Noida MLA for parent-teacher meetings in govt schools

The parents of children studying in government primary and upper primary schools in Noida in Uttar Pradesh have a reason to smile, thanks to the efforts of their MLA Pankaj Singh.
On lines of parent-teacher meetings held in private schools, Singh has taken an initiative to introduce the practice in government schools in his Assembly constituency.
"My effort is to ensure that the state of affairs in government schools improve, through corporate social responsibility. In Noida, as many as 85 schools will be adopted under corporate social responsibility," he told PTI.
Elaborating how the idea to incorporate the practice in government schools progressed, Singh said he first talked to Gautam Budh Nagar District Magistrate B N Singh on January 16 about introducing mandatory parent-teacher meetings (PTMs) in all government schools of the district.

PTM is a great mechanism to assess a child's overall development, but has been largely limited to private schools.
"The idea was that parents and teachers of children studying in government schools can also have a constructive interaction about their child's progress," he said.

After Singh's conversation with the magistrate, the meetings started in government schools within 10 days.
"The response was good from all schools. Gradually, this practice will be replicated in all 685 government primary and upper primary schools in the district," he said.
"I feel this could be termed the Noida model of sprucing up government primary and upper primary schools," the 38- year-old BJP legislator said.

Narrating his experience of witnessing a parent-teacher meeting, Singh said he was satisfied with the progress.
"The face-to-face interactions between teachers and parents will eventually help children improve and excel. The co-ordination between parents and teachers will also have a positive impact on children in the longer run. On my visit to two schools in Sector 12 and Nayagaon, I witnessed an overwhelming response for PTMs; with parents reaching schools in great number to discuss their child's progress."
The first parent-teacher meeting was held on January 27 for nearly three hours, Singh said.
"Gautam Budh Nagar probably became the first district in the state to organise a PTM in government schools. I was extremely happy to learn that 685 primary and upper-primary government schools of Gautam Buddha Nagar. It has been my earnest endeavour to ensure that every child gets the best education and the immense talent that our children possess never go unnoticed. And in this context such PTMs will play an important role," the BJP MLA said.

"Currently, the frequency of the parent-teacher meeting is once in three months. But parents want it to be held once a month. I want that this system be implemented across the state. Another area which concerns me is the health of the children, and I feel that timely health check-up of children should be done," Singh said.