To break away from the system of rote learning that encourages the model of toppers, the Delhi government announced on Saturday that it will constitute its own board of education for upholding holistic development with assessment and emphasis on understanding round the year. It will be called the ‘Delhi Board of School Education’.
The Delhi government has set a target of 1,000 government schools, which are currently affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), to bring them under the DBSE’s fold.
The decision was taken during a Cabinet meet held on Saturday. However, the All India Parents’ Association has demanded that the government should reconsider its decision.
Voluntarily and Select Schools
The Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, said, “There are around 1,000 government schools and 1,700 private schools in Delhi. All these schools will not become a part of the new board all at once. In the 2021-2022 session, 20-25 government schools shall be included. These schools are being chosen based on the suggestions from students, their teachers, and parents. In the next 4-5 years, we hope to see all government and private schools being affiliated with the DBSE.”
The Education department will select the government schools and approach them with the model that is not based on rote learning and the conventional system of annual exam.
‘Staunch Nationalists and Responsible Youth’ from Delhi board
The Delhi chief minister said that its decision is in line with the past steps taken to reform the Delhi education in the past six years. “The first thing is every year 25% money has gone on education in the budget, which shows the improvement in infrastructure.”
Secondly, he said, the teachers and students got international exposure under the government’s new policies, which helped them in boosting morale and self-confidence.
Thirdly, it empowered principals and reduced the interference of the Directorate of Edcuation (DoE) in seeking permission for vacancies in teaching posts. It introduced corrective measures to bridge the learning gap through ‘chunauti’ (challenges) and ‘buniyaad’ (foundation). The government also started a happiness curriculum and programmes to encourage entrepreneurship.
Now, to further give shape and direction to these policies, the AAP-led Delhi government has come up with the next step – its own board.
Through the new board the Delhi government will lay down its own idea and curriculum. He said, “What is being taught in schools and how? We need to know why we are educated. We educate for three reasons. Now the Delhi board of school education will fulfill these motives – one is to ensure we bring out a crop of ‘kattar deshbhakt’, (staunch patriots), who would die for the country and work for the future of the country. We need to prepare such children who shoulder responsibilities. Contribute in science, technology, business and politics. Bring out good human beings, those who can shoulder family responsibilities. This will also enable students to be employable. What we see today is students with degrees but no jobs.”
He said that with the new board the stress would shift from rote learning to understanding. Also bring changes in the assessment model, which will be consistent through the year and not once a year.
The Delhi education department has made this model after imbibing the practices in international level boards, and with their cooperation it will be pursued.
What will change with the new board?
CM Kejriwal said that the “Delhi education Board will be very different from the education boards of other states.”
In his opinion, in the present education system, “we assess a student at the end of a year for 3 hours but in the New Education Board, we will assess students throughout the year to develop holistic learning outcomes”.
“The emphasis has to be placed on ‘understanding’ and ‘personality development’. The students would not be assessed once, at the end of the year. On the contrary, the assessment process would go on throughout the year,” he added.
For the Delhi board, the government will seek aid from various international organisations, said the statement. The model has been designed after studying international practices. Teaching methods have been analysed, based on which the new model would adopt similar practices and methodology in the Delhi schools under DBSE.
The governance and coordination of Delhi board will be overseen by the governing body, established under the chairpersonship of the Education Minister.
This body shall include education officials, experts from higher education, principals from government and private schools, teachers and parents, as well as, educationists from other spheres. Everyday activities of the Board shall be coordinated by the executive body, which will be a professional body, which will be headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with long-term experience in education, assessments, and school administration.
In addition to this, experts with vast knowledge in evaluation from all over India and around the world shall be invited.
Reconsider the Decision
The president of All India Parents’ Association, Ashok Agarwal, said that the cabinet decision must be revoked as it’s a matter of faith people have in the CBSE. It was viewed as an exercise “with no logic because other states are working to get their schools CBSE affiliation”.
He said, “In India maximum schools are CBSE affiliated and it has schools affiliation offshore as well. Delhi government schools have been affiliated with CBSE since 60 years and with faith in it the education department decides to de-affiliate. Recently, the Haryana government got the schools affiliated with CBSE. People go for it because the board has a standard. With this change there will be a drop in education standards. The Delhi government must reconsider their decision.”
Though the government officials say, it will ensure quality by de-linking education with 99%-100% marks.
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