Kejriwal meets teachers who went abroad for training

Addressing the gathering, Kejriwal said: “It has been eight years since I became Chief Minister. I’ve been abroad only twice. I don’t wish to go abroad, but I want my teachers and principals to go abroad. We want to give you an international experience.”

He added: “Delhi government schools should not just compete with those of our country but should compete with all schools across the world. Every Delhi government school is a symbol of change, ‘tent wale school’ became ‘talent wale school’.”

The event comes on the heels of the row between the government and the Delhi L-G on sending teachers for training to Finland. Over the past few weeks, L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena has sent back the file regarding clearance for teachers to attend a training programme in Finland, asking for a rethink on the issue and if training can happen within the country. The government has sent to back to the L-G for a third time, asking that he clear the file this time, or send it to the President for assent.

Kejriwal also said he was willing to “lend (Deputy CM Manish) Sisodia to other states” if they were willing to improve their schools, highlighting how Delhi’s education model has now reached Punjab. “The first batch of 30 teachers from Punjab are going to Singapore,” he said.

Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, and MLA Atishi were also present at the event. Addressing the teachers, Sisodia said, “Things started changing gradually after 2015, and the impact of unique teacher training concepts by the Delhi government is very much visible now in government schools.”

He added, “We took our teachers everywhere from Hapur to Harvard, where we thought our teachers would get the best training to improve Delhi’s education system.”

A few teachers who spoke at the event highlighted how they have learnt to break the hierarchy between students, teachers and principals, and how they have shifted from a managerial role to that of a leader.

“We came across the term ‘blended approach’ of learning, where we were very keen to see how technology is transforming classrooms and how the concept of ‘pupil voice,’ a platform for children to voice their views and concerns, can be implemented in our schools,” said Dr Rajpal Singh, a school head, who was part of the first batch of the programme at Cambridge.

Another teacher said he was able to connect his students to different classrooms across the world through the exposure he gained through the training programme. “We can’t give our children a global outlook unless the teachers gain global exposure, and I think we are giving that in our schools,” said Murari Jha, who went to Singapore in 2018.