Classes VI to IX to Come Under Project Pragati This Year

The Directorate of Education in New Delhi is planning to revise and expand the ambit of Project Pragati and make it cover the core subjects of all the grades from class VI to IX in all the government schools of Delhi. Last year the project was initiated only for class IX, which was of very little effect.

The project last year covered only three subjects in the ninth grade, and was felt to create very little ripple among the students. Hence, the DoE has come with a suggestion to cover all the core subjects of Class VI to IX, in this year’s project. In the month of February itself, the course material was ready. It was printed by the Delhi Bureau of Textbooks, while the course material was put together by the respect department teachers and NGO Pratham. Almost 24000 teachers, presently teaching in government schools in various subjects, are undergoing orientation programme before the project begins.

The department is providing supplementary reading material largely in Hindi, with some expressions rendered in English. Though there is requirement for English-medium teaching in the project, instructing in the vernacular language is necessary under the Right to Education Act, 2009. The member of Pratham NGO and director’s advisor Shailendra Kumar Sharma has clarified that the supplementary education materials are in shape of worksheets and thin booklets. He said, “We are not touching the syllabus. There are new stories in the worksheets. Many activities are suggested. The students can complete some of them independently, while other activities would need teacher’s guidance. This will also promote peer learning.”

According to the Principal of District Institute for Education and Training (DIET), Anil Teotia, the motif of the project is to make sure that the students start on with their syllabus with concepts clear in their head for each class. If someone is getting admission in class VI, the project would cover class V subjects, and make sure that the students have clear understanding of what they have read in the previous year.