New Delhi
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday highlighted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s innovations in the school education sector and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of filling government school curriculums in states ruled by them with superstitions and myths. Assembly elections in Delhi will take place on February 8.
The BJP, however, dismissed the allegations and hit back saying that the AAP government was “misleading” people with its claims on quality education and innovative curriculums.
Sisodia, comparing the Delhi government’s education model with that in the BJP-ruled states, said, “This is not just an election between two parties but between two distinct models that concern shaping the country’s future.”
In a press conference held at the AAP’s head office in Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, Sisodia emphasised on his government having drafted the happiness curriculum and entrepreneurship curriculum for Delhi government schools.
The deputy chief minister, who is also Delhi’s education minister, said that the happiness curriculum was adopted voluntarily by several private schools in the city and later government officials in around 20 states approached the Delhi government, seeking help for designing such courses in their schools.
“The AAP government has taken various initiatives to develop the education model with a significant increase in the budget for education, establishing quality infrastructure and regular training to teachers to improve the educational environment. But the most important difference we have made is in the delivery of quality education,” said Sisodia.
{{/usCountry}}“The AAP government has taken various initiatives to develop the education model with a significant increase in the budget for education, establishing quality infrastructure and regular training to teachers to improve the educational environment. But the most important difference we have made is in the delivery of quality education,” said Sisodia.
{{/usCountry}}He further said, “They [BJP], on the other hand, are perpetually caught between whether to include references to Gandhiji and Nehruji in syllabus or not. The BJP has now introduced a course in ‘Bhoot Vidya’ in universities, focused on delivering training in curing mental illnesses through superstitious methods and thrashing patients with footwear.”
“Their [BJP’s] education model is pondering on questions like whether internet existed in the age of Mahabharata, whether swimming ducks create oxygen in water or not etc. Whereas our model focuses on the future of the country and the growth of the individual,” said Sisodia.
Sisodia also said that the BJP fears certain movies and forms of literature which can potentially invoke a sense of social responsibility among people.
His comments were in response to a question posed to him on several BJP leaders asking people to boycott Deepika Padukone-starrer ‘Chhapaak’ after she had visited the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus following violence which left several students and teachers injured.
Sisodia said it is very disgraceful to see people “getting intimidated” by films based on social issues. “How can they be scared of a movie which is based on an acid attack victim? What kind of a political party is (BJP) if it is easily intimidated by and fears certain films that invoke a sense of social responsibility among people and other important issues such as education,” he said.
Reacting to the allegations, BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Vijay Goel said in a statement, “The Delhi government’s claims on education sector are hollow. I challenge Kejriwal to visit government schools of my choice. His government is misleading people on the pretext of quality schools and curriculums with advertisements. The reality is that most 8th standard students in Delhi’s government schools do not know the complete set of English alphabets.”
He further questioned the government on education budget spending to high failure rates, dropouts, denial of re-admission and staff crunch. Goel also said that several ministers in the AAP government did not send their children to government schools because of poor infrastructure and quality of education.