Kejriwal offers to ‘loan out’ Sisodia to help other states

Kejriwal said he is not concerned about politics or party affiliations, but rather he was focused on the betterment of the country.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said he would be willing to “loan” his deputy Manish Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, to other states which want to improve their education system, adding that some people do not wish underprivileged communities to do well in life, attributing this to an alleged feudal mindset.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, deputy CM Manish Sisodia and AAP MLA Atishi at Thyagraj Stadium in New Delhi. (Sanchit Khanna)

The Bharatiya Janata Party hit back, claiming that Goa has a better education system than Delhi, and Kejriwal should instead learn from the BJP-ruled state.

Kerjiwal’s comments came in the backdrop of the longstanding feud between him and lieutenant governor VK Saxena, with the latest flashpoint the latter’s decision to seek a cost-benefit analysis on sending a group of Delhi schoolteachers for training in Finland.

Speaking during an interaction with school teachers who have travelled to Finland, the UK, and Singapore for training programmes in the past, Kejriwal said he is not concerned about politics or party affiliations, but rather he was focused on the betterment of the country. “If someone from the BJP or Congress or chief minister of any state reaches out to me for assistance in improving their education system, I am willing to send Manish Sisodia to them on loan for some days. My goal is to see education improve not just in Delhi, but throughout the entire country.”

Speaking of a “feudal mindset” in the country, the CM said, “They do not want government schools to be improved because the underprivileged go there. They don’t want government school teachers to get trained abroad.”

Sisodia, who was also present at the function, said the transformation of schools and the education system in Delhi was made possible due to teacher training. “Today, when principals and teachers from Delhi government schools go anywhere in the country and introduce themselves, even people from the opposition ask how the Delhi education model has become so popular,” he said.

In response, Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva said instead of offering Sisodia on “loan” to other states, Kejriwal should send Sisodia to BJP-ruled Goa, which he claims has a better education system than Delhi.

Sachdeva also claimed Kejriwal’s comparison of Finland’s schools with Delhi’s schools is meaningless. “If Kejriwal compares the system of Delhi’s government schools with Finland, then he should know that in Finland, one government school is available for every 269 students, while in Delhi on average one school is available for 3897 students,” he said.