Shiksha Read online

  MANISH SISODIA

  SHIKSHA

  My Experiments as an Education Minister

  PENGUIN BOOKS

  Contents

  Delhi, a Hope . . .

  THE FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION

  Budget: A Game Changer

  Infrastructure: Beginning with Basics

  Principals: Empowering Leadership

  Teachers: Re-establishing Trust

  Mentor–Teacher: A New Tradition

  Parents: Participation with Dignity

  EDUCATION AS A FOUNDATION

  The ‘Education Model of Coexistence’: Jeevan Vidya Shivir

  Happiness Class: Understanding Emotions

  Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum: Getting Future Ready

  This Is Just the Beginning . . .

  Illustrations

  Acknowledgements

  Follow Penguin

  Copyright

  PENGUIN BOOKS

  SHIKSHA

  The son of a government schoolteacher, Manish Sisodia, deputy chief minister and education minister of Delhi, is a senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party and a member of the Political Affairs Committee. In the past, he was a journalist with Zee News and All India Radio, after which he was active in the struggle to get the Right to Information Act passed in Parliament and played a key role in laying the foundation of the Jan Lokpal Movement. His significant contribution to reforming the education system in Delhi has gained him the reputation as one of the best administrators and educationists in the country.

  To all the proud teachers of Delhi government schools

  Delhi, a Hope . . .

  In Delhi, government schools have brought new hope in the education system by scoring a pass percentage of over 96 per cent this year. This is a great class 12 result. The fact that these are the best results in the last twenty-one years makes this an important landmark. What fills me with pride is that in today’s date, there are many Delhi government schools that are preferred over private schools by parents for their wards. Another feather in our cap is that the admission fee of many big private schools has not increased in the last four years. This is because the government got the accounts of these schools checked and found that they had crores of funds lying in surplus. Education departments from all over the country are now keen to visit Delhi government schools to understand what exactly is happening in this city that has drawn such attention! Not just national but many international delegations are paying Delhi a visit just to understand its education model.

  During the days of agitation, in 2010–11, Arvind Kejriwal and I would often wonder why education was not at the centre of politics. Why was it that governments never allotted the requisite amount of money in budgets? Why was education not on anyone’s election agenda? In 2015, when Kejriwal was voted in as the chief minister by Delhi, with AAP getting sixty-seven out of seventy seats, it was our turn to answer these questions. We were now answerable to ourselves and the country’s politics. As soon as he became the chief minister, Kejriwal made it clear to all ministers and officers that education was the topmost agenda of his government. After four and a half years since then, as I write the introduction to this book, I can say with a great deal of happiness that our government has changed the people’s perception.

  It is a fact that education has not been in focus in political discourse. The reason for this is that it isn’t easy to focus on education while doing political work. There are two main reasons for this: One, we lack an organizational system in a big way. Usually, all education-related decisions are taken by the education minister or the people in the education ministry or the education directorate. If we go by the prevailing norms, there is no need for them to have an experience in or understanding of education. Any person, whose party is in majority and who has been voted in, can become the education minister; any senior IAS officer can become a director or secretary of education. These three are the principal stewards of education, but neither at the Centre nor at the state level is it important for them to have some experience in or understanding of the sector. In my view, those who understand education do not necessarily have the authority to bring about a positive change, and the ones who take decisions mostly lack the understanding. This is one reason for the current dismal situation in India. The other reason, in my opinion, is that there is no instant gratification when it comes to improving education systems as the hard work yields results later. Today’s politics wants instant results. The public expects quick solutions to issues from its government. In such a situation, it becomes easier to pacify them by constructing roads or flyovers, or to float policies such as pension schemes that make a bit of a difference to the lives of people. There has been a tradition to use popular schemes to woo voters but working on education doesn’t just mean building a school. Improving education also means constantly supervising hundreds and thousands of teachers—to ensure that they spend more time in schools, that they attend training programmes, and to make them more accountable. These are enough to make anyone unpopular among teachers but without these, without their support, without putting them in ‘mission mode’, it is impossible to make any improvements in the education sector. This is probably the reason why previous ministers have not made education the focus of their agenda.

  In the last four years, many of my well-wishers have commented that we have been doing great work in the sector of education and the country needs development in this arena the most, but we should also float schemes that will make our politics successful. By this they mean winning elections. The success or failure of politics is in future’s womb but, for now, Delhi is proof that if there is political willingness, the country’s growth vis-à-vis education is possible. The Delhi education model is testament to the fact that with extreme diligence and political willpower government schools can be made like private schools even at a time when their performance across the country is underwhelming. Delhi is also an example of how with political interest and honest governance, the steeply rising fees in private schools can be regulated, which is a major source of concern for a lot of parents.

  I am writing this book to document this story of transformation, so that people can appreciate these finer points which have been effective in helping the Delhi government change the face of government schools. It is also to familiarize them with the reason behind these efforts because just getting good results and building great structures do not translate to good education. Education is not merely about creating a society equipped with school and college certificates. Education is more than that, much more.

  The purpose of education is not just to help people improve their earning capabilities or to contribute to the country’s economic development. Education can also help raise the consciousness of the country and society. Research documents and books on education may have mentioned some of these intentions, but today, in practice, the aim of the education that we are giving to our next generation through schools, colleges, libraries, laboratories and exams doesn’t seem to be the same. The worldview and society that we seem to be talking about at national and international forums and the one that we are trying to build with our alliances, compromises and laws, etc.—in none of these is there a stress on putting education to use as a potential tool. In all conferences and seminars on education around the world, there is a definite focus that no child in any country should be left behind. A lot of effort is also being made towards this. There are various programmes, such as ‘no child left behind’; Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (education for all); and to get every child on earth to school. These are good and important projects. The question of the hour though is, what will we give these children after getting them to school? Education? On what? What kind? To what end? The attempt is to teach the child everything, from grammar to science, so t
hat he/she can find employment, so that he/she can live respectfully. A lot of effort is put into getting a child admitted to a good school. But there is no stress on ensuring that the child does not participate in any kind of violence, does not contribute to pollution, does not spread hatred, does not spread corruption. Good grammar is assured but not courteous conduct.

  Today, we see civilizational problems such as terrorism, violence, hatred, rampant greed and pollution all around us. The society’s understanding of the solution is that with the spread of education, there will emerge well-educated people who as officers or administrators will create strict laws and execute them to root out crime. They will end violence, fill people with compassion, put a stop to rape and exploitation and find solutions for issues such as pollution. If that’s how we think, we think wrong, but unfortunately, for now, that’s how we think. That is the bitter truth.

  All countries in the world wish to prosper. They desire a certain kind of order, societal or otherwise. However, hardly any countries are utilizing their education systems to achieve it. Everyone wants to utilize the skills of an educated human being, but the utilization of education has not been understood by many yet, and there is a big difference between the two. We need to create educated people who can become resources and not officers or administrators.

  This isn’t the first time that we are discussing education. Many educationists have worked with institutions and governments in the past. We are just a four-and-half-year-old government. We did not start AIIMS or IITs or IIMs in India. There are many good educational institutions in the country: from Delhi University to Banaras Hindu University. There are thousands of good schools. We didn’t start any of them. Education has been included as a fundamental right in the Constitution. This, again, is not our contribution. We are a small state government. Our education model is only breaking the mindset and system where the 5 per cent gets the best kind of education and the 95 per cent gets the worst kind.

  In this book, I am writing about imagining, planning and creating a system where on seeing an increase in violence in a city, the chief minister not only directs his chief of police to end the violence in two days but also directs his chief of education to make a plan for ending violent tendencies in people in two years. If we cannot use education to this end, then it essentially means that we do not understand the power education can wield. It shows that our understanding of education is limited to ending poverty or providing employment. Education is capable of doing more, much more.

  THE FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION

  Budget: A Game Changer

  The Delhi government’s biggest achievement with regard to the education sector has been that in our very first budget the allocation for the education department was doubled. In fact, not only was it doubled but almost 25 per cent of the annual budget was earmarked for education. This was an unprecedented move, one that was appreciated by all. Everybody agreed that this was the first time that the education budget had been doubled, and that this was the first government to have the courage to allocate one-fourth of its budget to education.

  It is not that we didn’t face any difficulties, but our goals were clear and so were Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s directions to us that the education department should get the budget it needed. To meet this end, many projects across various departments had to take a back seat, and some even had to be put on hold. Our well-wishers were of the opinion that we should focus on development too and not just education. It gives me immense pleasure to see that the government’s intention didn’t waver and, in the last four years, the education budget has continued to be allocated one-fourth of the budget. It is not possible to understand this budget in terms of ‘double’ or ‘25 per cent’ alone. We have to look at the statistics—when we came to power, the Delhi government’s budget was only Rs 29,000 crore. In just four years, this has gone up to Rs 53,000 crore. In 2014–15, only 12 per cent of the Rs 29,000 crore-budget was allocated to education. The following year, the budget was increased to Rs 36,000 crore, of which 25 per cent was given to education. Thus, the education budget went up from Rs 4500 crore to Rs 9000 crore. Since then, as the Delhi government’s budget has increased, the amount allocated to education too has gone up. It is because of this sizeable budget that we have never had to stop any project citing lack of funds.

  Our government is of the opinion that providing quality education to children is its responsibility. Some might argue that when the Right to Education Act (RTE) has been listed in the Constitution as a fundamental right, what is this four-year-old Delhi government trying to claim? What we are trying to say is that though it might be mentioned in the Constitution, the bitter truth is that most governments think that providing education to children is the responsibility of the parents. If the parents want to give their children a good education, then they need to earn well and enrol them in private schools. For all our claims during elections and seminars, the importance given to education by governments can be seen in the condition of school buildings. Many government schools in most states are struggling. Often various governments attribute this largely to the fact that there are no children to teach in these schools. I have, in meetings with other education ministers, asked one question. In the areas where schools are closing down, what is the condition of private schools and how many of these have opened in the last ten to fifteen years? I am still waiting for an answer to this question, but I often wonder whether government schools are closing and private schools are flourishing because some of these have been started by politicians and bureaucrats?

  Factors such as the condition of government schools and lack of funds and proper teacher training are testament to the fact that in spite of being mentioned in the Constitution as a fundamental right, education is perceived as something that should be availed in private schools. However, our government thinks that the responsibility of providing a good education is its own, and we are working in that direction. The first step is the allocation of sufficient funds. If a sizeable budget is not allocated to education, then stressing on it in rules, regulations or laws has no meaning.

  Infrastructure: Beginning with Basics

  Creating a budget for education is no mean feat. We didn’t go with some quixotic notion that if the education budget was increased, everything else in the country would be fine. Instead, we had a clearly drawn-out road map, made with utmost honesty and understanding, for the optimal utilization of this budget. To begin with, we created a blueprint. After this, whatever was possible from the Delhi government’s budget was allotted to the education sector.

  When I began visiting schools, February 2015 onwards, I noticed that they were in rather bad shape. The classrooms were crumbling and dirty and appeared more like junkyards. In some schools, it seemed like seating space had been created for the students in the middle of clutter. Teaching in such conditions was impossible. Ceilings threatening to come crashing down any minute, a few tattered durries to sit on and broken blackboards hanging precariously from the walls, the text written on them in chalk illegible even for the teachers, were common sights. The labs and libraries looked like storerooms of almirahs. Taking out any book or equipment from them meant sticking your hand into a thick layer of dust. Amongst such schools, a few were in a better condition than the others, or were at least halfway better. There were schools where students were being taught in corridors or halls. And in many others, classes were being held under one tree. Therefore, it looked like a scene from a vegetable market, with students talking in unison and teachers screaming to calm them down. No one could understand which student was in which class and was being taught which subject and by whom. Similar scenes played out in schools where classes were held in corridors or ancient halls with walls and ceilings that were somehow managing to hold up.

  I got the information collated of the classrooms, playgrounds, labs and libraries, and the administrative work of the schools. I also got a headcount of students in each section in a school. It was surprising that t
he education department did not already have this information in one place and that we had to spend at least a month to get it. It is interesting to note here that even to get all this information on a pen drive or as an Excel sheet, rather than a print copy, involved a lot of work. The norm was to forward information in a file if a minister asked for it. But I insisted on emails or soft copies on pen drives. When I finally received the data, I discussed it with a few analysts. We matched the number of students in each class with the infrastructure available. Several surprising facts came up. In the last couple of years, a few schools in rural areas had been built far away from the villages, in farmlands. This was despite the fact that there were schools in the villages with enough space to add more classrooms. The number of students in the village schools was high, but the villagers were not too keen on sending their children to schools located a distance away. This was one of the main reasons for such schools having only three to four hundred students in total. I personally met the principals of these schools at my official residence. I also spoke to some of them over the phone and realized that these schools were arbitrarily developed. It was also observed that contrary to prescription, very few schools had forty to fifty students per section per class. In many classes, the number was close to eighty to 100 per section. While there was no dearth of schools where this number was in the range of 100 to 150, there was one school where, in one class, there were 174 students. When I came across this class, I couldn’t help but think that even if God came there as a teacher, forget about teaching, he would struggle to fit them in one classroom. Early 2015 was the year of swallowing the bitter pill to improve the dismal condition of Delhi’s government schools. We calculated that to accommodate the present number of students and teachers, and to manage them well, we needed another 30,000 rooms. The solution was to either build new schools or add rooms to the existing ones. We adopted both approaches. This had to be done in consultation with the land and property department of the central government, and if the Delhi government needed any land, it had to request the central government. It was up to the Centre whether to allot the available land or not. In the past, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had shied away from allotting these resources to the Delhi government. In my opinion, be it right or wrong, they were more interested in selling the land to individuals to make a profit. After many trials and tribulations, the education department was able to get a few plots from the DDA, and we started the work immediately. We also started making new classrooms in schools that had space. Rooms that were in a state of disrepair were fixed on war footing. In the first round, fifty schools that were in really bad shape were renovated. We also started the process of adding 8000 new classrooms and building twenty-five new schools. Though this number was a lot less than the required 30,000 rooms, we went ahead with this work in the first phase and started looking for land for the second phase. Once we had the resources, we started the second phase of building 12,000 new classrooms. The PWD minister, Satyendra Jain, and I supervised the construction work in some places, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a few others. An eye was kept on the design of the rooms, labs and libraries, and also on the tiling, boards, lighting and ceilings. At times, it felt like we were getting our own houses built, which was the sentiment behind this initiative. We also started getting the run-down washrooms mended and putting up green boards in every classroom. We gave standing orders to the directorate to get all the classrooms whitewashed every year during the summer vacations. Though initially there were some delays because of departmental slackness and PWD processes, today, it gives us immense satisfaction to see that there isn’t a single classroom in Delhi that doesn’t have a proper board, or where the fans are broken, or where the washrooms are damaged.