—Jairam, mentor–teacher
‘We have tasted both successes and failures in our journey of mentorship. Our education department officials have been with us all the way. These senior officials have played a big and positive role in making the journey exciting and interesting for us.’
—Aditi Bhasin, mentor–teacher
‘Absence of students in schools was a big challenge for me. At one point, the attendance in Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Jaffarabad, fell to 30 per cent. We were told that the attendance was low because of Ramadan. I consulted my colleagues. Four of us teachers went to the nearby mosque and had a discussion on the current activities at the school and the potential loss to students due to their absence there. The imam of the mosque assured us that he would make announcements in mornings and evenings for children to attend school. Meanwhile, we kept in touch with him and gradually, with our efforts, the attendance went up to 85 per cent. This instilled a new excitement and zeal to work in students and teachers.’
—Sanjiv Tayal, mentor–teacher
‘As a mentor–teacher, I got plenty of opportunities to converse with children and their guardians, and I realized that only a person listens to another person and only a person opens up to another. This makes it important that we necessarily present ourselves as people first. Students and teachers are just roles. The real outlook should be that one person communicates with the other.’
—Janamjeya Sharma, mentor–teacher
‘For a long time after becoming a mentor–teacher, I wasn’t able to understand what to do. Becoming a mentor was challenging work. Fulfilling the expectations of all stakeholders of the school is like walking a tightrope. There were many challenges in some schools—lack of coordination among various stakeholders, lack of trust between teachers, students and parents, absence of discourses and discussions on issues pertaining to education, lack of desire to work on new experiments in the educational apparatus. However, with continuous professional development by the department, my capabilities got honed. The “coexistence vision” taught at the Jeevan Vidya Shivir helped me understand the role of education and teachers better. I learnt new ways of teaching through theatre workshops such as “Nayi Taleem” [New Lesson], which I shared with the teachers of my schools. I still teach one or two classes in my parent school in which I also invite my colleagues. I see a sapling of change sprouting through these efforts.’
—Ila Verma, mentor–teacher
‘As a teacher I try to give my best. Even then a few of my students lag behind in learning and understanding. This was always a big question for me.
I always used to wonder what work did a principal have other than merely signing papers. However, after visiting different schools and attending school leadership workshops organized by ‘Creatnet’ with a few principals, I understood the responsibilities of the head of a school. I even explained the role of the principal to the teachers in my schools and this helped in changing the environment of the school.’
—Gurvinder Kaur, mentor–teacher
‘Working as a teacher, the everyday monotonous teaching–learning classroom routine, unit tests and many repetitive programmes in schools were building disappointment in me. I was losing interest in my work. I started feeling that there was no scope for me to do anything new or look at my work in a new light. When the opportunity to work as a mentor–teacher came up, I felt like this was my calling. I got to be the mentor–teacher of five schools. Till the time I was working in one school, I had only one family. Now, I had the chance to work in five different schools or with five different families with absolutely different DNA.
As a mentor–teacher I was able to understand the mindset of learners, and I felt that all of education needs to be seen from the perspective of learners. I feel that I have been able to help my colleagues and myself successfully in this.’
—Uma Shankar, mentor–teacher
‘Speaking from experience as a mentor–teacher, I would say that the mentorship programme has transformed the gossip sessions in staffrooms to discussions on teaching techniques and understanding of subjects. “How to improve the learning levels of students” is now a common topic of discussion. Now, teachers contact me on their own to share their challenges and the possible solutions.’
—Amit Sharma, mentor–teacher
‘As a mentor teacher, I got the opportunity to work in the assessment unit. In this, there were many discussions on ways of assessing practical knowledge rather than theoretical knowledge, type of questions to be asked, etc. There’s an incident worth mentioning here. In search of ways to improve the question papers of classes 6 to 8, we visited a school and experimented with a few questions. We tried to find out which questions brought out which aspect of learning in a child and what could the question be and what else we could know using that question. This was a new experiment for me.’
—Kadambari Lohiya, mentor–teacher
‘In my journey from being a student to a teacher, I have known and comprehended the education system well. It was no surprise for me that our school system was not doing a good job and needed improvement. There had been good teachers in our system before this government came to power but they were few in number. These teachers didn’t view teaching as a profession but as a mission. I am happy that this government started the mentorship programme and started working earnestly towards bringing these good teachers to the fore and increasing their number.’
—Pankaj Utreja, mentor–teacher
‘While working as a mentor–teacher, I saw that two schools didn’t have enough teachers. One didn’t have an Urdu teacher but had a Punjabi teacher and the other needed a Punjabi teacher but had an Urdu teacher. I worked as a bridge between the two schools and with my efforts both teachers started teaching in both schools. This was a new role for a mentor–teacher.’
—Roshan Jahaan Shefi, mentor–teacher
‘The best thing that has happened to me after joining this programme is that I have become my own mentor now. Capacity building programmes have helped me a lot and one outcome is my selection for the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship. This has given me the opportunity to stay and learn in the US for five months. At the same time, the mentorship programme has given me a platform where I can share what all I have learnt with my fellow teachers of English.’
—Gaurav Choudhary, mentor–teacher
‘It was a wonderful opportunity to learn from the teachers taking different subjects in schools. Learning their styles, techniques of making difficult concepts easier was an eye-opener. I shared these learning experiences from one class with teachers in other classes and schools. This helped me establish a good rapport with my colleagues in my mentee schools. Not just this, sharing classroom practices across subjects provided important insights into classroom pedagogy. Teachers of different subjects were able to use the techniques from one subject and recontextualize them in another subject. This was helpful in getting everyone together.’
—Kamayani Joshi, mentor–teacher
‘The mentorship programme enhanced my pedagogic skills. It prepared me for my interview for admission to the PhD programme in Jamia Millia Islamia. I got this confidence as a result of my observation and understanding of different facets of the teaching–learning process in different subjects, with different teachers and students in five of my mentee schools. All this led to my deep understanding of classroom dynamics and education.
During the mentorship programme, I participated in a fifty-day “Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA)” programme in the US. This was also attended by the best teachers from nineteen other countries. During this time, I observed the various innovations in teaching and understood their procedural details and importance minutely. The mentorship programme gave me numerous opportunities to carry these innovations in my classrooms in my mentee schools for the benefit of the students.
One such innovation that I tried in my mentee school was teaching English through music and dance. Beginning with
leisure listening, moving on to selective and finally to attentive listening, this method improved the oral and aural skills of my students. This innovation of mine was appreciated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
With all humility I state that I have been conferred with the “National Award to Teachers 2017” by MHRD. For this small achievement, I give due credit to the mentorship programme, which has been a boon, both to my personal as well as professional development.’
—Manu Gulati, mentor–teacher
‘This programme is a revolution in the education setup not only of modern India but also of Delhi. It has instilled confidence in those children who could never ask questions earlier and were at the receiving end of jokes. Meeting teachers from other schools as mentor–teachers taught me something new every day. During the mentorship period, adopting the Pragati books, participating in seminars with teachers and training with scholars were marvellous experiences.’
—Mukesh Jain, mentor–teacher
‘The one big change that the mentorship programme has brought in my school is that it has changed the mindset of teachers. I have seen a change in the teaching technique of teachers who have been working for a long time in the same traditional way. As a principal, I feel that the mentor–teacher programme has helped me a lot academically.’
—Rajalakshmi Ravi Shankar, principal, Rajkiya Kanya Vidyalaya, Number 3, Bholanath Nagar
‘In my school, the maths teacher was facing difficulties in explaining a few topics to the students. He didn’t realize that he wasn’t explaining it to them properly. The mentor–teacher helped this teacher immensely and helped him mark the important parts of the syllabus and explain it to students in new and interesting ways. ’
—Swadesh Kumari, principal, Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Vishwas Nagar
‘Under the mentor–teacher programme, one is associated not just with teachers and students but also directly with the education department. This enables the expertise and experience of mentor–teachers to be channelized and used in conducting programmes for the education department.’
—Sunita Dhawan, principal, Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, GTB Nagar
‘I am of the opinion that there is an urgent need for improvement in the teaching–learning process and pedagogy. I firmly believe that this can be done only and only through the mentor–teacher programme.’
—Dharmesh Sharma, principal, Rajkiya Bal Vidyalaya, Azadpur Colony
‘The mentorship programme in Delhi government schools has contributed a lot towards education. Be it in teaching or non-teaching work, our mentor–teacher has helped all my teachers immensely. She is always available to us over the phone. With the positive support of the mentor–teacher, it is not just the academic results that have improved remarkably in our school, but she has also created an atmosphere of healthy discussions around students’ behaviour and conduct among the students themselves.’
—Sadhana Agarwal, principal, Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Punjabi Bagh
‘My teachers now come fully prepared with lesson plans to the class because of the mentorship programme. The mentor–teacher has helped in a big way to identify and help students who need support and to make them successful through special activities.’
—Shiv Charan Meena, principal, Rajkiya Vidyalaya, Nana Khairi
‘The mentor–teacher of my school helped bring about a change by giving demo classes and inspiring teachers by adopting new ways of teaching. He himself counsels students of classes 6 to 12. He also helps in planning positive and creative activities to engage mischievous students.’
—T.R. Verma, principal, Rajkiya Vidyalaya, Najafgarh
‘I see the teacher mentorship programme as a bridge between principals and teachers on the one hand and improving communication between teachers and students in classrooms on the other.
The mentor–teacher in my school helped me understand the aims and benefits of different programmes for us by the government. The mentor–teacher explained the aim and framework of these programmes to my team and me and helped us understand the problems and look for solutions. In my opinion, it is important to increase the frequency of the mentors’ school visits to make the mentorship programme even more successful.’
—Devendra Jain, principal, Rajkiya Bal Vidyalaya, Shahdara
‘My mentor–teacher has always helped me make my school better but because of the busy schedule, he/she has trouble coming to the school every day. I feel that the frequency of the mentor–teacher’s visits should be increased.’
—Dr Shalini, principal, Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Dhakka
‘The mentor–teacher in my school works closely with the teacher development coordinator (TDC), art teachers and other teachers and motivates them to use innovative teaching techniques. He also takes demo classes and discusses science, the happiness class and Mission Buniyad and helps them change their perspectives.’
—A.K. Pandey, principal, Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Najafgarh
Many principals have often requested that the frequency of mentor–teachers’ school visits be increased. It shows that principals understand the role they play and think they are important for the school. However, every mentor–teacher has to visit five schools to do their work. On top of that, it is important for them to attend all the meetings in schools and the directorate so that they can understand government schemes and expectations better. They are also given different kinds of training during the mentorship period and have to attend many conferences. This is the reason it is not possible for any mentor–teacher to visit five or six schools every day. So, to take this programme forward, the government has started a TDC programme in every school. This is in one way, the next stage of the mentor–teacher programme. Under this, one teacher has been identified in every school and given the same work as that of the mentor–teacher. I hope this model proves to be beneficial for our nation too.
Parents: Participation with Dignity
Parents and teachers are like two pole stars in the education of children. When we talk about bringing change in education or about reimagining education policies, more often than not we merely focus on schools, boards, the secretariat, curricula, etc. As a society, we feel that the role of the parents is confined to the house, and they should only focus on improving the environment for studying and learning at home. There are no policies or plans, however, to include parents actively in the education of their children. The reason for this is that we have never thought of building a bridge between schools and parents. This is largely why teachers try to improve their students’ knowledge base through the school curriculum or syllabus while parents try to mould them on the basis of their life experiences. The situation in Delhi schools was worse. In villages, teachers are familiar with the milieu of the students as they mostly live in the same area. On the other hand, in a place such as Delhi, students and teachers rarely come from the same area. Students usually come from localities far removed from the places the teachers inhabit. In most of the cases, I have seen teachers being appointed to schools 5–20 km away from where they live, but the population from which the students come usually lives at a distance of 3–4 km from the schools. This is the reason for the limited social interaction between the teachers and the parents of the students after school. This could also be the reason for the lack of communication between them. I felt that it was critically important to break this wall. We collectively decided to entrust school management committees with this responsibility. These committees were formed under the Right to Education Act 2009 but till then had existed only on paper.
The first most important step that was taken after we came into power was the proper formation of the School Management Committee (SMC). We observed that committees existed in many schools just on paper. The members who were elected were nominated by the principals and not by the guardians and, at times, this was done under local political influence. So, we decided to hold the elections democratically. To create an interest and participation
among guardians, we chalked out a plan to make them aware of the committee’s role. For this, we created a pamphlet that was given to them by their children. Getting the parents of 15 lakh students to cast their vote for the SMC of the school where their child studied was a new challenge for the education ministry. Officers were also overwhelmed by the thought of it. They didn’t have the experience or wherewithal to handle even the 3000 to 4000 voters each school usually got. For Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, 4000 to 6000 voters come to cast their vote at each centre. To handle them, the Election Commission, district magistrate (DM), sub-district magistrate (SDM), the police force and government officials are employed. Hence, organizing elections for such a large number of voters without the help of the administration and police was a big responsibility. However, the SMC was not some political experiment but a compulsory organization to be formed in schools as per the Right to Education Act. So, the Directorate of Education could not avoid this duty. And our government was not in favour of forming a committee to represent 3000 to 4000 parents through nominations made by ministers and principals. In a democracy, the processes of election and nomination should be democratic.
There are sixteen members in the SMC, of whom twelve are guardians of students from that school. The government organizes elections for their selection. These committees have been formed twice since 2015. When elections were held in 2015 and 2017, I had sent letters through students to their guardians to boost their interest and participation. For a lot of them, the presence of such a committee in schools was news. This was the reason why not many stood for elections or voted the first time. Despite this, about 100 to 200 parents per school cast their vote. Their numbers encouraged the education department and school teams. Two years later, in 2017, when these elections were held again, the SMC had become very active and had started interacting with teachers and even my officers. That year, guardians came forward in big numbers to vote and stand for election to the committee. There were serpentine queues in many schools. That is the strength of a democracy. It was heartening to see this level of participation in the elections to a committee that is probably on the lowest rung in the education infrastructure. In just two years, it gained momentum. I believe that these elections to the management committee and their democratic and participatory nature will prove to be important milestones in the Delhi education model. The SMC has sixteen members in total, of which twelve are elected from among the guardians of the students. The other members are the principal of the school (as the chairman of the committee), a teacher (as a convenor), an MLA representative and a social worker. Usually, only MLAs become members, but, since on an average there are about twenty to thirty schools in every Vidhan Sabha, it is not possible for MLAs to actively participate in committee meetings, which are held once or twice every month. This was the reason why these representatives were appointed. We also thought it was undemocratic to have the principal as the chairperson of the committee while the MLA was merely a member. This was also the reason why the representatives of the MLAs were included instead of the MLAs themselves. It also ensured that the principals could steer the functioning of the SMC.
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