Delhi sets up six-member committee to prepare blueprint for virtual school

The Delhi government on Thursday constituted a six-member committee comprising school principals, teachers and IT officials to study the best global practices in virtual schooling and submit a blueprint for the national capital's virtual school, officials said.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia presided over a meeting to outline the scope of the Delhi Model Virtual School, a first-of-its-kind school that would strive to provide education to students remotely through personalised teaching-learning, effective assessments and the use of cutting edge technology, they said.

The Delhi government had proposed to establish the virtual school in its 2021-22 Budget.

According to the officials, existing models of virtual schools in the US and New Zealand were discussed in the meeting.

Sisodia constituted a six-member committee comprising school principals, teachers, and IT officials that will study the best global practices in virtual schooling and submit a blueprint for Delhi's virtual school within a week, they said.

"Delhi's virtual school will be like any other regular school. It will have a school ID and dedicated staff. Students will get admitted and will be given unique IDs. This school will have students, teachers, regular teaching-learning activities, assessments and all other education-related facilities. The school will operate with the principle of 'anywhere living, anytime learning, anytime testing'," Sisodia said at the meeting.

"The school will cater to a wide cross-section of students, including students interested in studying from home, sportspersons and artists who need to devote adequate time towards honing their skills, school dropouts and other youths who would want to complete their education," he said.

The deputy chief minister added that extensive work on remote learning carried out by Delhi teachers during the coronavirus pandemic has developed the system's capacity in handling online education effectively.

"Our teachers have learned to use technology effectively for teaching-learning purposes. This online teaching-learning during the pandemic has created a fertile ground for the establishment of the country's first virtual school in Delhi," Sisodia said.