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Journalism of Courage
A mega parent-teacher meeting (PTM) took place across all Delhi government schools on Saturday, amid controversy after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan wrote to the Lieutenant-Governor asking that it be called off.
On Saturday, government schools across the city were decorated to welcome parents of students from classes IX to XII. Most of the parents who streamed into schools with their children were mothers. “I come when there’s a meeting because it’s good to know whether my son is studying or not, or if he’s misbehaving. These are not things we usually get to know about. Usually, I’m the only parent who comes because it’s hard for my husband to get free from work,” said Bijaylaxmi, whose son studies in class IX at Premchand Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya.
Earlier this week, Harsh Vardhan had forwarded a letter by the Government School Teachers’ Association (GSTA) which stated, “…the motive behind organising a PTM in such harsh weather conditions is clearly political. Very soon assembly elections for Delhi are going to be announced and the incumbent government sees this as the last straw to interact with parents throughout the national capital to further their political agendas before the Code of Conduct is enforced in Delhi.”
Following this, the education department wrote to all government schools to ensure that no activities apart from those pertinent to students’ school academics and well-being take place in the PTMs. “The sanctity of the Parent Teachers’ Meeting is maintained as a purely academic exercise aimed at reviewing with parents the academic progress of each student after the pre-board exam/periodic exam/other learning interventions and plan how students can perform better in coming annual examination…”
“Thus it is clear that that the activities other than those prescribed… should not be allowed on the day of PTM and entry of any unauthorised person in the school should not be allowed,” the letter read.
It went on to ask heads of schools to videograph key activities “for feedback and research purpose”.
According to instruction sent to all schools, the key points to be discussed with parents included informing them of the datesheets for the upcoming board exams, advising them on how to create an environment conducive for studying at home, advising them to free their children of home chores, attendance issues, effects of pollution and substance abuse, and sensitisation on women safety.
On Saturday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also visited a school in Rouse Avenue to interact with parents who were attending the PTM there. Speaking to them, he said, “How can imparting good education to our children be a gimmick? We have been holding regular PTMs since the last two-three years. They tried to end these PTMs but I don’t think politics on schooling and education is justified… We did not have such a platform where parents and teachers could interact with each other. Now we do, and I hope that this interaction will be fruitful for the future of the children.”
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