Union Education Minister Dharmendra PradhanEducation Minister Dharmendra Pradhan hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday over his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that said over 80 per cent government schools in the country were worse than a “junkyard”.
Pradhan said that contrary to the Delhi government’s claims, its schools were below the national average.
“Going by the NAS (National Achievement Survey), which covered 65,000 students and 10,000 teachers in 1,602 schools in Delhi, across grades, Delhi government schools were found to be lagging behind the national average. They are even behind Chandigarh in terms of quality,” Pradhan said, responding to a question on the AAP chief’s letter to Modi.
In his letter, Kejriwal wrote, “Around 27 crore children go to school in the country, of which 18 crore are in government schools. The condition of 80 per cent government schools is worse than a junkyard.”
Pradhan, taunting Kejriwal as a “bayan veer”, said the Delhi government has more funds at its disposal than other states because the Centre foots the bill of policing and “maintaining many roads”.
“Also, enrolment in Delhi government schools has dipped ever since they came to power. They had promised to set up 500 model schools in their 2015 poll manifesto. But according to an RTI reply, only 63 schools have come up. In 2020 and 2021, not one principal was appointed by them,” the Union minister said.