New Delhi: Delhi deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia today said the claims made by several BJP MPs about the poor condition of Delhi schools were blatantly false. He insisted that a lot of work has taken place to improve school infrastructure, adding that if the BJP was voted to power, it would take the city back to the era of schools in tents.
Speaking at a conclave, Sisodia ridiculed the manner in which former BJP national president and Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday circulated a video about the poor condition of schools in Delhi. Through the video, Shah had shared some footage of Delhi government schools, claiming that BJP MPs had visited these schools to find them in a condition not in keeping with claims made by the AAP government.
‘Enrolment in Delhi government schools increased, dropped in corporation schools’
Sisodia insisted that a lot has been done to improve the education sector. He said the fact that Delhi government schools were gaining in popularity could be gauged from the fact that enrolment increased by 1.36 lakh in the last five years. On the other hand, he said, about 1.30 lakh students have moved out of municipal schools.
The Delhi education minister also insisted that Delhi’s model of education was far better than that of any other BJP ruled state. Citing the example of Haryana, he claimed that a large number of schools have closed down in the state and that the Manohar Lal Khattar government wanted to privatise several government schools.
He also tweeted about this and warned that voting for the BJP would result in destroying government schools in Delhi.
बीजेपी जिस राज्य में भी सरकार में आती है सरकारी स्कूलों को ताला लगवाती है. हरियाणा में 1000 से ज़्यादा सरकारी स्कूलों पर ताला लग रहा है.
बीजेपी को वोट देने का मतलब ही सरकारी स्कूलों को बर्बाद करना है. pic.twitter.com/DrK8wnZU1z— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) January 29, 2020
During the day, Sisodia also accused Shah of going public with pictures which did not reveal a true picture of schools in Delhi. He tweeted about how West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Verma had shared pictures of an abandoned room of a school and not the remaining complex which is quite clean and green.
सर @AmitShah जी! आपके एक अन्य सांसद प्रवेश वर्मा जी ने भी जिस स्कूल की तस्वीरें डालीं उस स्कूल की एक झलक आप भी देख लीजिए कि ये अंदर से कितना हरा भरा है.
आपके सांसद ने साइड में बंद पड़े एक कमरे की तस्वीरें आपको दिखाकर आपसे दिल्ली के शिक्षकों और छात्रों का इतना बड़ा अपमान करा लिया https://t.co/EpZxXh3g7j pic.twitter.com/qtWnRDsMmo— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) January 28, 2020
Shah, Kejriwal engaged in ‘school’ fight
Earlier on Tuesday while responding to Kejriwal’s invitation to him to visit the Delhi government schools, Shah had commented that the videos sent to him by the BJP MPs in Delhi presented a different picture of the state of the schools.
अरविंद केजरीवाल जी आपने मुझे दिल्ली सरकार द्वारा संचालित स्कूल देखने के लिए बुलाया था। कल दिल्ली भाजपा के आठों सांसद अलग-अलग स्कूल में गए और देखिए इनका क्या हाल है…
इनकी बदहाली ने आपकी ‘शिक्षा की क्रांति’ के दावों की पोल खोल दी।
अब आपको दिल्ली की जनता को जवाब देना होगा… pic.twitter.com/gjzgaix2rA
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) January 28, 2020
In another tweet, Shah also accused Kejriwal of taking Delhi 10 years back and of only making false claims about making Delhi government schools world class.
Responding to this, Sisodia had also tweeted about how BJP MPs were allegedly sharing false and manufactured videos.
सर @AmitShah जी! आपके सांसद गौतम गम्भीर जी जिस स्कूल का विडियो बनाकर लाए और आपसे ट्वीट भी करवा लिए उसका सच ये है – उसके गेट पर ही लिखा है कि नई बिल्डिंग बनने के लिए उस स्कूल को छह महीने पहले बाज़ू के स्कूल में शिफ़्ट कर दिया गया है. 1/2 https://t.co/stU1vhTVav pic.twitter.com/bWSBAbmU0Q
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) January 28, 2020