Story of Delhi Education Reforms by school teacher and Fulbright scholar Murari Jha

Murari Jha, a government school teacher in Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, RK Puram Delhi is one of the six Delhi govt school teachers who were selected for a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship in Jan 2018. Learning is an integral part of Murari's life. With master degrees in History, Education and Business, currently he is pursuing a PhD in Education. During a AAP Ka Radio conference call, we had the opportunity to talk to Murari Jha and know more about Delhi education reforms from the perspective of a govt school teacher.

Fulbright Experience: The 50 days training program in the US had different stages. It gave the opportunity to learn about US education system, team-work and know about the historical and social life in the US. Murari got an opportunity to teach students along with the American school teachers. He also received training on teacher leadership and special education.

There were participants from 40 different countries who were selected for the fellowship. So the learning source wasn't limited to US based schools. All participants were divided into 4 groups. Murari was at George Mason University, Virginia with participants from 16 other countries. He mentioned some of the things he learned during his time in the US that he would like to see being implemented in the Indian education system.

• Disposition or attitude towards learning: In India, we are more focused on teaching and knowledge. Prompt knowledge may not lead to learning. He observed that teachers in the US are more focused on learning whereas knowledge is secondary 
• Teacher-student relationship is important and quite open in the US 
• Group and project based learning keep student away from mechanical learning and allow them to develop their own learning procedure 
• Lesson plans used by teachers to use their time more efficiently 
• Focus on student to teacher ratio 

While in the US, it was discussed with Murari if Indian govt can organize such collaborative events in India where teachers from different parts of India and other countries can come together to share knowledge. It is very difficult to organize such events at the moment but Murari thinks that this is a great opportunity. He discussed the same with Atishi and the team is thinking about it.

At present, training camps are being organized from time to time by Delhi govt. Teachers from Delhi schools have been to training institutes in India (e.g. Sikkim, IIMs) and abroad (Finland and Singapore).

Change: Significant changes made in the field of education by AAP govt, which is just 3.5 years old, has garnered appreciation from leaders in India and abroad. Photos of newly constructed school buildings, swimming pools, state-of-the-art classrooms, auditoriums, libraries, computer labs, sports facilities etc. are widely shared on social, online and print media. This vital reform in the field of education was brought about by focusing on two areas: Policy and Infrastructure. 

Policy and Infrastructure: Policy making teams consist of education experts, govt officials, school teachers, principals and local residents (parents) who worked from scratch in developing revolutionary policies. Multiple teams were formed and manifold consultation sessions were held before the team decided to implement any change. Delhi govt dedicated upto 1/4th of the capital budget for education. This budget is utilized to achieve targets drafted in policies and build world-class infrastructure. Murari is also a member of some of the teams. After returning from the US, Murari has taken a new responsibility of "Mentor Teacher".

Happiness Curriculum: Recently introduced Happiness Curriculum in Delhi govt schools focuses beyond academic curriculum. It covers the core of a better and happy life by teaching value of life and ways of living. It is taught to students of class 1 to 8 in a 40-50 mins daily session.

Happiness Curriculum is the result of several consultation meetings. Murari was a part of these discussion panels as well. He worked closely with Atishi Marlena on different projects and also got the opportunity to interact with Education Minister Manish Sisodia. With expert advice from different parts of India and the world, participation of teachers and local residents, Happiness Curriculum was designed.

Participation in Policy-making: In the 10 years of his teaching in govt schools, this was the first time that Murari witnessed participation by teachers in educational policy development. Before AAP, policies were made by top officials/experts without consulting teachers, students and local residents. Present ruling govt has change this equation completely. AAP believes that policies drafted for people must include their opinions. According to Murari, this is a major change in policy development .

A person who will always be remembered for Delhi education reforms is Atishi Marlena. It is unfortunate to see that Atishi was made to leave Advisor to Education Minister position. She shaped programs such as multi-teacher program, teacher development coordinator program, mentor-ship program etc. She brought together School Management Committee (SMC) from different schools for better communication and management. Introduction of a student support book known as "Pragati Series" was made possible with the participation of school teachers.

Communication: Present ruling govt has also changed the one-way hierarchy-based communication between teachers and govt. Development of the structural organization allows schools teachers to interact with the govt at different levels. Govt has introduced "Teacher development coordinator" and "Mentor teacher" programs which help teachers to communicate with govt officials in conveying their needs for a particular change.

Teacher Development Program: A school teacher from each school is selected as a coordinator under this program. The coordinator communicates with teachers in a school and look after various issues and challenges in classrooms. The trained coordinator can solve the issues and if they fail to do so, they can take help from mentor teachers.

Murari Jha with fellow school teacher Manu Gulati during five days intensive facilitator development training program organized by SCERT 

Mentor Teacher Program: Mentor teachers are selected from a group of 4-6 schools and are given the responsibility to look after issues in those schools. They are trained in the field of education on  a national and international level. In 2017, 200 mentor teachers were sent to Singapore. Trained mentor teachers are helping teacher development coordinators and are also going to schools/classrooms for special further assistance.

Both teacher development coordinators and mentor teachers are working together, helping schools and creating a healthy academic environment. Now, if a teacher in any school is struggling with some issues or teaching methods, they know where to go and whom to approach. This structure was missing during the rule of previous governments. If booth coordinator and mentor teachers are unable to help, school teachers have the option to approach SCERT (State Council of Educational Research and Training) for further help.

Collaborations: Present ruling govt is also open to new collaborations and working with experts from India and abroad. Few organizations working with Delhi govt are: Creatnet Education (leadership training to school principals), Jodo Gyan Shiksha (mathematics training), Saajha (SMC and School integration), STIR (Schools and Teachers Innovating for Results: a teacher development program). If an individual with certain expertise wants to join the team, there are channels open for them to join. OSD, Dy CM and Director Education can be approached in person, by mail, email or phone.

Creatnet Education is changing the old authoritative ways of school principals. They are provided leadership training including behavioral, communication and body language courses which are helpful to connect with fellow teachers, staff and parents. This is also setting up a good environment in govt schools. 

School Infrastructure: As a history student, Murari stated:

Whenever new ruler comes, they built infrastructure to give message to the society about their values. Looking at history, rulers have built mosque, temple, statues, roads, building etc. Present Delhi govt built school buildings to tell the society what they value.

If you look at it symbolically, no infrastructure can be better than school buildings in a secular India. The feeling of seeing new school buildings being built is a wonderful phenomenon which is taking place in Delhi.

School Management Committee: A 12 member SMC is formed at school level under the Right to Education Act. This committee is chaired by school principal with 5 other school teachers and co-chaired by a student guardian with 5 other guardians as members. SMCs are empowered to take all of the school management decisions including some of the financial decisions and helping to run schools smoothly. Committees have played a critical role in the success of Summer Camps, Mission Buniyaad, Mega PTM and parental workshops.

The Confidence: Like Murari, there are many other teachers who witnessed the change brought by AAP. Govts come and go, but teachers and bureaucrats will stay with the system. Only the will of elected representatives can bring a significant change. With AAP rulings, Delhi schools and teaching methods are setting up new standards for rest of the country. Five years of AAP in govt are too short for teachers to sustain such vital changes which are obtained in a mere 3.5 years. If AAP failed to form govt in the next assembly elections, dream of a sustainable govt school system may shatter as none of the other govts have been efficient even when they ruled for a continuous 15+ years.

Watch full AAP Ka Radio call with Murari Jha.

Murari is also blogger who writes blogs about education reforms and other stories from grass roots on http://reflectivediary.com/ You can connect with Delhi Govt school teacher, Murari Jha on facebook @murari.jha.31 and twitter @Reflectivediary.

AAP USA chapter organizes a weekly conference call (AAP Ka Radio) every Sunday at noon 12:00PM EST. More details about the call and the guest can be found at @aapchat (https://twitter.com/aapchat).

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