Delhi pact to boost quality of education

The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will sign a memorandum of understanding with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to improve the quality of education in its civic schools.

The MoU will include the implementation of student and teacher exchange programmes, conducting third party audits of schools and other activities to improve the quality of education.

A delegation from the civic body recently visited New Delhi to study the education pattern in the civic-run schools there.

Pimpri Chinchwad mayor Rahul Jadhav said, “We have decided to develop 10 municipal schools as ‘smart schools’ under the Smart Cities Mission.

The education officer of the primary education department is burdened with a lot administrative work, so we will take the help of IAS officers to improve the quality of education in our municipal schools.”

The ruling party leader in PCMC, Eknath Pawa,r said that a third party audit of municipal schools will be conducted, like the one conducted in the NDMC-run schools.

“The NDMC conducted a four-year drive starting from 2014, after which the quality of its schools improved. They now have smart classrooms, a music room, tab room, work room, swimming pools, tinkering lab and skill development workshops,” Pawar said.

Rahul Kalate, a Shiv Sena member, said the number of students in the schools runs by the municipal corporation is reducing on an annual basis. “The quality of education needs to improve to attract more students,” Kalate said.

Sachin Chikhale, a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena corporator, said, both teachers and students are awarded in Delhi if they perform well. Conversely, teachers are fined if they do not do their job properly.

“The NDMC spends Rs72,000 per student in its 48 schools. Each school receives corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for various activities,” Chikhale said.

The tour was planned after NCP corporator Mayur Kalate submitted a memorandum to Hardikar stating a few schools do not have benches, water supply, toilets and e-learning facilities.