New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) A mega Parent-Teacher Meetings (PTMs) organised by the Delhi government across nearly 1,000 schools run by it evoked good response as most parents turned up for on Saturday.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal praised Education Minister Manish Sisodia for organising the PTMs at such a huge scale.
"Congrats Manish for organising Mega PTM in govt schools. Very heart warming stories coming from various schools," Kejriwal tweeted.
Sisodia also wrote an open letter to the parents and thanked them for attending the parent teacher meetings. He inspected several government schools in various parts of the city and said the response was "encouraging".
"We are getting very encouraging responses from the parents and the teachers as well. All especially the students are excited. We are planning to conduct such mega PTMs twice in a year. Teachers and the parents are sensing the benefits of such PTMs," Sisodia told reporters after visiting a government school in Civil Lines.
In his open letter to the parents of students studying in government schools, Sisodia said that the main motive behind such a parent teacher meeting was to establish a direct communication between the teacher and the parent for the better grooming of the student.
"There is no dearth of talent in the teachers of our school but there were only a few problems related to the arrangements and the environment of study. In the last one year we have provided several facilities and built a suitable atmosphere for studying in government schools," Sisodia said.
"We promise you to provide a better atmosphere and facilities in the government schools than that of private schools. For this we have taken several steps as we are providing training to principals and teachers at an international level," he said.
He said that new classrooms have been constructed in the schools and the government is paying more attention to cleanliness in the schools.
In the letter, Sisodia asked for parents' cooperation for proper development of their wards. He appealed to parents to keep asking their wards about their study, the changes being done in the school and about his/her career planning.
"We will have to work in cooperation. I am trying my level best to provide better facilities and environment for study while you (parents) will have to ensure that he adopts good and noble things and avoids the ill-practices of the society," Sisodia appealed.
At different government schools, parents were greeted by teachers and the students also volunteered to help out.
"Mega parent-teachers meet, mega response, many schools have 90 per cent parents attendance," Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Legislator from Jangpura, Praveen Kumar tweeted.
The parents who attended the meetings said it was a good experience and they came to know about several initiatives being taken by the government to improve the standard of education.
"For the first time I felt that my children are also studying in a big private school," a parent told IANS after attending the meeting in Rajouri Garden area in west Delhi.
Another parent Sarita Singh who attended the PTM in Laxmi Nagar said that the teachers were very courteous and she came to know about her child's behaviour in the school.
"It was a good experience. I came to know about my child's behaviour and performance in school. The teachers informed me about the initiatives being taken by the government to upgrade the quality of education in government schools," Singh told IANS.
A separate budget was sanctioned for the mega PTMs.