Field visits, hands-on projects: Here's what a classroom for 82 ‘gifted' Delhi govt school students will look like

Indian Express

11-05-2025

Last Friday, several parents of Class 7 students gathered at a government school in Lajpat Nagar to participate in a unique orientation programme. They all had one thing in common — all their children are 'gifted', with an IQ (intelligence quotient) score of 120 or above.
These children are part of a group of 82 students chosen by the Delhi government under Project on Gifted and Talented Students (Abhishikt)' — a pilot project of the Education Department and the State Council of Educational Research and Training. They are to be placed in one of the 15 government CBSE schools in the Capital, where trained teachers are to teach them a specially-curated curriculum.
The students come from schools spread across all 13 districts of Delhi – from Burari in the North to Najafgarh in the Southwest — and include both boys and girls from Sarvodaya Vidyalayas, Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalayas (SKV), and Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalayas (SBV).
At the orientation, many parents asked a similar question — 'how would these new classes be any different from the ones their children already attend?'.
Officials from the Directorate of Education's (DoE) Inclusive Education Branch (IEB) conducted a live demonstration to offer a glimpse of how these classes would function. The aim was to allay concerns and explain how the approach would depart from traditional pedagog0y, emphasising activity-based learning, hands-on projects, and field exposure in line with the National Education Policy, said officials.
The parent of a Class 7 girl, studying at a West Vinod Nagar SKV, was worried about whether a change in school would affect her daughter's education. However, IEB officials assured that school counsellors would be available to address concerns.
A father of a Class 7 boy, who wanted to maintain anonymity, said, 'Our son was recently moved to a new school and we (parents) saw that this had a bad effect on him… He stopped talking, there were many behavioural changes… we were initially worried that something like this might happen (again). But this programme is a really good opportunity… there's no doubt.'
Officials also said rote methods of learning will be replaced by inquiry-based learning and real-world application. A senior official said: 'Parents were curious, even sceptical, about what made these classes different… We wanted to show them, not just explain.'
The project, initiated in December 2023 and formally announced on March 6, 2024, aimed to include both Class 6 and Class 9 students.
On September 28, last year, 6,000 students from classes 6 and 9 sat for the Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CFIT). The 6,000 students were nominated after school principals recommended their names based on a behaviour checklist that covered five development domains — physical, social, moral, intellectual, and emotional. The next step was to conduct standardised IQ assessment tests.
Eventually, 82 students, then in Class 6, were chosen for the project.
However, officials have now decided to proceed only with Class 6 students. 'The sample size for Class 9 was very low, so we felt it wouldn't be right to proceed with shortlisting from such a small pool,' an official said, adding that other grades may be considered for the project in the future.
Officials said the students were chosen from diverse neighbourhoods — from Kalkaji, Kondli, Kalyanpuri, Shakurpur, Mayur Vihar, and Vijay Enclave, among others — reflecting a wide social and regional cross-section.
Notably, schools like Dwarka School of Excellence, Shahabad Mohammadpur SBV, and New Seelampur Government Girls Senior Secondary School saw many of their students being selected for the project.
A departmental circular issued on May 8 also spoke of a core group of facilitators being formed for curriculum transaction, as part of which teachers have been shortlisted.
In all, 87 trained graduate teachers (TGTs) have been shortlisted to teach a range of subjects, including Natural Science, Mathematics, English, Hindi, Social Science, Sanskrit, and Special Education.
These teachers come from schools in Rohini, Mehrauli, Jahangirpuri, Ashok Vihar, and other government institutions, said officials, adding that some of them had earlier visited the Jnana Prabodhini institute in Pune, which influenced the pedagogical design of Abhishikt.
'The orientation was held to brief teachers, update parents on the students' status, and clarify doubts. The response has been very positive,' said an official from the DoE.