Making quality education accessible to every child was among the priorities of the Aam Aadmi Party government, which it tried to achieve by working on government schools.
Last year, the government identified 54 pilot schools that were to be developed as model schools. The ultimate plan is to develop all government schools on the lines of these model schools.
“Identifying pilot schools does not mean that we are not paying attention to other schools. There is equal emphasis on all schools,” said Education Advisor to the Delhi government, Atishi Marlena.
The principal of one such model school, Shaheed Hemu Kalani Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Lajpat Nagar, B.K. Sharma said: “Our school is one of the model schools. Vocational courses like pottery, toy-making and skill development courses like information and technology and travel and tourism are currently offered in our school. Skill development is one of the many ambitious plans of the Delhi government, which is working out well for the students.”
Other ways in which the government is trying to improve government schools is by focusing on training both teachers and principals. “If you want to change the face of government schools, it is important to first change the perception towards these schools. This is why we have been training principals and teachers and motivating them to work better,” said a trainer at one of the government schools.
In fact, a capacity building exercise for teachers has been carried out in 1,000 schools by trainers appointed by the Delhi government. Further, to achieve a teacher-student ration of 1: 40, the Delhi government has created additional posts for 9,000 to 10,000 teachers in government schools across Delhi.
“This addition will increase the total strength of teaching staff at government schools and help achieve the teacher-student ratio prescribed under the Right to Education Act,” said Padmini Singla, Director (Education). The number is currently 54,000.
The focus, however, is just on hiring, but on hiring educators who can add value to the system. All teachers will now have to go through the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) during the hiring procedure, which will be followed for contractual teachers as well. The government also plans to improve infrastructure for which estate managers will be hired at each school.
The estate managers, who will be responsible for the upkeep of the school premises, will report directly to the principal of the school and work in close association with the staff.
