Arvind Kejriwal writes to PM Modi on govt schools, BJP hits back

The letter, dated September 6, came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a scheme to upgrade 14,500 schools across the country under the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) Yojana.

Delhi chief minister has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the formulation of a plan to upgrade all government schools in the country.

Delhi chief minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. (PTI/@ArvindKejriwal/Twitter)

The letter, dated September 6, came hours after Modi announced a scheme to upgrade 14,500 schools across the country under the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) Yojana.

“You have planned to work upon only 14,500 government schools; this implies that it will take 100 years to repair 10 lakh government schools across the country. Why must we stay behind other countries for the next 100 years?” the communication states.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back, with Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan noting that government schools in Delhi have fallen behind the national average in parameters of student enrolments, quality of education, opening of new schools and recruitment of new principals.

In his letter, Kejriwal said that 18 crore children across the country study in government schools, and 80% of government schools are “worse than garbage dumps”.

“We made a huge mistake in 1947 by not opening excellent schools in every village and locality. It is even sadder that as a nation we did not pay attention to providing good education to our children even for the next 75 years; can India waste any more time now?,” the letter adds.

With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sparring over various alleged cases of corruption, AAP has been projecting its education model for its national pitch.

In the letter, Kejriwal stated that India cannot become a developed country without the provision of excellent education in every government school of the country. “130 crore people of the country are not ready to wait anymore. Everyone wants India to become the number one country in the world. That’s why I request you that instead of just 14,500 schools, a plan should be made to transform and modernize all 10 lakh government schools.”

Later at a press conference, Pradhan, responding to a query on Kejriwal’s letter, said, “Some people have assumed issuing statements as a work for themselves. I want to call them ‘Bayan Bahadur’. There are people who work and there are others who just give statements.”

Information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur, who was also present at the press conference, said it was “unfortunate” that those busy with “sharabkhana (tippling house)” were calling the schools “kabadkhana (garbage dump)”, alluding to the allegations of a liquor scam under Kejriwal government in Delhi.

“It is regrettable if a responsible person of the country, a Bayan Bahadur terms schools as kabadkhana (garbage dump). I am also worried that what kind of language was being used for the field of education,” Pradhan said.

Citing Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) and National Achievement Survey (NAS) data, Pradhan said Delhi schools have been suffering from quality and governance issues, resulting in learning outcomes of classes 3, 5, 8 and 10 students being lower than the national average.

(With inputs from Agencies)