3 agenda items under 100-day action plan not fulfilled in stipulated timePre-primary classes await facelift

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 12

The ‘100-day action plan’ of the UT Education Department has gone for a toss. Under the plan for the 2019-2020 session, the department had to facilitate the pre-primary classes with latest equipment and infrastructure, beautify five and inaugurate three government schools.

This has been revealed in an RTI response by the District Education Officer dated February 28. RK Garg, a resident of Sector 30, had sought a reply regarding progress of the plan and results achieved on November 5, 2019. The Education Department had sketched nine agenda items for 100 days action plan during 2019-20, of which three could not be fulfilled within the stipulated time frame.

Even as the draft on ‘Preschool Curriculum’ was prepared by the SCERT well in advance in January last year, its provisions detailing infrastructure changes are yet to be implemented.

To prepare children of the pre-school age for elementary education and to provide them with better early childhood care and education (ECCE) according to modern methods, it was decided to upgrade the pre-primary classes with modern amenities for better learning environment for children. The policy caters to all children under six years of age and commits to universal access to early school education.

A total of10 government schools were to be upgraded during the 2019-2020 financial year and remaining schools were to be covered in a phased manner. A sum of Rs 50 lakh was decided to be utilised under the elementary education under head and other charges.

The amenities included colourful classrooms wherein walls of classroom are painted in attractive spectrum of colours, colourful nursery furniture, educational toys, learning IT materials and nursery park items.

Beautification plans on back burner

To bring government schools of Chandigarh on a par with the private ones, the Education Department had planned to give them a facelift and a parent-student friendly ambience through theme-based murals on the main/front wall surrounded on sides by well-maintained ground lawns with seasonal flowers.

As many as five government schools were to be covered under the project during 2019-20. However, the same is yet to be implemented according to the RTI reply.

It was also decided that the department will start three new government schools during 2019-20 for which furniture, green boards, desktops, projectors, cameras as well as other required items were to be purchased for smooth functioning of the schools. Rs 50 lakh were to be utilised under the secondary education under head material and supplies. The same has been awaited for long now.