Delhi govt’s 2020 plan: All schools run by it to become co-ed

Delhi govt’s 2020 plan: All schools run by it to become co-ed
on Sep 24, 2019

Like in the case of government schools across the country, most Delhi government schools also operate either as girls’ schools or boys’ schools. Out of the 1,100-odd schools run by the Delhi government, approximately 150 of the standard schools are co-educational ones.

The Delhi government has set a timeline of July 2020 to convert boys’ and girls’ schools under it to co-educational ones, under its action plan to address “decline in result of class X in (its) schools” and increase enrolment, a circular issued by the education department to its officials Monday, states. Like in the case of government schools across the country, most Delhi government schools also operate either as girls’ schools or boys’ schools. Out of the 1,100-odd schools run by the Delhi government, approximately 150 of the standard schools are co-educational ones. Over and above these, all the cream schools — 22 Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalayas and six Schools of Excellence — run by the government are also co-educational institutions. While analysing the CBSE board exam results in 2018-2019 of the various schools run by it, the government had found that co-educational schools performed better than both girls’ and boys’ schools. It has been consistently reported over the years that girls have been performing better than boys in these schools. In the class XII examinations, co-educational schools had registered a slightly higher pass percentage than girls’ schools at 98.03%. Girls’ schools had 97.42% and boys’ schools had 93.42%. In case of class X results, the gap was wider, with co-educational schools ahead of girls’ schools by over 6 percentage points and of boys’ schools by over 13 percentage points. While boys’ schools had a 74.8% pass percentage and girls’ schools had 82%, co-educational schools had 88.16%. These are the results after a large section of students cleared the compartment exams. “Contrary to popular opinion on the learning environment when boys and girls study, these numbers clearly show that a co-educational set-up is a better learning environment for children… There are hardly any single-gender private schools left in Delhi but the government trying to move towards co-education is a little complicated because of social stigma and reluctance,” Education Minister Manish Sisodia had told reporters last month. Among other long-term action plans laid down to be achieved between 2020 and 2024 are “converting afternoon shift schools to general shift schools wherever possible”, and “opening more schools to optimise enrolment in a single school”.