Delhi Institutions

While in India, we spent a lot of time in Delhi, the capital of this beautiful country. While in Delhi, we were able to tour a government school, private school, and even the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) where they train teachers. We were treated like royalty at all of these institutions and felt incredibly welcomed by the warm hospitality of the incredibly kind people at each place we visited.

One of the first schools we visited was the CM Shri School, a public school operated by the Delhi government. It opened in February and serves as Delhi's flagship AI school serving over 1,800 students. Here we saw how Indian schools are incorporating global education by teaching SEL and mindfulness practices through yoga, science and robotics through solving real world issues, and multilingualism through teaching in English and providing opportunities to learn other languages of the world.

We also had the opportunity to meet and spend time with students in the special education program here and learn about some of the inclusive practices the school has implemented. At this school, it is a one-to-one ratio where each child with special needs has a support staff member with them at all times to teach them within the special education setting and to take them to participate in general education. While we don't have the resources to provide a one-on-one with all of our students, I was surprised to see just how similar our special education practices are to those at CM Shri. At this school they also have minutes to meet, general education time for students, and a document outlining goals. They even call it an IEP too!

We visited another school towards the end of our stay in Delhi called Vasant Valley School. This school has consistently been rated the number one school in India, and it's plain to see why that is. They have a beautiful campus with welcoming staff, respectful students, and state of the art facilities for all students, including those with special needs. At Vasant Valley the education system seems to take on an approach more similar to that of what we have in the USA, meaning there are sports at the school, lessons are taught in English, there is a strong emphasis on the arts, and the older students here are all preparing to go to universities in the USA, UK, Australia, or Canada. Vasant Valley is creating global citizens through its rigorous academics, multilingualism, holistic approach, and its strong emphasis on intellectual growth in all students.

After our lovely morning visit to the Vasant Valley School, we departed for the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) where they train young adults to become teachers. We were greeted and welcomed into an auditorium where students performed songs and the staff hosted a small ceremony to welcome us. They then presented to us about their mission and purpose and allowed us to tour the institution and meet some future teachers.

At the DIET they train teachers through pre-service and in-service trainings, organize workshops and seminars, identify and attempt to solve educational issues, and develop teaching resources and material. We had the opportunity to meet some of the teachers who were learning about the many diverse art forms in India. Every teacher has to study the various arts from across the country. This is an incredibly inclusive and diverse practice that Delhi has implemented to ensure that many of the cultures across India are represented in the classroom. We each left with a beautiful piece of art that these future teachers so graciously created and gifted us.

While these schools were incredible institutions and I am so grateful that we were able to tour them, I must note that India is a large and INCREDIBLY diverse country. Access to resources, computers, and other learning materials is varied across the country. In this post I am solely speaking of what I witnessed in Delhi and not Indian schools as a whole. When I worked in Ahmedabad at Manav Sadhna, it was a very different experience than that of Delhi. Overall, I am thankful to have gotten to witness several different types of schools to have the ability to compare them; however, it must be said that not all schools across India have access to the same materials and resources as these schools in Delhi.