Children need the right mahaul, not malls: Sisodia

NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday inaugurated the 'Parent Workshops' at Sarvodaya Co-Ed Vidyalaya, at Sector-6 in Rohini.

Addressing several parents gathered at the school, Sisodia said, "Children do not need malls, they need the right mahaul – one which does not make them feel loved but also treats them with respect."

"You are not just creating the next generation of professionals. You are creating the next generation of Indian citizens," said Sisodia, who also serves as Education minister.

The parent workshops initiative has been launched by the Delhi government to increase their involvement in the school activities of their children.

They will initially be conducted in 10 Delhi government schools and will soon expand to 50 schools.

Initially, the workshops will cater to parents of students in Classes X and XII. Eventually, parents of students in all classes will be involved.

During his address, Sisodia also said, "Your child is not merely a child in your family. He or she is a future citizen of our country. Your role as parents is also a service to society. Parents need to establish a channel of positive communication with their children, something that is missing at the moment.

"We will need to talk our children out of their fear of failure. Instead of making our children feel more confident about themselves, sometimes we feed into their fear by constantly reminding them that they cannot fail."

To build a genuine parent-teacher partnership, the Delhi government had earlier organised a mega parent-teachers' meeting.