'Ram Mohan,Vidyasagar fuelled WWI'

KOLKATA: Students from governmentschools in West Bengal''s rural areas may top Madhyamik exams – which is,of course, a matter of pride for the state administration – but thestandard of the average primary/secondary level student there isshocking.According to government sources, some of the answers writenby students appearing for internal school examinations could make it to aRipley''s Believe it or Not compilation.As far as English isconcerned, the less said the better. For most of them the plural of wife ishusband, and some even say the opposite of tall is khato (Bangla forshort)!To a query on how Alexander the Great died, a Class VIIIstudent from a school in Dhamua, in the Diamond Harbour section, wrote: He diedin Sarberia (near Joynagar)!Asked to describe a picnic party, aClass VI student chose to write about man''s best friend: Dog. "Dog four legs.Dog tail. Dog bark. Dog live in family. Dog love people." Nobody knows whathappened to the picnic party, after all."There is no pointcriticising or making fun of these students. The teacher-student ratio accordingto rule is 1:80," said Chandicharan Pramanik, member of the Secondary Teachers& Employees Association. But in reality, in each class a teacher has tonegotiate with at least 100 students at times."When the attendanceis full, students have to sit on the verandah outside the classroom. Morover,the classrooms do not have ceiling fans or even proper ventilation or windows.We can hardly reach out or rather convey to our students in this way," a teacherin Dakshin Barasat said on condition of anonymity.Finally, themother of all answers: What led to World War I? A Class VIII student wrote: "Oneday Ram Mohan Roy picked up a quarrel with Vidyasagar after he found the latterteaching a widow. Roy wanted to marry the widow, but Vidyasagar was hellbent oneducating her. Thus WWI broke out."Times question: Was the widowCleopatra by any chance?•Plural of wife?Husband•Opposite of tall? Khato•Alexanderdied near Joynagar Straight answers