Delhi's educational revolution: A lesson to learn

The performance of Delhi government schools in the board exams was stunning, but not surprising. The AAP government has done remarkably well on the education front during its tenure here.

It is not for nothing that Delhiites choose AAP over all other parties in the Assembly elections while they look beyond when it comes to the Lok Sabha elections.

There is a clarity to the choice of Delhi voters. Education, healthcare, amenities, drinking water supply and power charges are some of the areas in which the AAP government has excelled in the recent times.

High importance is given to education with emphasis on EBC quota in private schools too. Infrastructure at the government schools is remarkable.

The government has trained the school heads in modern methods by sending 209 such senior educators on an educational trip to Cambridge and Finland.

The heads of schools and officials have been sent to the IIMs for special training in administration and management. In all, 299 Teacher Development Coordinators and 279 Mentor Teachers have attended training on teaching and mentoring at NIE, Singapore.

This made the deputy directors take the lead in their own districts to conduct subject-specific training with the help of external resource persons.

An impeccable coordination amongst the senior and junior teachers was achieved during the same time and this brought the best out of them to the benefit of the students.

In addition to that, the Education Department enforced mega-PTMs last year and parents and students were constantly updated about the exam pattern and the children's progress.

Absenteeism was given special attention and teachers got in touch with parents in case of irregular attendance. All this made the pass percentage to leap to over 94 per cent in the Class 12 examinations this year.

A total of 200 schools scored 100 per cent results. Not just this, the students scored remarkably high scores too, almost comparable to the marks of prestigious private school students.

Students are also given quality food at the schools and that is another allurement to the poor to send their children to the government schools now.

This process coupled with the excellent healthcare offered by the Mohalla clinics and supply of free medicines - includes mobile medical shops that offer free medicines - has changed the profile of the education system itself.

Where there is a will, there is a way, they say. The AAP government has shown what people-friendly governance means. In fact, these things do not happen unless there is a strong conviction on part of the leadership.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal knows well what people of the national capital need. The open gyms inaugurated in various bastis of Delhi are a testimony to the vision.

These gyms located in parks are always crowded with young and the old flocking to them. It is amazing to see even 70-80-year-olds furiously working out on them.

Enchantment of people with the AAP government has only grown with its drinking water billing policy due to which it has become almost a free supply along with the subsidised power charges. Is anyone listening?