UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath at the opening session of Uttar Pradesh Investor Summit 2018 in Mumbai on Friday. Express Photo by Pradip Das
With many promises made in the BJP’s manifesto (“sankalp patra”) regarding education yet to be fulfiled on ground, the sector remained a big topic of discussion during the first year of the Yogi Adityanath government’s rule.
During the state board exams, the government had claimed that the installation of CCTVs and their strictness to prevent students from using unfair means was the reason why more than 11 lakh absentees were reported.
Meanwhile, the move to introduce NCERT books and making math and science compulsory in madrasas – which came after the government started online registration of these institutions — was taken to get students studying there “up to par with children of other schools”.
Some of the government’s promises — like laptops and 1 GB free Internet per month to the youth, free education till graduation for all girls and boys scoring above 50% marks and 10 world standard universities are yet to be seen on the ground. With Opposition constantly targeting the government over unfulfilled promises, introduce these schemes amid budget constrains would be a challenge.
Last month, Om Prakash Rajbhar, minister for Divyang and OBC welfare, had said that education up to the intermediate level will be made free soon.