Dear Sir,

The letter, “School holding coaching classes” by Balakrishnan (Gulf Times, April 21), opens up a debate.
Coaching by the FIIT-JEE (Forum for Indian Institute of Technology and Joint Entrance Examination which is a private institute)  has been going on for several years in the school Balakrishnan refers to in his letter. A few other Indian schools have also started the same practice in collaboration with some other coaching centres in India. They hold these coaching classes during the normal school hours by charging hefty fees from hapless parents.
Many students don’t join such training programmes as they cannot afford the high fees charged for them. This, in effect, is creating two kinds of education: one for the rich and the other one for the rest. And in the same school!
How can such a practice be allowed by school managements? Doesn’t it discriminate children on the basis of their parents’ income?  Is this morally right?
And the most important question is: Have these schools taken the necessary permission from the Ministry of Education for conducting coaching classes  by charging high fees from students  in addition to their normal ones? Does the Indian education board allow  schools to run two types of programmes on one campus charging different fees?
If the schools in Qatar are engaged in this practice, it is an open discrimination which should not be allowed.
Every child in a school has the right to get the best education provided by the school and there should not be any segregation in this regard. Schools should not be allowed to provide two types of teaching for the same syllabus by charging two different fees.
Community leaders and the Indian embassy should look into this matter urgently. The issue should be brought to the notice of the authorities in Qatar and the Indian board concerned. Schools must serve the children equally and there should not be any discrimination based on fees.

Sanjeev Patel/ (e-mail address supplied)

Virus threat to human health

Dear Sir,

Nearly 72,000 cases of Zika have been reported in Columbia since October 2015.
Emerging virus diseases are a major threat to human and veterinary health. Over the past two decades, there has been mounting interest in the increasing number of viruses causing unexpected illnesses and epidemics among humans.
Our environment is changing on an unprecedented scale. Its most notable manifestations have been the climatic conditions initiated by changes in sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, ushering in the El-Nino phenomenon.
During 1990, an El-Nino event occurred which, in turn, led to a period of prolonged drought in the Americas and the emergence of the Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), which can be fatal.
Conversely, a sudden reversal in sea temperature in the summer of 1995 resulted in heavy rainfalls, especially in Columbia, resulting in a resurgence of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and Equine encephalitis, affecting horses.
The Zika virus, which is a mosquito-borne disease, has now enveloped 130 countries, triggering off a global medical alert.

Farouk Araie, farouk.araie@telkomsa.net

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