At a parent-teacher meeting in a school at Deen Dayal Upadhayaya Marg, Friday. Praveen Khanna
On Friday, Rekha Biswas, from Basirhat in West Bengal, asked her employer if she could slip out for two hours in the afternoon. A single mother of two sons, Biswas mops floors to sustain her family. While she is illiterate, she knows the importance of education and didn’t let the rain stop her from attending the ‘mega parent-teacher meeting’ (PTM) in the Government Boys’ Senior Secondary School (GBSSS) in Saket, G Block.
“My husband passed away a long time ago, leaving me to raise the kids. I never studied but I always wanted my sons to be well-educated. Last year, when the first such meeting was organised, I was very happy. There have been no complaints against my sons as they always perform well. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t know how to help them since I can’t read,” said a drenched Biswas, whose sons study in classes IX and XI.
This is the second consecutive year in which the Delhi government organised the PTM in all its 1,041 schools. At the nearby J Block GBSSS, however, a boy was facing an entirely different situation. His mother, evidently livid, scolded him for not doing well in Science. “He’s being sent for tuition, and attends class every day. Yet he has failed. At least we got to know through this PTM what his weak subjects are; now I will change his tuition class. Who knows whether he attends classes or sits and gambles somewhere,” said his mother angrily, as the boy hung his head and moved restlessly. His father is a construction worker and had to miss the meeting because of work.
Education Minister Manish Sisodia also visited several government schools in Hari Nagar and Shakti Nagar to interact with parents, teachers and students. “It is evident that the parent-teacher engagement, which the government aimed to institutionalise through mega PTMs, has been achieved. We are happy that this exercise, which used to be limited to big private schools, has now become an integral part of the culture of government schools. I congratulate all principals and teachers for making this mega PTM a success,” Sisodia said.
While the government said the response to the PTM was “very encouraging”, rain played spoilsport in some schools and very few parents could be seen in the afternoon shift. Meanwhile, at GBSSS Pushp Vihar, parents complained they were not given feedback by the teachers. Hukum Singh had come riding pillion on his grandson’s bicycle, hoping for some feedback. “They just asked us for our name, address and other things. They didn’t tell me which subject he’s doing well or poorly in. In fact, they asked us for that information,” he said.
Vimla Bisht, a cook, had also come with high hopes but said teachers only focussed on attendance-related issues. “As many students bunk classes, teachers kept emphasising that those who don’t attend classes will not be able to sit for the exams. But they didn’t give me feedback on my son’s performance,” she said.
