Software in works, nursery seats for EWS to be up for grabs later

TNN | Dec 25, 2015, 11.37 PM IST

New Delhi: Admissions to the 25% EWS-DG nursery seats will not start with the general category ones after all. Education minister Manish Sisodia said on Friday that admissions for the economically weaker section and disadvantaged groups-being conducted online for the first time-will be "slightly deferred." "Everything will be online," he said, "The software is being developed. If parents can't enter their details, the school will do it or NGOs will help."

Sisodia also shared his plans for education. In the works is an "education hub" - rather, school hub-in northeast Delhi; powers to school principals to recruit "estate managers"; greater focus on teacher training; and a mobile application through which parents, teachers and children can report lack of cleanliness on school premises.

He's in the process of transfering 30 acres from another department to education on which will stand about 10 schools in a cluster. Each school will specialise in a different field-science, arts, fine arts, sports, etc-and serve populations in several vidhan sabhas including Gokulpur, Ghonda and Babarpur. "For the next 20-25 years, there shouldn't be a shortage of schools. Also, the schools will be centrally located and distance shouldn't be a problem," said Sisodia. There's another plot of 10-12 acre in Burari that the government is hoping to secure for a school.

The syllabus cut-for which a new committee has been constituted-will be implemented next year. But before Sisodia can focus on "core"-quality of education-he has to deal with "periphery" or, built infrastructure, first. Eight thousand rooms are being constructed; about 25 schools and by next year, the size of permanent teaching staff is likely to be expanded by another 9,000.

The recent drive to get schools to clean up has largely been a success. "About 80-85% schools cleaned up. I issued very strict orders even for 'minor penalty' which is stopping increment for two years. Every director has been told to make an example of two-three schools," says Sisodia. Over 200 teams of school management committee members had been deployed to inspect schools for cleanliness. Violations were reported through an internal mobile app that the minister intends to eventually hand to parents, teachers and children.

Training of teachers will also get special attention. The District Institutes for Education and Training and the State Council for Educational Research and Training will be strenghthened but for most inputs, Sisodia is looking at foreign collaborations. A trip to Finland-widely believed to run the most successful government education system-is also in the offing. A system of rewarding teachers whose students have performed well is also being considered for the model schools.

In another measure-one announced before-Sisodia has ensured that several decisions formerly taken by department officials can now be taken by the principal (heads of school). "The HOS will be able to hire an estate manager who will inspect schools before shifts to ensure everything-toilets, lights-is in order. But if the manager is not performing, it will also be the HOS' responsibility to replace them," he says.

Meanwhile, even by Friday, over 1,000 private unaided schools hadn't submitted their nursery admission criteria to the directorate of education. Of 1,737 recognised private unaided schools, only 732 had. The first deadline to submit was December 20.When the majority of schools failed to do so, the DoE issued an order threatening action against the schools and gave them time till December 25. Education activists also point out that in the case of many schools, the number of seats hasn't been declared and in the case of most, there is no information on fees. Previous orders required schools to make both public at the time of nursery admission.