Delhi BJP alleges dismal performance of government schools

Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: The BJP Wednesday latched on to a report by a think-tank to attack the Arvind Kejriwal government over "dismal" performance of its schools, drawing a sharp reaction from the AAP which challenged the saffron party for a "healthy debate" on education. Reading out the report brought out by Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC), which has BJP leaders Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Nalin Kohli as board members, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said the document points to the AAP government's "lackadaisical approach" towards policy implementation in the field of education. PPRC director Sumit Bhasin and the BJP leaders released the report 'Delhi Government Schools - A Factual Analysis', at Delhi BJP office.

"The report paints a dismal picture of performance of Delhi government schools, showing the average pass percentage of Class 10 in government schools was 71.58 per cent compared to 93.18 per cent in private schools," Gupta said. He said the data reveals that 95 per cent of Class 12 students from government schools are "unable" to get admission in the Delhi University, considering the average cut-off of 85.03 per cent in its third list in 2018. While on one hand there has been a consistent rise in students dropping out between 2014 and 2018, 66 per cent of students in Class 9 to 12 of Delhi government schools failed in 2017-18 and are now missing in academic records, Gupta said. The report pointed out a drastic fall of 8 per cent in the enrolment rates between 2013-14 and 2017-18. Gupta said the report also pointed to "alarming vacancies" in key teaching and non-teaching positions.

"There is a whopping 70.5 per cent vacancies in case of principals at the same time there is a huge gap in teaching staff as almost 51 per cent of the posts of TGTs are vacant and not filled by regular staff," he cited the report finding. AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj invited the BJP for a "healthy debate" on education, asking it for a comparison of Delhi government schools with those in states ruled by it. "We are really thrilled that the BJP and it's related organisations have started thinking about education system. However, I am surprised that so called think-tank does not know that all the recruitment in Delhi government are handled by BJP's Lt Governor," Bhardwaj said in a statement. He claimed the Delhi Assembly and the elected Delhi government are not even provided information about number of vacant positions in its schools by the LG office which has hold over Services department. Though , the AAP has been in power in Delhi for 4.5 yrs, it is ready to compare the data of Delhi government schools with that of schools in BJP ruled states, Bhardwaj said.

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