The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to tie up with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to assess the quality of learning of its municipal school students. The corporation is looking to assess the learning outcomes of its students on the lines of NGO Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report, released every year. Based on the analysis, the BMC will decide on the measures needed to improve quality, and will include teachers and parents in the process.
The BMC has around four lakh students in municipal schools across the city. According to Praja Foundation’s Status of Education report released in January 2019, enrollment in BMC schools has fallen by 23% between 2013-14 and 2017-18. Between 2008 and 2018, 228 schools closed down due to no enrollment or students getting transferred to other schools. It has predicted that at this rate, the BMC will have no students by 2027-28.IAS officer and Joint municipal commissioner Ashutosh Salil has confirmed that BMC is in talks with an NGO for an analysis of its students’ abilities.
“A student of a certain class is expected to solve a Math problem of a certain degree or have English comprehension skills. He or she may do well in exams but we want to know whether and how much our students have learnt and retained. Right now, we do not have any way of knowing. We want to do a comprehensive analysis to gauge their learning levels,” said Mr. Salil.
Once the organisation is appointed and a report submitted, BMC will know what steps to take. The NGO will assess students, talk to their parents and teachers to gauge their level of learning.
Published - August 02, 2019 01:31 am IST
