DBSE holds first board meeting, discusses 2021-22 academic year

New Delhi, March 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) The newly set up Delhi Board of School Education (DBSE) held its first general body meeting on Tuesday, focusing on the preparations for the 2021-22 academic year, among other agendas.

The separate education board for Delhi came into existence from March 19, following its registration under the Society Registration Act, 1860. The Delhi Cabinet had approved the proposal to set up DBSE on March 6.

The Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, who is also the Chairman of DBSE, chaired the first meeting of the governing body and said that the state education board will be crucial for ensuring high quality education for all school children in the national capital.

In an official statement, the Delhi government said, "The agenda of the first meeting included appraisal regarding the registration of the Delhi Board of School Education under the Society Registration Act, 1860, the constitution of the DBSE and its functioning from the academic session 2021-2022, and the appraisal of the members and nominated members of the general body of the board."

A senior official in Delhi government's education department told IANS, "Before the CBSE was unified, there were around eight wings under it, which included Delhi Board of Senior Secondary Education (DBSSE) and others. But later all of them were included under the CBSE umbrella. Hence, DBSE is the first state education board for Delhi. There has been no separate state education board in Delhi so far."

Another official said that a proposal to set up a separate state education board was placed before the Cabinet during the regime of former Chief Minister late Sheila Dikshit, but it was not cleared then.

The board's governance and coordination will be overseen by a governing body under the chairpersonship of Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio. Members of the governing body will include education officials, experts from the field of higher education, principals of government and private schools, teachers and parents as well as educationists from other spheres.

After chairing the meeting, Sisodia said, "Delhi government's work in the education sector in the last six years has changed the perception of government schools in India. This board will introduce next generation reforms in education and changes in the evaluation process, which will now be a 360-degree process, where we will holistically assess the knowledge, attitude and skills of a student."

The AAP-led Delhi government had on March 9 presented the annual budget for 2021-22, allocating a separate amount of Rs 62 crore for this purpose.

"The purpose of the DBSE is three-fold. First, it will move away from the practice of rote learning and move towards giving a holistic picture of each learner. Second, it will emphasise on continuous formative assessments. And third, we want to encourage a growth mindset among the students, which would be strengthened by making it part of regular assessment," Sisodia said.

He further stated that the board will also empower the teachers to achieve their full potential by giving timely feedback on specific actions they take to help every child in the classroom. With a more personalised and continuous form of assessment, the teachers will receive actionable inputs on how they can help the learners overcome the difficulties they may be facing in the classroom. It will further employ effective modern technology available to ensure a personalised learning experience for the students.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said during the post-budget press conference on March 9 that in the beginning, around 20-25 Delhi government schools will be affiliated to DBSE from the 2021-22 academic session and the process will continue. He had also said that private schools will be welcomed under the board.

There are currently around 1,000 government schools and about 1,700 private schools in Delhi, and most of them are affiliated to the CBSE. Kejriwal had announced that all the schools in the national capital will not be brought under the new education board at one go.

Source: IANS