Focus on conceptual understanding over syllabus completion, Sisodia tells school principals

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday met with government school principals to discuss academic priorities and set the targets and strategy for the new academic session that starts in July, after the summer vacations

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday met with government school principals to discuss academic priorities and set the targets and strategy for the new academic session that starts in July, after the summer vacations.

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Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, told school heads that it was time for them to start afresh while focusing on conceptual understanding over syllabus completion.

He asked schools to set minimum benchmarks for infrastructure, cleanliness, and overall school environment. “It is the responsibility of the school heads to set their own accountability for their school and ensure that nothing in the school falls below the minimum benchmark set by them. For this, the government will provide all the necessary facilities and funds to schools,” the minister told over 800 school principals during the interaction held at NDMC convention centre on Sansad Marg.

While outlining the importance of bridging pandemic-induced learning gap, Sisodia said schools needed to come up with strategies focused on better understanding of concepts.

The directorate of education (DoE) recently concluded the special classes that were part of its learning competency programme to bridge the learning gap. “Mission Buniyaad classes recently got over and schools have performed well. But we need to think about our future strategies now, to bridge the learning gap which has widened due to the pandemic over the past two years. We need to start from the point where we left off two years ago and strategise accordingly. There is no rush to complete the syllabus. Focus of schools should be on building conceptual understanding,” said Sisodia.

The deputy chief minister also laid emphasis on the implementation of the DoE’s entrepreneurship mindset curriculum (EMC) and happiness curriculum. “The aim of the Delhi government is to provide dignified education spaces to all children reaching Delhi government schools and not paying attention to the same will be an injustice to children who have chosen our schools over others,” said Sisodia.