Development of education facilities key AAP priority

New Delhi: Ever since Class 7 student Harsh’s school got a facelift, his happiness has no bounds. The crumbling walls or rickety benches, which for long have been identified with government schools, no longer welcome him.

Shaheed Hemu Kalani Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya (SHKSBV), Lajpat Nagar, which is among the 54 government schools selected as a model or pilot school, has undergone a huge makeover. The AAP government plans to bring them on par with private schools. These schools were selected after principals’ submitted proposals on how to improve their schools.

SHKSBV now has eight new “smart classrooms”, IT and travel and tourism lab and a resource centre for differently-abled students.

“Bilkul naye jesa hogaya hai, ab bhot acha lagta hai. Ever since the school tur-ned model, teachers have become more responsible and focus more on teaching. Now, we have projectors, LED lights, new desks and blackboard. CCTVs will also be installed soon,” said Suraj, a student.

In the two consecutive annual Budgets announced by the AAP, the education sector was allotted the lion’s share of the total allocation, raising hopes that it will be the government’s key priority.

While announcing the budget for 2016-17, the government had in March 2016 granted Rs 10,690 crore for education, nearly 23 per cent of the total allocation.

Most of the schools have completed 90-95 per cent of the construction of the new school building and will begin teaching in the new classrooms by the new academic session.

“Modern infrastructure helps boost students’ confidence and brings change in their behaviour. The mentor teachers who have been trained are performing excellently in other schools too. We are even offering activities, including music, dance, craft, which has made the students more joyful. Even the reputation of school has increased among parents and children,” said Kuldeep Singh, principal of Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Ambedkar Nagar.  

Government Girls Senior Secondary School in New Kondli, Sarvodya Kanya Vidyalaya — Zeenat Mahal in Jafrabad are some of the other schools where students feel motivated to study in the model classrooms.

Reportedly, Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Rouse Avenue, had become the city’s first “model” government school with “state-of-the-art” facilities and infrastructure, inaugurated by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in January.

While initially the plan was to develop selected 54 schools, the government later extended the infrastructure makeover to all its schools in phases.

“The 8,000 classrooms promised are almost complete. These will be available from April onwards when the new session starts. This is one major achievement because there are so many parts in Delhi where high-student ratio is the norm,” said Atishi Marlena, Advisor to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the Education portfolio.

Some principals claimed even students from nearby private schools are enrolling in model schools.

While on one hand, the focus has been on improving infrastructure facilities, 2016 saw interventions aimed at improving learning levels of students from class six to nine. From announcing its much ambitious Chunauti-2018 scheme in June and taking a pledge of ‘100 per cent ability to read’ to various teachers training programmes, the method of learning in classrooms is also slowly changing.

“Learning deficits is a huge problem and we have tried to bridge them. When ASER results come, a lot of governments deny that the condition is not so bad but we as a government have taken this challenge head on and have said publicly that this is the problem and we are trying to resolve it,” she said.