Bhopal. Today is Teachers’ Day, and on this special occasion, we are featuring a special story about Madhya Pradesh’s education system. It is a well-known fact that without teachers, all paths to progress come to a halt. In this context, the innovation adopted by 99 percent of teachers in Madhya Pradesh deserves special congratulations on this Teachers’ Day. Madhya Pradesh is a vast state, with over 94,000 government schools spread across the region, where more than 90 lakh students are shaping their future, supported by nearly 2.5 lakh teachers holding the torch of education. Running such a large-scale system merely on paper might be easy, but maintaining discipline, transparency, and quality at the ground level has always been a tough challenge. Recent major changes in the School Education Department of Madhya Pradesh have proven that with the right intention and strong administrative willpower, the state of affairs can indeed be transformed.
To strengthen the state’s education system and promote innovation, a comprehensive action plan is being implemented under the visionary guidance of Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav, the leadership of School Education Minister Uday Pratap Singh, and the administrative coordination of School Education Department Secretary Dr. Sanjay Goyal. The credit for bringing this policy vision to the ground level goes to Commissioner of Public Instruction (DPI) and 2009-batch IAS officer Abhishek Singh, who assumed charge about four months ago. The way he identified long-standing issues and resolved them swiftly upon taking office brings to mind the movie ‘Nayak’, starring Anil Kapoor. The core principle of his working style is:
“Why not immediately complete the work that we can do today and right now?”
-Abhishek Singh, IAS
Having come from a government school background himself before becoming an IAS officer, Abhishek Singh firmly believes that reforms in a system must always begin with top leadership. Guided by this philosophy, he reaches his office every morning at 9:30 AM to mark his digital ‘E-attendance’ first, and remains actively engaged at work until 7:30 to 8:00 PM in the evening clearing files. As a result of a department head setting a personal example by marking E-attendance, 99 percent of teachers across the state now regularly log their E-attendance.
Upon taking charge, Commissioner Abhishek Singh discovered the alarming truth that thousands of teachers were ‘attached’ to other departments and offices away from their primary schools. Taking immediate action, he ended the attachment of nearly 4,000 teachers and sent them back to their original schools, including over 100 teachers in Bhopal alone. This decision curbed the practice of 20,000 to 25,000 teachers who were not regularly attending school, leading them back to the classrooms.
A key feature of Abhishek Singh’s administrative style is providing solutions by calling for ‘notings’ from concerned officials within 15 minutes and addressing applicants face-to-face. Out of 16,000 to 17,000 pending legal cases in the department, IAS Abhishek Singh resolved over 4,000 cases in just two months.
After a long wait of nearly 20 years, 14 Departmental Promotion Committees (DPC) were constituted in the department, clearing the path for promotions for more than 6,000 employees. Had court stays on teacher promotions not been in place, 50,000 to 60,000 teachers would have directly benefited. Additionally, the recruitment process for 14,000 new teachers was completed within two months, and recruitment for over 10,000 new posts is in its final stages. To inject fresh energy into the system, young District Education Officers (DEOs) have been posted in 40 out of 55 districts in the state, including 32 young Assistant Director-level officers selected through MPPSC.
To prepare government school students for global competition, a pilot project to teach French and German languages is being initiated across four districts each. Work is also progressing rapidly on AI and digital curriculum. Under the ‘Jan Vishwas Abhiyan’, IAS Abhishek Singh personally conducts surprise inspections of schools in rural areas every week, teaches students in classrooms, and directly interacts with teachers to resolve their issues on the spot.
Through the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav, the guidance of School Education Minister Uday Pratap Singh, the administrative oversight of Secretary Dr. Sanjay Goyal, and the ground-level efforts of IAS Abhishek Singh, a historic and positive transformation is clearly visible in the education system of Madhya Pradesh.
