AAP will improve quality of MCD-run schools: Kejriwal

The MCD runs 1,535 primary schools at 1,185 sites, along with 44 aided schools. According to data from the civic body’s education department, 8,74,472 children are enrolled in its primary schools, which have 17,628 teachers

New Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that his government has closed the gap between the standards of state-runs schools and private schools during its time in power, adding that now, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will start improving the quality of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) schools.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal (File Photo)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back, alleging that whatever problems MCD-run schools have faced were due to funds being curtailed by the AAP government.

Addressing a gathering during the government’s Excellence in Education Awards 2022, Kejriwal said, “I hope that soon we will soon start our efforts to fix all the MCD schools… We have around 1,800 MCD schools and they are in very bad condition. Delhi will become the hub of high-quality education within the whole country and people from all over the world will come to Delhi to get high-quality education.”

The awards, instituted in 2015, were presented to 239 students of classes 10 and 12 and 33 schools on Friday.

The MCD runs 1,535 primary schools at 1,185 sites, along with 44 aided schools. According to data from the civic body’s education department, 8,74,472 children are enrolled in its primary schools, which have 17,628 teachers.

Speaking at the award function, Kejriwal said that earlier, poor people would send their wards to government schools, while people who had access to money would try to send their kids to private schools. “The gap between these two has now been bridged, and both private and public institutions in Delhi offer high-quality education in its uniform and integrated educational system,” he said.

Hitting back at AAP and Kejriwal, Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva said 90% of MCD schools are in a better shape than state-run schools. “Whatever little problems that the MCD schools faced for the eight years was due to the curtailing of funds by the Kejriwal government. Yet, in the interest of the betterment of primary schools, we will welcome any infrastructure upgrade by the government. However, going by the experience of the Kejriwal government handling government schools, we don’t expect much improvement,” Sachdeva said.