New Delhi, Sept. 5 -- On Teachers' Day, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) announced a set of education and sports initiatives aimed at reshaping its municipal school system, combining upgraded infrastructure with parental participation and structured grassroots sports.

At a teacher felicitation ceremony at the Kedarnath Sahni Auditorium in the Civic Centre on Saturday, Union Minister of State and Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra and Mayor Pravesh Wahi felicitated 87 educators, including four principals and 83 teachers.

24 schools as benchmarks

The centrepiece of the announcements was the proposed 24 NigamShri Schools of Excellence, with two schools to be identified in each of MCD's 12 zones. The selected schools will retain the existing MCD curriculum while focusing on foundational literacy and numeracy, activity-based learning and improved infrastructure. Each school will mentor three to five neighbouring municipal schools, creating a network for sharing academic resources and practices. The schools are also expected to have smart-enabled classrooms, libraries, sports facilities and accessibility features for children with special needs. Teachers and principals will receive continuous professional development.

Bringing parents into learning

The MCD also launched Pratibhagita, an initiative focused on strengthening school-home partnerships. In collaboration with non-profit organisation Rocket Learning, parents of pre-primary children will receive play-based learning activities and audio-visual guidance for use at home. For primary-school parents, the programme will provide information on students, school activities and MCD initiatives through technology-enabled communication.

Sport as a talent pipeline

The MCD Mini League will introduce structured football and cricket competitions for Under-9 and Under-11 students. The programme will use digital registration, match analytics and fitness assessments to identify and track young talent. More than 1,400 MCD students are expected to compete alongside over 4,500 children from Delhi-NCR sports academies. The initiatives mark an attempt to move municipal education beyond classroom infrastructure towards a broader ecosystem involving teachers, parents, sports and community participation.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.