Delhi’s education board slated for next year, won’t be imposed on govt school says Sisodia

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the board will be in sync with the reforms proposed in the new National Education Policy.

Delhi Deputy CM and Education Minister Manish Sisodia addressed a press conference on the New Education Policy on 30 July 2020. | PTI | Ravi Choudhary

New Delhi: Delhi’s own school education board is expected to be operational by next year, however, unlike other states it will not be imposed on government schools, according to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Giving details of plans for setting up the state education board, Sisodia said the board will be in sync with the reforms proposed in the new National Education Policy (NEP) and the focus will be on continuous evaluation and not year-end exams.

“We have recently set up two committees for working on the proposed board as well as curriculum reforms. An ideal situation would be that we make it operational by next year. Initially, around 40 schools will be affiliated to the board, which could be either government or private,” Sisodia told PTI in an interview.

“What happens in other state boards is that the private schools are free to make their choice whether they want to opt for CBSE, ICSE or state board, while government schools follow the state board. We will have no imposition. It will be optional for both government and private schools. We want to make the board so enriching and useful, that there is demand for it,” he added.

The Delhi government had last month constituted two committees to prepare the scheme and framework for the formation of the state education Board and curriculum reforms.

The AAP dispensation had announced the plan to set up a separate board of education for the national capital in its annual budget in March.

Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s Education Minister, said his government is studying the recently announced new education policy in detail.

“We are studying the policy in detail. We have already been working on some of the reforms proposed in it. There are a few anomalies but there are a few good things too. I have told the two committees that our board will be in sync with the NEP because as a nation we are together but the focus will not be on evaluating students once a year and encouraging rote learning in process,” he said.