Delhi schools: AAP, MCD bicker over survey, but it's learning outcomes that matter

A report by the Union Education Ministry has brought the focus back on the state of Delhi’s school education – primary education to be more precise. The National Achievement Survey (NAS), 2021 paints a grim picture of Delhi’s primary education, with scores that place them below the national average in three subjects – language, mathematics and environment studies. Delhi also figures among the five lowest performing states in the Standard 3 category.

The findings of the report led to a huge spat between the AAP government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which is currently functioning under the BJP-led Centre. Arvind Kejriwal’s government has alleged that MCD schools are ill-equipped in terms of basic infrastructure and brought down the overall score of the state.

MCD vs Delhi schools

NAS 2021 was held at the all-India level and covered a) government schools (Central and state government), b) government-aided schools and c) private unaided schools. The subjects covered were language, mathematics and environment studies for classes 3 and 5, language, mathematics, science and social science for class 8, and language, mathematics, science, social science and English for class 10.

Also read: How Delhi govt transformed its schools, and the challenges it faces

In Delhi, public schools are divided into two categories – those run by the Delhi government and those run by MCD. While MCD can run schools only up to class 5, the Delhi government has no such restrictions. All municipal school students have the option to shift to Delhi government schools in class 6.

The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) issued a notice to the MCD, seeking an explanation within two weeks for the alleged poor performance of its primary schools. The watchdog cited the NAS 2021 report for classes 3 and 5 to highlight the quality of teaching and learning in municipal schools. The MCD has refuted the allegations.

Reading the NAS survey

Under the survey, students in class 3 showed an average performance of 48.7 per cent in Delhi, as against a national average of 59 per cent. For class 5 students, Delhi’s performance was 45 per cent, against a national average of 49 per cent.

Out of the total sample, 37 per cent of students were from Delhi government schools, 36 per cent from private schools, 17 per cent from government aided schools and 10 per cent from Central government-run schools. Due to the lack of segregation of MCD schools in the survey, AAP’s indication of MCD schools being responsible for the overall downgrade in Delhi’s primary education seems biassed, if not an attempt to continue the political slugfest, said education experts.

While the AAP and DCPCR missive tries to pin MCD schools for Delhi’s downgrade, a dispassionate reading of the NAS survey perhaps will solve the dilemma. The sample clearly indicates that 37 per cent of those surveyed were from Delhi government schools. The share of schools run by the Central government was far lower. 

Focus on learning outcomes

Keeping the political noise and gesturing aside, one main takeaway from the NAS Survey is the urgent need to focus on learning outcomes in schools across the country. Dr Pradip Chaudhary, assistant professor, Zakir Hussain Centre for Educational Studies, JNU, categorically stated that school education and its primary aim should be to enhance learning outcomes. 

Enabling conditions such as infrastructure, teacher-student ratio and providing basic amenities, curricular redesign should always be aligned to produce the most desired and favourable outcomes among students, he told The Federal. “Students must be equipped with adequate training and required skills to do well in a modern, globalised world.”

Also read: NAS survey points to alarming drop in performance of South school students

Four key takeaways

Further, Chaudhary, a noted educationist, focussed on four key aspects that may have led to a gap in learning outcomes. Firstly, age-appropriate learning is not taken into account. Further breaking this into demand and supply constraints, he said teacher absenteeism is something that is not given enough importance. Elaborating on the changing role of school teachers, he cited incidents in Odisha, where school principals are busy undertaking non-academic activities.

Secondly, he felt that there is too much expectation from private schools, thereby allowing the market forces to exploit this imbalance between demand and supply.

Thirdly, non-availability of empirical data which takes a dispassionate reading of any model is a big hindrance. Referring to the ‘ Delhi Model’, the academician said although the model has been widely reported about and discussed, it has not been empirically proven that infrastructure upgrade and redesign of curriculum have actually brought about massive improvements in learning outcomes. 

Lastly, he stressed on the absence of a discourse on education. However, he added that with AAP’s model school, thankfully, we may be witnessing the beginning of some sort of discourse around education.

Foundational learning

One of the main components of the Delhi education model is its curricular reform. ‘Education as foundation’ was AAP’s mantra as it drew a model to transform school education in Delhi. The syllabi of classes 1 to 8 were  revised to emphasise on foundational learning skills, the happiness curriculum and the desh bhakti curriculum. 

Apart from ensuring that all children can fluently read, write and do mathematics, the focus was on building emotional resilience in children so that they internalise the core constitutional values by the time they complete eight years of schooling.

Also read: Study from anywhere in India, anytime: Delhi school throws open classroom

The majority of the states performed significantly below the overall national score. Some, such as Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Kerala, performed better than the national average. Delhi’s performance in class 8 and class 10 was better compared with the national average. Punjab has scored the highest in all subjects for class 3, 5 and 8.

Political economy of education

The issue of education has never been part of the grand plan of states and therefore hasn’t seen the needed budgetary outlay. But, the discourse is slowly gaining momentum with state governments focussing on this subject with budgetary allocation. The AAP government and its model schools have indeed forced states to think about education in more concrete terms. Along with the other developmental issues, it has also become a poll plank in various states.

The true objective of the NAS can only be accomplished if we develop a political and developmental discourse on the subject of education and not merely reduce it to political sloganeering. A world-class primary education system can go a long way in making India a great power in the 21st century.