Dutch king, queen visit govt school in northeast Delhi, hold interaction with students

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima took a guided tour of a government school in northeast Delhi on Tuesday where students showed them how they have adopted Sustainable Development Goals in their curriculum.

Rakesh Semalty, the principal of the Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya in Nand Nagri, explained to the king and queen the concept on which the school is based.

"We have adopted 12 goals, including health and sanitation, gender equality, climate action and quality education," Semalty told them.

The king and the queen, who arrived in the national capital on Sunday night, were welcomed by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

"Students were delighted to meet them and vibrantly introduced happiness curriculum and entrepreneurship mindset curriculum to the royal couple," he said.

The students who gave the couple a guided tour of the school explained that their education goes beyond traditional textbooks, examinations and memory-based examinations.

"We are moving ahead of it. The concept of education here is to make teaching and learning enjoyable, practical and sustainable," they told the king and queen.

They further said that they are working towards making the curriculum "humane, holistic and wholesome".

Khushboo Dikshit, one of the students who gave presentation to the dignitaries, said the king and queen asked her how she is incorporating the sustainable development goals in her day to day life.

"We told them about the happiness curriculum and entrepreneurship classes. We have learned that everybody does not need to become a doctor or an engineer or a teacher but can also be a job provider," Dikshit said.

The students also painted an SDG wall, depicting various Sustainable Development Goals followed by them.

Brijesh Sharma, an English teacher, said presentations were given on the topic of the importance of gender equality.

The king and queen were also told about the school's 'Go-Girls-Go' project.

This project, funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New Delhi, supports girls in completing their education, joining vocational education, and strengthening their agency to lead change.

It also sensitizes adolescent boys to gender equal norms and prevention of violence against women and girls.

During the visit, the king and the queen had discussions with students in order to understand the programme from their perspective and how it helped them in their overall development.

The royal couple are on a five-day tour to India. It is King Alexander's first state visit to India, following his ascension to the throne in 2013. The royal couple will also visit Mumbai from Wednesday and reach Kerala on Thursday. They will head home on Friday.