The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is planning to implement new ways to improve the image of government schools and the standard of education there.

Introduction of innovative teaching and learning techniques in classrooms, holding regular parent-teacher interactions and starting pre-school classes are some of the notable steps the NCERT is considering to implement as part of its branding exercise to improve the image of government schools across the country.

In this regard, the NCERT had conducted a national conference on March 27-28 on the theme ‘Branding of Government Schools’ to collect feedback on how to set a new process dispel the negative perception of state-run schools.

“A number of papers were presented in the conference with many experts giving various suggestions, including starting pre-schools,” NCERT director Hrushikesh Senapaty was quoted as saying by a news agency.

After the conference, the NCERT is in the process of making a detailed action plan, based on the suggestions made at the conference, which will be shared with the states.

“Government schools have better qualified teachers and infrastructure than private ones, but their image, especially among parents whose focus is on sending their children to English-medium schools, is negative,” a senior official at the NCERT said.

The National Achievement Survey (NAS) conducted by NCERT last year found Delhi among the five worst-performing states and UTs on learning outcomes and the worst in English for Class VIII students.

Another NCERT official said one of the major deterrents to parents sending their children to government schools is teacher absenteeism.

“We will also focus now on teacher pedagogy and innovative methods that can be used to further strengthen government schools,” the official said.