A Journey of Opportunities in India

Last month I flew to India and had the wonderful opportunity to organize field visits in Delhi and Haryana together with the Israeli Embassy team and local colleagues. The visits were varied and fascinating, offering an interesting overview of education in India and its challenges. They included a government-funded girls' school; the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT); and a meeting with the State Council of Education, Government of Haryana. This agenda exposed the team to the micro (school-level) and macro (state and national) challenges of this rich and complex “continent” of a country.

The visit's action plan involved developing a dialogue with the relevant Indian stakeholders, in order to map out tailored solutions across various fields of expertise.

MASHAV alumni planned the schedule: Mr. Sudhir Bhatnagar, Executive Director of the Society for All Round Development (SARD), an NGO focused on educational issues, and Mr. Parmod Kumar, Regional Programs Officer at the Ministry of Education, along with future partners in potential collaboration plans.

Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, government-funded girls' school, Dwarka

The school is very large, and runs two shifts a day. Around 4,000 girls learn in each shift. It is the first school in western Delhi to set up a child-friendly ICT center to improve children's learning, with capable support from SARD.

Ms. Sangeeta Deswal, the principal, welcomed us and showed us around the school. The focus of this visit was to learn about how they teach Science and Technology. We learned about the methodologies and approach they use. Ms. Annu Jha, of SARD, shared some of the content and ideas she developed, part of which she brought back from her training course at the A. Ofri Center in Jerusalem.

NCERT: Digital India in the field of education

NCERT, the National Council of Educational Research and Training, is an organization created by the Government of India to assist and advise the central and state governments on academic matters related to school education. It oversees 1.5 million schools with 7 million teachers. NCERT is responsible for designing textbook content and leading the education segment of “Digital India.”

Our delegation visited CIET, the Central Institute of Educational Technology, a component of NCERT and the country's first national institute of educational technology. Its main objective is to promote the use of educational technologies — radio, television, film, satellite communications and cyber media — separately and in combination. The institute carries out activities aimed at expanding educational opportunities, promoting equality and improving the quality of educational processes at the school level.

This professional visit was extremely interesting, because we saw how India is dealing with its own challenges and developing its own solutions. I believe Israel can offer an innovative approach that could easily help with some of the processes this diverse and fascinating country is already going through.

State Council of Education, Government of Haryana

We visited two more institutes in Gurgaon, Haryana. The first visit was to DIET Gurgaon — the District Institute of Education and Training. This institute provides training and resource support at the district level to improve the quality of basic education. DIET was established based on the recommendations of the 1986 National Policy on Education.

Sh. Mukesh Lawania, the institution's director, welcomed us. His staff briefly explained their main goal, which is to focus on preparing teacher-trainers and resource persons to guide and train teachers working in primary and secondary schools.

Afterward we met with the future teachers completing their training at this institute, and I had the great opportunity to talk with them.

The second visit was to the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Haryana. Established in April 1979, it is the merger of the State Institute of Education and the State Institute of Science, and it brings new dimensions to school education. Some of its main activities are in-service training for teachers and principals, content development, and data research.

At this institute, the Director, Dr. Sneh Lata, welcomed us. After visiting the different departments, we met some of the educators taking part in that day's activities. This visit was important for getting a sense of the kind of activities this type of state center carries out, and for hearing educators' perspectives on what they see as India's challenges.

The opportunities are endless, and the challenges are fascinating. These field visits were an introduction to the world of Indian education, and a closer look at the system. We hope to develop this relationship further and launch new educational initiatives in the coming months. New channels are opening, and collaboration is the way forward.

A special thank-you to Mr. Sudhir Bhatnagar, Executive Director, and Ms. Annu Jha, of SARD; Mr. Parmod Kumar, Regional Programs Officer at India's Ministry of Education; and the Israeli Embassy team.