान या भवन को नुकसान पहुंचा और ना ही किसी के हताहत या घायल होने का कोई खबर है।दुर्घटना के कारणों का पता लगाने के लिए जांच के आदेश दे दिया गया है।
I graduated in ’58 from a small (77 guaeratds) town school. The co-valedicts were one of each. The rest of the top 20 were mostly (guessing at least 75%) boys. I was about 15th, went to USAF Academy, graduated there ’62 (the 4th class and truly competitive. How competitive you ask? We took GRE’s as juniors when the rest of the country took them as seniors; finished third as a class behind M I T and Stanford. We graduated two Rhodes Scholars and numerous other highly esteemed scholarships in a class of 298 students.). I have been “back home” very seldom since, being busy seeing the world and whatnot, but if there was a single bum in our HS class of 77, I’m not aware of it. We had doctors, lawyers, bankers and successful business people. (And one fighter pilot. LMAO! Had to throw that in!) I have very fond memories of more than a handful of really good, dedicated teachers. They knew their material, knew how to teach it and made you know it before you passed. The rest of my teachers were more than adequate. If that can happen in a little old town of 4,500 people, I’m betting it was pretty much the rule nation-wide. Somewhere along the way, things changed. My first shock was mid-eighties when I realized my step-son had graduated from HS and didn’t know how to read! Oh, he could say the words, but had only foggy comprehension. Not a dumb kid, either. Very talented in numerous areas; talented enough to be able to fake knowing how to read, for one thing.It seems like the K-12 part of the public education system has jumped the track. Some things I know first-hand, having custody of three grandkids. Some very important things aren’t even taught. My HS frosh didn’t know stuff like how many ounces in a pound, how many feet in a mile (inches in a foot, feet in a yard) until I told her. Neither she nor her sis, a 7-year-old first grader, know addition or subtraction “by rote”. I’m trying to take them through the one plusses, etc. Meantime, the 7-yr-old brings home at least 2-3 pages of written math and reading homework every day, plus booklets and other material she’s supposed to read at home. I don’t recall having any homework in grammar school, not ever! What on Earth is taking place in the classroom all day? One project asked the little one to name objects around the house that were circles, squares, triangles, etc. When I wrote back objecting that there are no two-dimensional objects in the physical world we know and teaching that there were would lead to misunderstanding, the teacher wanted to argue about it!In my opinion, there are too many educating “philosophies” and too little teaching of facts. There is too much turf marking, incompetent teacher protection and self-esteem passing. The system is broken down. I haven’t even touched on the gender problem. The old way worked. Why’d they have to go and “improve” it?