‘Don’t comment without homework’, Himanta to Kejriwal over school closure remarks

Giving details, the Assam CM stated that since 2013, 6802 private elementary schools, and 1589 private secondary schools have been provincialised (or brought under government fold) in the northeastern state

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday hit back at his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal over his comments on the issue of ‘closure’ of 34 schools in the northeastern state for zero success in Class X exams this year.

According to a state secondary education department official, the closed schools will be merged with other government schools located nearby and teachers and students will be accommodated in them. (PTI Photo)

Reacting to the Assam government move, Kejriwal had tweeted on Wednesday that closing schools was not a solution as many new schools needed to be opened across the country.

Instead of shutting down schools, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader asked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Assam to focus on improving education in those institutions.

“Dear Arvind Kejriwalji, as usual you commented on something without (doing) any homework. Since my days as education minister, till now, please note, Assam government has established/taken over 8610 new schools. How many new schools Delhi government has started in last 7 years?” Sarma tweeted on Thursday.

Giving details, the Assam CM stated that since 2013, 6802 private elementary schools, and 1589 private secondary schools have been provincialized (or brought under government fold) in the northeastern state.

Sarma added that 81 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, 3 Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Avashik Vidyalayas, 38 Adarsh Vidyalayas and 97 Tea Garden Model Schools have been newly established in past years. “Curious to know Delhi’s figures,” he tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Assam information minister Pijush Hazarika also took to Twitter to inform that schools are not being closed down and they are being amalgamated (with other government schools located nearby) in order to improve “the overall educational environment”.

“Arvind Kejriwalji has no right to speak on educational upliftment as his fake ‘Delhi Model Schools’ have been busted from time to time,” Hazarika tweeted adding that the AAP education model has demolished Delhi’s education system bring down Class X pass percentage from 99.09% in 2011 to 81.27% in 2022.

“The great model schools of Delhi stand poorly in all aspects as compared to Puducherry. Kerjiwal ji should visit Assam rather to learn,” he added.

As reported earlier, the Assam government has decided to ‘shut down’ 34 state-run schools after none of their students passed this year’s High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) or Class X board exams.

According to a state secondary education department official, the closed schools will be merged with other government schools located nearby and teachers and students will be accommodated in them.

In June this year, the state secondary education department had issued show cause notice to 102 schools for poor results in Class X exams. Apart from those with zero success, the list included those with pass percentage below 10%. In the same month, the state government had announced plans to shut down nearly 800 state-run schools which have less than 30 students each.

This year, the pass percentage had dropped to 56.49% from 93.10% in 2021 when exams were not held due to Covid and results were declared based on performances by students in past exams and internal assessments.