“Education is the key to any transformation” says Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi. He holds several portfolios including the Finance and Planning, Revenue, Services, Power, Education, Higher Education, Information Technology, Technical Education and Administrative Reforms portfolios in the government of Delhi. 

Son of a schoolteacher, Sisodia started his career as a journalist and was a very popular radio and TV personality. How did he decide to get into politics? “During my hey days in journalism when I was feeling very pleased with my career a well known writer met me and asked a few questions, which made me begin to think about my purpose in life. I later met Arvind Kejriwal and thus began my life as an activist. We crafted the Right to Information Act. Later when the Aam Admi Party was started, it was natural that I became a part of it. We won the elections and thus I came to hold the post that I have”

He has been able to bring about transformative change in Delhi’s education system. While he holds a variety of portfolios, his passion is for education. He has received many awards for his work to transform the schools in Delhi. What was the secret to his success?  

“People often say I am obsessed with education. Any question that comes to me my answer is education. I have the strong belief that it is the responsibility of Indian citizens to ensure that all children, not only their own, receive a good education. That is what will make Delhi a better place for everyone.  I certainly believe that it is my responsibility.  We have implemented several changes that have begun to show significant results” 

“I doubled the budget for education. I put teachers at the center of the changes. I banned census duty, polio duty and election duty for teachers for it was a drain on them. I authorized principles to hire a cleanliness manger and created an app where he or she uploads information about the school. Every day I know the state of each school. In Delhi top performing principals are sent to Oxford/ Cambridge “

When you look at the pictures of the Delhi municipal schools it is indeed difficult to believe . They look neat and clean with lot of investment into their infrastructure.  Suffice it to say he has truly transformed the schools. 

In addition to working on Municipal schools he is also working closely to ensure that private schools are not fleecing their students. Education has become a big business in India with the private schools demanding enormous amounts of money.  He has  worked to keep the fees from going up and also made private schools refund the money. 

It is not only administration but also content that he is paying attention to the content as well.  “I am working on a happiness curriculum. This will combine mindfulness and other techniques to ensure that the children can have tools to combat stress”.

It was amazing to see the passion of this minister to make a difference. We look forward to seeing the impact of his transformational measures on Indian Education.