When Education Begins to Resemble a Happy Meal

 My piece got published today The Friday Times. See When Education Begins to Resemble a Happy Meal. 

I'll quote the first paragraph here: 

Interacting with my 8-year-old daughter’s English-medium school sometimes feels like I’m dealing with McDonalds. There is a cheerful and eager-to-please attitude. What’s more, “feedback” is welcome and the goal is to “satisfy parents”. Messages on group chats for parents and teachers are dotted with smiley faces. If you ask them why little kids have so much homework to do, you are told, it is a “market demand.” The corporate language is jarring but anyone feigning shock at the commodification of education has been asleep for the past 40 years. These bouncy and cheerful school franchises are dotted all over our cities, especially residential neighbourhoods, because the education business can literally be started from home. These schools have colourful English names because any quality business has to have an angrezi name. And, some of them are very efficient and, smoothly rolled out online schooling during the Pandemic, including my daughter’s school.