A report on the Delhi government’s parent outreach programme launched last year found thats it is yet to take off in a little under a quarter of the schools.A report submitted by the Delhi Commission for the Protection of Child Rights to the education department on March 29 informed that out of the 1,068 government schools, SMC members and school mitras had not done any interactions with parents in 250 schools.
Last October, the Delhi government had launched the Parents Samvaad programme, in which every School Management Committee (SMC) member and parent volunteer, called school mitra, was placed in charge of staying in touch with the parents of 50 students who reside in their locality or in a neighbouring locality.
Every month, a theme on ‘parenting’, ‘parent-child communication’ and ‘involvement of parents in their education’ would be set based on which these members will be trained. A toll-free number has been set up through which members can contact parents, or vice-versa, and apart from talking about the child’s welfare and education, the month’s theme can be discussed.
In March, schools had been directed to intensify their implementation of this programme and conduct physical meetings with parents.
Several important programmes are linked to school mitras including the commission’s ‘Early Warning System’ where if students with sustained absence are not reachable over phone calls, SMC members and school mitras allotted to them are supposed to conduct home visits. This leg of the system has not yet come into effect.
Although heads of schools have been directed to “do the needful”, the voluntary nature of the work makes implementation a challenge. “It is a little complicated since the school mitras are volunteers, they can’t be coerced into meetings and speaking with parents if they say they are unavailable and have their lives outside of this role,” said an official tracking this project.
Attribution-The Indian express
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