Eyeing an improvement in the overall academic performance of 67 government schools in Delhi where Class 9 and Class 11 students fared the worst in the last academic session, the Directorate of Education (DoE) has handed a task to 32 district-level officers in the Education Department — mentoring the schools. These government officers have been asked to adopt the assigned schools and keep a tab on overall performance for the current academic session, according to a DoE circular.
At least once every two weeks, the officers will have to fill out the ‘Adopted Inspection Report’ regularly after a visit to the assigned school, as per the circular issued on August 9. The list of government schools has been prepared by the Exam Branch.
“As a mentor, we are in touch with the schools. We identify the challenges, and our objective is to facilitate improvement. Every area has unique challenges. For instance, some schools may be in densely populated areas, so there is overcrowding. After identifying the challenge, we come up with a strategy. There will be varying degrees of success because the challenges are different everywhere,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
He added that this practice has been a norm for years and it has consistently shown the desired outcome.
In general, two schools are assigned to each officer but due to the non-availability of officers, three schools have been allotted to Deputy Director of Education (DDE) West A, DDE Zone 14, and DDE Zone 15.
The officers are also expected to record points of observation for Class 9 to Class 12, which include a count of guest and permanent faculty, evaluation of skill subjects, support material provided, and attendance of the students.
“The academic performance of Class 9 students declined considerably this time and the worst-affected were students in North East government schools because of lack of attention on the quality of the education in those schools,” said a government teacher who did not wish to be named.
Insufficient infrastructure, a disproportionate student-classroom ratio, staff shortage, a high number of first-time learners and young boys trying to fill in the shoes of the bread-earner, late provision of textbooks and supporting material from the department, improper parental counselling — these were among the factors that led to poor results, the teacher said.
A government official further highlighted that the unique challenges faced by the students in the geographic area include the “problem of space crunch” and “inadequate educational environment in homes”. Additionally, the stakeholders give a passive response, claimed the teacher.
When asked about the overall performance, a DDE Exam Branch official said, “Approximately 97% or more have cleared compartment examinations of Class 10 and more than 98% have passed the compartment of Class 12.”
However, the results of Class 9 in the academic session 2023-24 were dismal with only around 64% of students clearing the compartment examinations and in Class 11, 17,308 students could not clear the compartment examinations, as reported by The Indian Express on July 18.
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