The Delhi government has set up a new Delhi Board of School Education (DBSE). Their Chief Minster states that this is going to be different from the other state exam boards as the focus will be to do away with the prevailing system of learning by rote and instead use the continuous evaluation approach for supporting a child’s learning.
From 2021-22 academic session, the new board will affiliate 30 public/government schools which will be made of 20 Schools of Specialised Excellence (SoSE) and 10 general schools. No new schools will be built but existing schools are being converted to be the SoSE. These will offer domain specific studies such as STEM, Humanities, Performing and Visual Arts. By the 2022-23 academic session, the SoSE will increase to a count of 100, all affiliated to DBSE.
Within a few months of its start, the DBSE has already moved forward and signed an MoU with the International Baccalaureate (IB) to be its knowledge partner, and support in curriculum and teacher training. A pilot will be undertaken in the same 30 schools which have been shortlisted for affiliation to DBSE this year. Later, private schools will be able to participate too.
On completing schooling, students will receive a joint certificate by the IB and Delhi Board.
British Council comments:
Since last six years, the Delhi government has been in the driver’s seat in bringing about big changes in the public schools and consistently allocating 25% of its budget for education spending. It has included transformation of school infrastructure, teachers’ exposure to best global practices, financial autonomy at school level, new learning-teaching approaches, and the happiness curriculum to name a few.
With the two new reforms introduced this year, the momentum of change will continue to stay strong. In Delhi so far, only two national boards have been around – the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE). With an additional third one with an international dimension and that it is being introduced in the public schools is going to shift the discourse around equity in quality education access and provision. The poorest of the poor students studying in these schools will get the opportunity to get groomed to international standards.
Further, that the private schools could also take affiliation of the DBSE and use the new curriculum, we can expect to see a greater number of students passing out with international school certificate and aspiring to continue further studies in the best colleges in the country and abroad.
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