Delhi: Starting December, 5,800 schools in city to be evaluated

A ‘school evaluation tool’ has been finalised under the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) towards a comprehensive evaluation survey of schools to prepare a ‘School Development Index’ for the capital.

The survey, which is slotted to commence in December this year, will evaluate approximately 5,800 schools administered, aided and regulated by the Directorate of Education, the three municipal corporations, the New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board. The evaluation will be based on three themes — safety and security, teaching and learning, community participation and social integration.

The ‘evaluation tool’ is a document prepared by the Adhyayan Foundation, which breaks these broad themes into assessable criteria. For instance, the areas of enquiry under the theme of safety and security are — hazardous spaces and materials; safety assessment, safe building and furniture; disaster/emergency response; verification of personnel and supervision; preventive measures; monitored entry and exits; awareness of child rights and workplace safety for women; adult support; safe student culture building; medical facility; student health diagnosis and records; cleanliness; mid-day meal; and menstrual hygiene.

Each area of enquiry is further broken into minute criteria, against which each school will be graded between level one (most room for improvement) to level four (most satisfactory performance). The levels are not relative; each level corresponds with a specified set of parameters.

The DCPCR has clarified that the exercise is not aimed towards penalising schools for shortcomings but enabling them to attain best practices within each criteria. The final report is expected to be ready by May 2019.
News Source (Indian Express)