Need mindset change & better school budget to improve govt schools: Expert

In 2009, Urmila Chowdhury, then vice principal at Delhi's Shriram school, decided to leave the private school system and turn her attention to government schools. Six years later, she joined the UK-headquartered international charity Ark International's India operations.

In 2015, Ark started working in partnership with government schools. In the beginning, one school in Lajpat Nagar-3 was taken up and within three years, students enrollment at the school went up from to nine to 428. Learning outcomes improved dramatically. Two more schools were added in 2017.

As education director (now with Peepul, an Ark venture), Chowdhury, 55, led the change at the first school and now the three academic coordinators at the three schools report to her. Excerpts from her chat with Anjuli Bhargava: