How Aam Aadmi Party fix Delhi's broken government schools?

 The Aam Aadmi Party  (AAP) won a massive landslide in 2015 assembly polls. One of the key promises of AAP in the 2015 polls was to transform the government schooling system in the national capital territory. The AAP government under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia who holds the education portfolio has allotted highest funds to education, introduced new teacher training courses for students and have infused money to improve ailing schooling infrastructure. 

Here is a quick overview of series of reforms and initiatives taken by the AAP government to improve education sector in the last five years.

1) More funds for education.

The increased budget in education sector has largely been devoted to address core areas such as the strengthening of ailing school infrastructure, revamping teacher-training system and students learning programmes. It may be noted that when the AAP government came to power in 2015, the conditions of most government schools in Delhi were in a sorry state, with more and more parents particularly from economically poorer backgrounds sending their wards to private schools with considerable financial burdens. This is where the AAP pitched its support to bring a turnaround quickly. Notably, to make classroom experience stimulating for students, the government introduced happiness curriculum with array of innovative classroom learning tools. Furthermore, the AAP government took the crucial initiative of creating a three–tier library structure in the schools. In addition, all government schools have now functional drinking water and girls and boys toilets, electricity connection and 88.82% schools had computer facilities.

2)  Teacher training 

Another significant intervention made by the AAP government was with regard to teachers’ training. Delhi government in 2017 started a one of a kind teacher training exercise across the city. The State Council for Education Research & Training (SCERT) undertook an extensive capacity building exercise for more than 36,000 teachers — 26,000 Trained Graduate Teachers (TGTs) and 10,000 Post Graduate Teachers (PGTs), who were teaching in schools run by the Delhi government. Keeping in mind the latest innovation in classroom learning, the concept of group-based learning has been introduced in teacher training so that the technique percolates to classrooms of Delhi government schools as well.

3)  Chunauti 

The government launched an ambitious project named ‘Chunauti’ in 2016 with the aim of seeking to check student dropout rates and improve the quality of education with special focus on the weakest students. The aim was to have all students in upper primary classes be able to read, write and do basic mathematics. It has been reported that Chunauti has brought visible improvement in the pass percentage of class IX. Similarly, class XI results made impressive  improvement in pass percentage. 

The AAP government brought a visible transformation in public education system in the national capital. The education system of Delhi is being adopted by other states as well. The government managed to bring major changes in the education system and was able to overcome major challenges they faced. Overall, the AAP government’s stepped up efforts has brought school education onto the center stage.