• The transformation of school infrastructure - Dilapidated school buildings that lack basic facilities not only indicate the apathy of the government, but also significantly lower the motivation of teachers and the enthusiasm of students. The Govt sought to change this by building new, aesthetically designed classrooms equipped with furniture, smart boards, staff rooms, auditoriums, laboratories, libraries, sports facilities and so on.
• The training of teachers and principals - a forum was created to encourage peer learning among them, several opportunities were given to teachers for their professional growth. They visited Cambridge University; the National Institute of Education, Singapore; IIM Ahmedabad; and other models of excellence in India. The exposure to new pedagogy and leadership training.
• Engagement - reconstitution of community-based school management committees (SMC). The annual budget of each SMC is ?5-7 lakh. The SMCs can spend this money on any material or activity, such as even hiring teachers on a short-term basis. Regular dialogue between teachers and parents was initiated through mega PTMs. Guidelines are provided on how to engage with parents. Invitations for meetings are sent through FM radio, newspaper advertisements, etc.

Major curricular reforms in teaching learning - In 2016, Govt noted that there was a nearly 50% failure rate in Class 9 and admitted that the poor foundational skills of children could be the reason for it. Special initiatives to ensure that all children learn to read, write and do basic.

1. Similarly, a happiness curriculum was introduced for all children between nursery & Class 8 for their emotional well-being.
2. Further, an ‘entrepreneurship mindset curriculum’ was introduced to develop the problem-solving and critical thinking abilities of children in Classes 9 to 12.
3. Apart from these new curricular initiatives, the focus on existing subjects too ensured better performance in Board examinations by Classes 10 and 12.
4. No fee increase in private schools – While the first four components impacted nearly 34% of children in Delhi’s government schools, arbitrary fee hikes earlier impacted about 40% children who go to private schools. In the past, almost all the schools increased their fee 8-15% annually.
5. The Govt not only ensured the refund of about ?32 crore to parents which was excessively charged by private schools, it also ensured that any fee hike proposal was examined by authorised chartered accountants. Thus, for two years no school was allowed to raise its fee.
6. Now that phase of “having built the foundation of education”, the focus now to shift to “education as foundation”.

First, the syllabus of Classes 1 to 8 will be reviewed to emphasize foundational learning skills, the ‘happiness curriculum’ and the ‘deshbhakti’ curriculum.

• Apart from ensuring that all children can fluently read, write and do mathematics, the focus will be to build emotional resilience in children and ensure internalization of our core constitutional values by the time they complete eight years of schooling.
• Apart from that, early childhood care and education will be deepened further through Anganwadis. There will also be nurseries in all government schools.

Second, a Delhi Education Board will be set up to promote learning that encourages critical thinking, problem solving and application of knowledge among children to prepare them to tackle the challenges of the 21st century with an entrepreneurial mindset.

• For those who have graduated from Delhi schools in the recent past, programmes like spoken English, soft skills and so on will be initiated to raise their employability opportunities.

Third, specialised schools will be created in each of the 29 zones of Delhi to nurture the aptitude and talent of children in the areas of SciTech, literature and language, visual & performing arts, & sports.

• Post the acknowledgement of education as a top agenda of governance, the natural path would be to ensure that all children get education that passes the test of quality, opportunity and equity.