Panel to act against MCD over 'poor-quality' education in its schools

NEW DELHI:  The Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) to initiate a probe against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) alleging poor quality of education in its schools, the child rights body said on Monday.

The Commission said that a notice has been sent to the civic body to start an inquiry into the repeated failure of MCD-administered schools. The MCD has been given two weeks to reply to notice issued by DCPCR. It has been asked to submit its reply before September 19, the DCPCR said in a statement.

In the notice, the DCPCR highlighted that the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 for class 3 results paint a dismal picture of teaching and learning in Municipal Schools which rank Delhi amongst the lowest 5 performing states in India.

The Notice of Inquiry issued by DCPCR states, “The findings of the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 for class 3 is a direct commentary on the quality of teaching and learning in Municipal Schools. The class 3 results of MCD are below the national average in all three subjects: Language, Maths, and Environmental Studies,” the notice read.

“Let it be noted that the poor performance cannot be pandemic induced as the score for class 3 in National Achievement Survey 2017 was merely 58%. Therefore, the Commission issued notice to MCD seeking an explanation,” it said.

Responding to the notice, the civic body said that the NAS findings are based on the learning outcome for Class 3 for Delhi State for all categories of schools including Delhi government-run, private, central, and MCD.