Sisodia accuses BJP, lieutenant governor of stalling teachers training programme

Sisodia said the government has again sent the file regarding the programme to Saxena and urged him to clear it

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena of stalling a training programme for teachers in Finland to hurt the future of students at Delhi government schools from economically disadvantaged groups.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. (Hindustan Times)

Sisodia said the government has again sent the file regarding the programme to Saxena and urged him to clear it. He underlined Finland has the world’s leading education system and the training of teachers there can play a critical role in Delhi’s education revolution. “Has the BJP fallen to such a low level that it wants to destroy Delhi’s education model through the lieutenant governor?”

Sisodia, who is also the education minister, urged Saxena against playing with the future of poor children. He added Saxena’s office first delayed the programme and is now attempting to stall it by suggesting a cost-benefit analysis. “What kind of absurd argument is this? What can be a better cost-benefit analysis than the change that has come in Delhi’s school, the rising confidence of children and parents, and spectacular results.”

Officials said Delhi’s State Council of Educational Research and Training has proposed to send 30 teachers for a five-day training programme at Finland’s Jyväskylä University. The government accepted the proposal and sent it to Saxena, who returned it asking for a cost-benefit analysis.

Saxena asked for exploring whether such a training programme was available in the country. Ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers planned a protest near his residence over the matter on Friday.

Sisodia said the BJP has been unable to improve the government education systems in the states it runs but was trying to demolish that in Delhi. “Delhi’s schools have better buildings and results have gone up from 75% to 99.6%.”

Sisodia said training has played a critical role in it and this has been reiterated in National Education Policy. “We have so far sent 11,00 teachers to countries such as Singapore, Britain, and Finland for training but BJP wants to stall this now,” he said.

Sisodia said Finland has shown how the government schools can be improved. He added unlike other governments, the Delhi government is not sending ministers and bureaucrats but teachers of government schools abroad. “...30 teachers could not go for the training programme in December and now they would not allow the second batch to go in March.”

An official in Saxena’s office said he has not rejected the proposal and any statement claiming this is misleading and mischievous. “The government has been advised to evaluate the proposal and record the cost-benefit analysis in tangible terms so as to assess the effectiveness of various foreign training programme for teachers undertaken in the past,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

“[Saxena]...has also advised examining and identifying similar training programmes at institutions of excellence within the country so as to ensure optimal utilisation of resources, fiscal prudence, and administrative effectiveness.”

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that the Arvind Kejriwal government is interested in only creating controversy and has nothing to do with development or education reform. Kapoor said the government has accused Saxena of withholding the file related to the training to divert attention from the advertisement scam.

A notice was issued to the AAP on Wednesday for the recovery of money spent on advertisements allegedly in violation of the Supreme Court 2015 guidelines. It warned the AAP headquarters can also be sealed if the party does not deposit the money within 10 days and escalated tensions between Saxena and the Delhi government.

Kapoor said Kejriwal should understand the people of Delhi will no longer be misled. “To improve the education system, just training of some teachers in Finland is not important... the appointment of headmasters and teachers in all the schools of Delhi is needed.”