How to Improve Government School Education Quality??

 

 

How to Improve
Government School Education Quality??

 

 

 

 

 

Summary and Ideas !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             SIKSHA- Manish Sisodia

(Educational Minister Delhi Government and leader of AAP)

In Delhi, Government school have bought new hope in the education system by scoring a pass percentage of over 96 percentage in class 12 results. The fact that these are the best results in the last 21 years makes this an important landmark.

There are many government schools in Delhi that are preferred over private schools by parents for their wards. Another feather in our cap is that the admission fee of many big private school has not increased in the last four years. This is because the government got the accounts of these schools checked and found that they had crores of funds lying in surplus. Education departments from all over the country and many international delegations are paying Delhi a visit just to understand its education model.  We have to make Education as core part of political agenda. Kejriwal made it clear to all ministers and officers that education was the topmost agenda of his government.

According to Minister Manish Sisodia There are two main reason that education isn't easy to focus while doing political work. One , those who understand education do not necessarily have the authority to bring about a positive change, and the ones who take decisions mostly lack the understanding, this is one reason for the current dismal situation in India and third world. The other reason, in his opinion is that there is no instant gratification when it comes to improving education system as the hard work yields results later. Today's politics wants instant results. The public expects quick solutions to issues from its government. In such a situation, it becomes easier to pacify them by construction roads or flyovers or float policies such as pension schemes that make a bit if difference to the lives of people.

There has been a tradition to use popular schemes to woo voters but working on education doesn't just mean building a school, improving education also means constantly supervising hundreds and thousands of teachers to ensure that they spend more time in schools, that they attend training programs, and to make them more accountable. These are enough to make anyone unpopular among teachers but without these without their support, without putting them in 'mission mode' it is impossible to make any improvements in education sector.

Delhi is also an example of how with political interest and honest governance, the steeply rising fees in private schools can be regulated, which is a major source of concern for all parents. The purpose of education is not just to help people improve their earning capabilities or to contribute to the country's economic development. Education can help raise the consciousness of the country and society. Education has been included as a fundamental right in the constitution.

- Manish Sisodia

 

 

 

 

 

THE FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION

Budget: A Game Changer

The Delhi government's biggest achievement with regard to the education sector has been that in our very first budget the allocation for the education department was doubled. In fact, not only doubled but almost 25 percent of the annual budget was earmarked for education. This was an unprecedented move, one that was appreciated by all. This was the first government to have the courage to allocate one-fourth of its budget to education.

Factors such as the condition of government schools and lack of funds and proper teacher training are testament (प्रमाण) to the fact that in spite of being mentioned in the Constitution as fundamental right.

-        The first step is the allocation of sufficient funds. If a sizeable budget is not allocated to education, the stressing on it in rules, regulations or laws has no meaning.

Infrastructure: Beginning with Basics

Make a clearly drawn-out road map, made with outmost honesty and understanding, for optimal utilization of the budget. To begin with, they created a blueprint. After this, whatever was possible from the Delhi government's budget was allotted to the education sector.

Sisodia collected the information of the classrooms, playgrounds, labs and libraries and the administrative work of the schools. He also got a headcount of students in each section in a school. It was surprising that the education department did not already have this information in one place and that they did spend at least a month to get it. It is interesting to note here that even to get all this information on a pen drive or Excel sheet, rather than a print copy, involved a lot of work. When he received the data, he discussed it with a few analysts. They matched the number of students in each class with the infrastructure available. They started making new classrooms in schools buildings.  They would give their children the best possible education and would not let the level of education and facilities dip beyond a certain point.

No room in their schools would be damaged, there would be no cobwebs in them, they would be whitewashed regularly, the board inside would be of such quality that every child would be able to read what was written on them, that all the lights would be functional and every class would have a teacher etc..

While making new classrooms and mending old ones, they stressed on giving them a modern look because that was tied to self-respect of the students. When a child goes to a government school compares the building and facilities of his or school with that of a private school. He or she doesn't just feel bad but also inferior. Giving the schools a modern look wasn't just about functionality but also to root out this inferiority complex from society.

 

Principals: Empowering Leadership

A teacher is to a school what a pilot is to an airplane. Children are like its passengers where everybody else, from parents to the education departments, plays the role of the ground staff who ensures that the flight land safely. If the teacher is the pilot, then the principal is the captain. All of this sounds great but was far from the ground reality of our school.

The role of the principal had been reduced to a low-ranking official in the hierarchy of education, whose job was to only send reports about the schemes introduced, just for the sake of it. In Delhi they have taken crucial steps to strengthen the position of the principals and establish them responsible leader. Today, the principal of Delhi government schools are equipped to take decisions. They are giving rights and ample resources to prepare a visions and come up with schemes that can be implemented for the future of their students.

To take care of damaged desks, light, fans, windows, whiteboards, to electricity bills, cleaning materials of toilets etc. a principal of Delhi government school does not need to seek permission from government. Instead, he or she can just access the budget provided to them. Every school now has an annual budget of Rs.5-14 lakhs. This can be used without any official interventions. Also, to address the issue if insufficient teachers, principals have been given the authority to hire guest teachers and fund have been allocated for their salaries. Not just that, a principal now has the authority and funding to use the services of an expert of any subject or activity. For example, they can call specialists to train students in sports, art and dance or for any entrance tests in different fields.

School teachers should able to prepare vision documents of their schools. Sisodia wanted to give their principals the best international leadership training. In the same way, he wanted to send their principals to Finland. Schools of Finland are considered the best in the world.

विध्यालयमा हुने Extra गतिविधिहरु हेर्न, शुक्रवारे कार्यक्रम, विद्यार्थीको नियमितता तथा अनुशासन कायम गर्न Vice Principal sir को भुमिका लाई थप मजबुद बनाएर लैजादा सकारात्मक प्रभाव पर्ने देखिन्छ ।

Minister has aimed to established principals as leaders who had a good hold over their schools, had dreams for it and the ability and understanding to fulfil them.

 

Teachers: Re – establishing Trust

Teachers are the pilots of the education system. We need teachers who can steer the society in the right direction for the world to become a better place.

They also undertook the renovation of staff rooms keeping in mind the dignity of the post and the teachers 'ease. They wanted to change the storeroom-like rooms with their shabby desks surrounded by broken cupboards into rooms where teachers could sit with pride and talk, eat and read. They also decided to install a coffee machine and fridge in every staffroom. It's not about money but about respect.

Guru bin Gyan Na Upaje,

Guru bin mile na moksha

Guru Bin lakhe na satya ko

Guru Bin mite na dosha.

Without the teacher no one can obtain knowledge or achieve salvation (मूक्ति). Without the teacher no one can see the truth or have his doubts removed.

 

Parents: Participation with Dignity

Parents and teachers are like two pole stars in the education of children. When we talk about bringing change in education or about reimagining education policies, more often than not merely focus on schools, boards, the secretariat, curricula, etc. There are no policies or plans, however, to include parents actively in the education of their children. The reason for this is that we have never of building a bridge between school and parents. School Management Committee has acted like bridge between Delhi government vision and the situation in school. Minister Manish told that SMC acted like his eyes and ears. What was lacking in a school? Which teacher taught well? Or which didn't? Which teacher or principal came on time? Who misused his/her position?

SMC members often came to him with problems or solutions for these things. He get in touch with the SMC and get it within an hour or two while it usually takes the directorate of Education a week to ten days to collect the same information. He have selected, on an informal basis, a coordinator for every Vidhan Sabha area. In the same way, for smooth coordination between SMCs in a district, He have appointed a district coordinator. He had made WhatsApp group of the seventy Vidhan Sabha coordinators and thirteen SMC coordinator on which any SMC-related information or communication can be exchanged. Any work given by him reaches the SMC members of all 1000 schools in a matter of minutes.

 

 

Education as a Foundation

 

The 'Education Model of Coexistence': Jeevan Vidya Shivir

 

When we don't understand is that we too can work towards creating an intelligent society through education. But what can be done? This is the root of problem. While we have to find a solution we cry over the problem being a problem.

Reforming the education system of Delhi and creating a new society through education was Minister Manish mission as the education minister. To achieve this, He needed a team and nothing could be better than one made up of officials of the education department because they had both authority and experience. However, they lacked initiative and direction.

The current mode of education is competitive, where every student is taught that the biggest proof if their learning is their ability to race ahead, leaving all their classmate behind.

On paper, we are giving education in classroom but in reality, these are war rooms. This is the reason why every child is put in the rat race to leave the others behind. And after school, he/she is stuck in this race. In this model, either every person is working under someone or trying to get someone else to work under them. Here the basis for progress is conflict or exploitation.

A child wants to grow up to become a human being but we think our job is to just turn him into a tool in the name of education. We have to develop coexistence model. In this model competition means not to leaving others behind to make a name for self. Competition is not with others but with the self. It means increasing the usefulness of oneself: 'we knew a lot yesterday but we will know more today. We will do better than yesterday.' This means you compete with yourself and be inspired to better yourself, which is the basis for progress.

Self Confidence: when we talk about it, we find that we have faith in others but not in the self, meaning it is comparative. I study and there is only one way to assess how much I have understood by giving exams and seeing how well I have scored in comparison to others.

We might understand something well and very deeply but the assessment of our understanding doesn't come from us but is derived as a reaction from others. The kind of house we live in, the kind of jobs we do, the kind of clothes we wear, the king of food we eat, the locality we live in, the luxuries we have. We don't derive happiness from these things but from comparing them with what our friends relatives and neighbors have. Is this self-confidence or belief in others or lack of faith in the self?

Living amicably with relatives: The current education system doesn’t teach us to appreciate relationships, rather teaches one to evaluate them. How profitable a relatives is. That is the reason why instead of living amicably with relatives, there is only dissatisfaction. Amicability (मैत्रिभाव) makes both the giver and the recipient happy. But, as of now, the giver fills up with pride while the recipient gets poorer. This equation of pride and poverty creates a clash at some point of the other.

Contributing to society: A healthy body, a self-confident mind and amicability in relationship settle the self and enable one to contribute to the larger order in terms of family, society, nation, world and nature. However, if we look around, we find that educated people are unsettled and spread disharmony. One man makes arms for profit, another uses those arms to exploit others. The aim of an educated person, in the current model of education, is to get ahead in life. But they don’t have the ability to participate in society in a meaningful way. तथापि शिक्षाको चमत्कारिताले नै विज्ञान प्रविधिको विकास, सकारात्मक सामाजिक रुपान्तरण, भेदभावको कमि, सुचना प्रविधिको विकासले मानव समाजलाई नै अगाडि बढाएको मात्र छैन सहज पनि बनाएको छ ।शिक्षालाई समाजसँग जोड्नु आजको आवश्यकता रहेको छ । योग र ध्यानलाई वर्तवान शिक्षामा नछुटाईकन समावेश गर्नुपर्ने देखिन्छ ।

Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum: Getting Future Ready

 

If we only create jobseekers, where will the job providers come from? I almost every child, armed with a degree, goes looking for a job, who will provide this jobs? Why do our educated youngsters lack in confidence? Why have they limited their potential to just getting a job? Why can't they apply their skills in any other area? These are the outcomes of current education system. There are no jobs because our school and colleges are only creating jobseekers and not job creators. Education system have to focus not on honing skills bur on creating an entrepreneurial attitude. Through the entrepreneurial mindset we have to build every child's self-confidence.