Delhi: MCD schools ‘pathetic, disasters in waiting’, claim AAP legislators

NEW DELHI: AAP on Saturday termed MCD schools in the city as “pathetic, dilapidated, disasters in waiting” after several legislators went on an inspection spree across the capital.
While two AAP MLAs, Dilip Pandey of Timarpur and Durgesh Pathak of Rajendra Nagar, were allegedly not allowed to enter school premises as the gates were locked, the party functionaries claimed the ones they visited were in bad state with children being made to study under tin sheds. They added that BJP’s “anti-poor mindset” was out on display at Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s schools and students did not deserve to study inside these “scrapyards”.

Blaming BJP for the “pathetic state” of MCD-run primary schools, deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia tweeted, “BJP has made a mockery out of schools meant for poor children while being in power in MCD for 17 years. BJP should apologise to the nation for playing with the future of lakhs of children of Delhi and the country like this.”

After the inspection in his constituency, AAP’s chief spokesperson and Greater Kailash MLA, Saurabh Bharadwaj, alleged that the MCD schools were so understaffed that one teacher was being forced to teach two-three classes simultaneously inside one classroom.
“Only two teachers and a principal were present in the MCD school to teach seven classes. All students were stuffed into three rooms,” Bharadwaj said, adding that it was an “attack on their future”.
“What we have seen today is nothing but a reflection of the failure of BJP’s education model. It has been exposed before the whole world how BJP, which has a problem with Delhi government’s top-notch classrooms, treats its own students,” Bharadwaj claimed.
Rajendra Nagar MLA Durgesh Pathak, who went to inspect a school in Inderpuri, alleged BJP had deliberately got the school locked up to stop them from exposing its failure. “By locking up the school, BJP has shown that their schools were unworthy of being exhibited to anyone. The students of MCD school have been forced to study with chhappar (thatched roof) and taat-patti (mat on floor) around them,” Pathak alleged.
He also claimed that an assistant director of the education department of MCD had directed the principals and administrative staff of schools to not allow AAP leaders and media to enter any school. He also played an audio clip to support his allegations.
Timarpur MLA Dilip Pandey said MCD provided education up to the primary section, which formed the foundation of the children coming from poor families. “But their foundation is weakened in primary schools. Sending children to MCD Schools means playing with their lives,” Pandey alleged.
He also shared a series of photographs of a locked MCD school in Mukherjee Nagar from outside. “The plaster is coming off and windows are damaged. The structure is in bad shape. If you send kids here, you are playing with their lives.”
AAP claimed that it found schools in Kalkaji, Kasturba Nagar, Patel Nagar and Model Town running from tin-shed and dilapidated structures, and absence of desks and proper hygiene in Adarsh Nagar, Seelampur, Rohtas Nagar, Uttam Nagar and Burari; lack of water and computers in Hari Nagar, Shalimar Bagh and Tilak Nagar; and unusable toilets in Khayala and Kondli, among others.