Education Views | Insightful Perspectives and Analysis - Edinbox

Loyola College in Chennai has appointed transwoman N Jency, a PhD-qualified English literature researcher, as assistant professor of English. The appointment has been hailed as a significant step towards incorporating transgender into the academic fold and is reported to be the first of its kind in Tamil Nadu.

Chief Minister M K Stalin also sent his best wishes to Jency on her achievement. On X, the CM tweeted, "May your perseverance be a source of inspiration for a couple of hundreds who are trying to rise up through education. May they overcome obstacles and rejections, and stand triumphant with the power of education."

Jency's educational life has been one of rigor and perseverance. Being from an underprivileged background, Jency from Tiruttani fought through various social and institutional barriers to pursue higher studies. She achieved her PhD in English literature from the Loyola College upon obtaining UG and PG degrees from Dr Ambedkar College of Arts and Science.

Even though Jency has been employed on a contract basis, she believes that she would be made a full-time faculty member in the near future. "I am grateful that the CM has mentioned me in his post. It is not a personal achievement, but a recognition of the right of the transgender community to education, dignity and equal opportunity," she told TNIE.

"Five other people were interviewed for the position along with me. I got selected on merit," said Jency, who has lost both her parents.

While pursuing her MPhil, she worked as an announcer, host and tutor to collect funds for her sex reassignment surgery. She told her mother and elder sister about her gender only later. "My family was shocked, but they were not worried about my future," said Jency, advising people to be serious about studies. "I am creating awareness among trans individuals to study hard, as education can change lives," she added.

"Her dedication and qualifications are impeccable. She is teaching general English and spoken English to UG students, who have also settled in nicely with her. Her input will enrich our academic family and inspire students from all walks of life," opined P Mary Vidya Porselvi, head of English department, Loyola College.

Each board has its strengths, structure, and philosophy. But the question remains- Which one is right for you?Choosing the right education board is like choosing the road for your journey.It doesn’t just shape your school years but also your learning style, thinking approach, and preparation for the future. For students and parents, deciding between CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education), IB (International Baccalaureate), and Cambridge (IGCSE/A Levels) often becomes overwhelming.

Why the Board You Choose Matters-

School is not just about books and marks. It’s about discovering yourself. It’s about how you learn, how you think, and how prepared you are to face a world that keeps changing.

Your board plays a crucial role in: Your learning approach 

Exposure to global standards

College applications-India vs. Abroad

Skills beyond academics (critical thinking, communication, creativity)

Comfort with exam styles and competition

So, before you make a decision, 

Boards matter. But they don’t define you.

What matters most is:How engaged you are in your learning.How curious you stay.How adaptable you become.How much you grow, not just in marks, but in mindset.

How Do You Learn Best? Do the Self-Check.

Before choosing the board, understand yourself. Ask-

1. Do I like structured routines or creative exploration?
2. Do I prefer textbooks or interactive projects?
3. Am I planning to study in India or abroad?
4. Do I enjoy research and inquiry?
5. Is exam pressure stressful or motivating for me?

Your answers will guide you more than anybody’s suggestions.

CBSE is right for you if:

You plan to study in India.

You’re preparing for Indian competitive exams.

You like structured learning.

Budget and familiarity are important for your family.

IB is right for you if:

You dream of studying abroad.

You enjoy research, projects, and critical thinking.

You value all-round development—mind, body, and emotions.

You can manage higher fees and workload.

Cambridge is right for you if:

You want global exposure with academic flexibility.

You love independent learning.

You plan to study abroad.

You dislike rigid subject groupings.

What About Indian Colleges?

Some students fear that IB or Cambridge boards may not be accepted in Indian colleges. That’s a myth.

Top Indian universities like Delhi University, Ashoka, FLAME, and many private colleges accept IB & Cambridge qualifications.

You may need to convert grades into percentages,but most schools provide official transcripts for this.

If aiming for engineering/medical, CBSE or a hybrid model may be more aligned.

What About Studying Abroad?

IB and Cambridge are more accepted abroad,but even CBSE students can go global. You just need:

High scores

A strong profile (essays, extracurriculars)

English proficiency (IELTS/TOEFL) If you're in CBSE but want to study abroad, take initiatives like online courses, portfolios, Olympiads, or volunteer work to build your profile.

Your board gives you direction. You give it meaning.The board you choose is your vehicle. Some are fast on straight roads. Some take you off the beaten path. Some have wider windows to the world. But what matters is how you drive it.

This is your journey. Not your friend’s. Not society’s. It’s you who will decide your board.

Be curious. Ask questions. Seek guidance. And once you choose,own it.

Build yours today. Prepare for tomorrow. And choose the board that fuels your dreams, not your fears.

At Delhi’s prestigious Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), more than 3,200 students are struggling to survive in hostel facilities designed for just 200. The numbers alone are shocking — but what they reflect is far worse: a systemic disregard for the welfare of India’s future doctors and engineers.

Imagine aspiring medical professionals, already battling grueling schedules, forced to squeeze six to seven people into a room meant for two. No space for a study table, no peace to rest, and at times, not even a bed — just a corridor floor or the corner of a nursing station. This is not just poor planning. It’s a failure of basic human decency.

To make matters worse, the college can’t even carry out proper repairs. Bureaucratic roadblocks, ASI restrictions, and land encroachment by mafias have turned the campus into a maze of delays and danger. So dire is the situation that students have had to crowdfund for small repairs.

Now place this beside some of India’s top tech campuses — IITs, VITs, BITS Pilani — where polished infrastructure, reliable power, and secure hostels are often the norm. Yet even here, many students voice concerns about water shortages, ventilation issues, and hygiene lapses. The problem isn’t just limited to one domain — it’s spread across our educational landscape.

The core issue? We glorify innovation, but neglect the innovators. Whether in medicine or engineering, students are paying the price of broken systems. Our future surgeons, coders, scientists, and caregivers deserve better.

The recent intervention by the Delhi L-G and CM, directing emergency expansion and stricter campus security, is a welcome move — but far from enough.

It’s time we shift the focus from cosmetic fixes to a deeper reckoning: Why must the young minds that build our nation sleep in overcrowded rooms and unsafe conditions?

India’s future deserves dignity — not dormitory distress.

In 1975 — the year Microsoft formed and the digital camera was created — another slightly quieter but no less revolutionary milestone occurred within the academic sphere: the launching of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR). Covering only 2,630 journals when it was originally published, today's JCR is world best practice, shaping librarians', researchers', and policymakers' decisions in 22,000+ journals.

As the JCR celebrates 50 years, it's not merely marking growth — it's redefining what it means to measure quality in scholarly publishing.

Why Students and Scholars Ought to Care

For new scholars and institutions entering the intricacies of scholarly publishing, the evolution of the JCR has a straightforward message: trust is the new metric.

When once used interchangeably as synonyms, high impact and high quality are no longer synonymous. The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) — once the measure of choice for comparing journals by popularity — is currently undergoing re-examination in response to increased concerns regarding citation manipulation, papermills, and over-commercialization of publishing.

"Good-quality research should be worth good-quality research," Dr. Nandita Quaderi, SVP and Editor-in-Chief at Clarivate Web of Science, says. "Pressure to publish and be cited has had some regrettable spin-offs, even in top journals."

What's New in JCR 2025?

• Retractions Matter: Citations to and from retracted articles will no longer be part of the JIF score, to enhance the integrity of published material.
• More Balanced Indicators: Arts, humanities, and social science journals are finally on par with science and technology journals due to harmonized listings and field-normalized indicators.
• Transparency Ahead of Everything Else: All indexed journals now bear a JIF — but journals publishing both peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed content shall receive only partial listing and no JIFs, ensuring metric integrity.
• AI monitoring: Fresh technology separates potentially suspicious journals for consideration, maintaining spurious journals at bay.

Why It Matters to Institutions

To colleges and universities, especially in India where rankings play a prime determinant in funding and reputation, a transition away from "impact factor chasing" toward "integrity-first" publishing is very important.

Institutions should now re-imagine how they measure research outputs, mentor PhD students, and assess faculty. Ethics in research, peer review transparency, and ethical authorship will be the new pillars of quality.

The Bigger Picture

The JCR's 50 years are a mirror to the wider scholarly world's evolution — from counting citations to conscience-based metrics. When there are AI-written papers and worldwide disinformation, metrics need to do more than tally — they need to account.

This is a challenge for Indian scholarship: invest in research training, foster ethical scholarship, and make each paper published add value to society.

Because, as JCR reminds us, the future of publishing is not so much about what gets cited — but why it matters.

As per the just-out NEET UG 2025 results, more than 12 lakh students have made it to an MBBS seat in India, and 11 lakh other candidates have cleared the JEE Mains 2025 for engineering. MBAs are also much in demand, with almost seven lakh students joining postgraduate management courses every year.

THE LOAN TRAP

Those days are gone when the savings of a parent were enough to fund education at the higher level. Now it is seen that families opt for huge loans, they borrow money from friends and relatives, or are forced to sell houses on the hope that a degree from a well-known institution for their children would culminate in a fat career prospect. As per RBI, the outstanding student loan balance stood at Rs 1.31 lakh crore as of November 2024. 17% up from last year. The Indian Banks' Association also mentioned that loan disbursements have increased at a 10% CAGR between 2015 and 2023, over 25,000 crore per annum.

Alas, repayment is an issue. Education loan NPAs (non-performing assets) were 7.61% in FY20, showing that most borrowers find it hard to repay what they borrow.

ALTERNATE MODELS

A number of nations are looking into new models of finance, including crowdfunded investment in education, skills-based repayment arrangements, equity-based financing of education, Human Capital Contracts (HCCs), and even Income-Share Agreements (ISAs). This involves the student agreeing to pay a fixed percentage of their future earnings rather than paying a conventional loan.

"In 2019, a study by Forbes revisited Milton Friedman's 1955 concept of Income-Share Agreements," says Dr. Girish Jain, Chairperson of Admissions and Professor of Finance at BIMTECH, Greater Noida. He refers to Purdue University's 'Back a Boiler' program, which started in 2016, where one engineering graduate opted for an ISA instead of a traditional loan, promising to repay 8% of his income for 10 years, up to a reasonable cap.

THE NEP OPPORTUNITY

Dr. Jain opines that to make these models operate in India, financial literacy needs to be integrated into higher education coupled with scholarships, boot-camps, and government subsidies. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 with its vision of achieving 50% gross enrolment in higher education by 2035 could become the model for these funding concepts.

India Inc. can also take a game-changing initiative. Dr. Jain has a compelling vision: "Picture this: TCS finances 1,000 tech students every year through income-based repayment terms. Graduates repay 5–7% of their salaries over eight years, but only if they are placed. It's not charity — it's a smart bet on talent. CSR gets smarter — synchronized with ESG objectives and talent needs."

Even HDFC was able to finance management students, who pay through a share of their bonuses. Risky? Maybe. But revolutionary? Absolutely.

In a colossal leap towards indigenous development and next-generation defense readiness, India has successfully tested quantum entanglement-based secure communication—a historic feat under joint leadership by DRDO and IIT Delhi. The test was conducted over a free-space distance of over one kilometre at the DRDO-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE) on the IIT Delhi campus, bringing India at the forefront of quantum-secured communication and future war-fighting capability.

This technology is a quantum entanglement-based next-generation communication protocol rather than the traditional prepare-and-measure quantum key distribution (QKD) approach. Entanglement-based communication has ultra-high security—any eavesdropping on the message disintegrates the quantum state and notifies the sender and receiver simultaneously. It also obviates the requirement of costly optical fiber networks, hence allowing us to safely communicate even in far-flung or city war theaters where installation of infrastructure is not feasible.

The experiment demonstrated a secure key rate of approximately 240 bits per second at a quantum bit error rate of less than 7%, paving the way for possible real-time applications in military-grade cyber security, long-distance QKD, and eventually the building of a full-scale quantum internet.

This work is based on previous Indian achievements: Vindhyachal-Prayagraj intercity quantum link (2022) and a 100-km fiber-based QKD demo (2024). All these are part of DRDO's strategic initiative under its string of 15 DIA-CoEs in premier institutes.

The project, "Design and Development of Photonic Technologies for Free Space QKD", has been approved by DRDO's Directorate of Futuristic Technology Management (DFTM) and was spearheaded by Prof. Bhaskar Kanseri's group at IIT Delhi. DRDO leadership's cream of the crop in the person of DG (MED, COS & CS) and senior IIT Delhi faculty observed the demonstration.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has described the accomplishment as a "game changer in future warfare," highlighting its significance in driving national security and technology sovereignty. DRDO Chairman Dr. Samir V. Kamat and IIT Delhi Director Prof. Rangan Banerjee also seconded the opinion, describing the milestone as a turning point for India's future in defence innovation along with leadership in quantum technology.