A couple of months ago, I had the chance to address an enthusiastic bunch of students of grades 8,9, and 11 from Neev Academy, a well-known school in Bengaluru.
This talk was a part of Ideas@Neev, a lecture series which provides students ‘the opportunity to explore their interests, engage with varied perspectives, and acquire knowledge that goes beyond textbooks.’
I tried to dispel some common myths about Indian governance and public policy through the talk. As you would expect, the students had some amazing comments and questions. The session reaffirmed that our school curricula must replace civics with public policy so that young Indians can appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of the Indian State early in their lives.
Neev has also adapted Takshashila’s Nagara, a democracy game developed by Takshashila, which simulates how public challenges are addressed in a democratic setup like India.
There’s a recording of the session on YouTube.
I am making the slides open access.