learning mangers were identified in each school who helped other teachers in dealing with classroom and course issues. Based on the success of this in- tervention, a mentor teacher program was launched this year in which 200 highly motivated teachers were se- lected to support and guide other teach- ers by reaching out to them in the classrooms. In 2016 teacher training budget was increased by more than 100 %. Till last year teachers were not inter- ested in teacher training sessions con- ducted by the SCERT as it didn’t helped them in dealing with issues they used to face during teaching. This year dur- ing the summer vacation, more interac- tive and activity based training sessions were conducted for the teachers. The teachers liked this approach as they were also going to be supported by mentor teachers. The government partnered with CreateNet for principal leadership pro- gram. Initially this programwas limited to the principals of schools selected for the 54 school pilot project in 2015. This year the program has been extended to all the principals. The government has also sent Principals to management in- stitutes to become better leaders as they principals are being given more auton- omy to take decisions without bureau- cratic delays caused by movement of files from school to district office. Some principals were also sent to Cambridge University to learn the best practices being practiced in the west. Among other issues the high dropout rate among students of class 9th is still a matter of concern for the government. Last year the Delhi assem- bly decided to scrap the ‘No Detention Policy’ which allows students to get promoted till class 9th without passing exams. But, the bill has not been ap- proved by the union government. The government’s conducted learning as- sessment of Class 6 students, which showed that 74% of them could not even, read a passage from their text- books and 67% of students could not do
their schools. He promised them neces- sary support from the government. 200 principals responded to his call by sub- mitting their plans. After a detailed re- view of suggestions received, 54 schools were selected for the pilot proj- ect in which principals got more auton- omy to take decisions and also the launched new initiatives for increasing the learning level among children. Chil- dren join Delhi govt. schools in class 6th as the primary schools are run by the municipal corporations. Most of them were not able to read grade level text- books. The government decided to take help of Pratham and for 90 days stu- dents were segregated according to their learning level after conducting a baseline assessment. This special pro- gram run in government schools bene- fitted thousands of students as they were able to read their textbooks and compete with their peers. An end line assessment confirmed the results. The government also realized the need for reducing syllabus as teachers were under pressure to complete the syllabus, while students couldn’t even read. Syllabus reduction committees were set up by the State Council of Ed- ucation and Research. These commit- tees comprised of educationists and government schools teachers. For the first time, school teachers were asked to send their suggestions for the syllabus. Suggestions received from teachers were analyzed by the syllabus reduc- tion committee and most of them agreed to reduce the syllabus by 25% but some eminent educationists resis- ted it. Educationists also opposed other moves by the government as for the first time the government refused to consider their suggestions for maintain- ing the status quo. Academicians and educationists were asked for solutions to the problems faced by government school teachers and parents. But, they never came up with tangible solutions. Government also decided to invest in teacher training and classroom support system. In the pilot project of 2015,
All these measures were only the structural part of the reforms being car- ried out by the Delhi government. Real challenge was to break the inertia of in- difference among officials and initiate changes in policy. The government de- cided to conduct elections for School Management Committees mandated under the Right to Education Act 2009. Before September 2015, SMCs either didn’t exist or were nonfunctional. The government with the help of civil soci- ety mobilized parents to participate in these elections. On September 5th, last year elections were conducted for the first time all the 1011 schools run by the Delhi government. The formation of SMCs was crucial as it allows commu- nity members and local representatives to have a say in the administration of school and it also helps the government in keeping an eye on its officers. Since then, SMCs have been helping the gov- ernment in implementing different pro- grams. Also, SMCs give feedback about different policies to the government. The government has been able to form a very strong network of 16,200 SMC members spread across the city. SMC members are connected through social media to the education minister and his advisor Atishi Marlena. Regular train- ing sessions are conducted for the SMC members and administrators by Saajha, an NGO with a vision to set up SMCs in all the schools of India. Recently, summer camps were organized in al- most 600 schools with the help of SMCs. Through SMCs government is trying to bring all the stakeholders of children’s future together to initiate best practices in the classrooms of Delhi. The local MLAs are also member of the SMCs and AAP MLAs have been taking round of school and helping the SMCs. Last year right after the formation of government, the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal attended called a meeting of all the principals of gov- ernment schools, where he asked them to submit suggestions for improving
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Open House Special 2016
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