Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that over 80 per cent of Government schools in the country “are worse than junkyards.” Kejriwal wrote the letter on the day he was set to start the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) ‘Make India Number One’ campaign from Haryana.
He has been showcasing his work in key areas such as education and healthcare in Delhi as the AAP seeks to make political inroads beyond its stronghold.
Kejriwal also shared the letter on Twitter and wrote, “My letter to the Prime Minister. It is good that he announced plans to upgrade 14,500 schools. But there are 10 lakh Government schools in the country. In this way, it will take more than a hundred years to fix all the schools. I request him to make a plan to fix all 10 lakh schools together.”
On Monday, Modi said in a tweet that 14,500 schools across the country will be developed and upgraded under the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) Yojana. Modi also sought a plan to upgrade all one million Government schools.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Kejriwal stated that the condition of Government schools across the country is very bad and there is a great need to upgrade and modernise them. “You have made a plan for the modernisation of 14,500 schools but if we work at this pace, it will take 100 years to upgrade all our Government schools. I request you to prepare a plan for the redevelopment of all 10 lakh (one million) Government-run schools in the country,” he said.
He said out of 2.7 million students, 1.8 million go to government schools. “The condition of more than 80 percent of government schools is worse than a junkyard. If we give such education to our children’s crores, how will India become a developed country?”
He said the country made a big mistake in 1947 by not developing good Government schools in every village and town. “It’s unfortunate that in next 75 years also, we did not focus on giving our children a good education. Will India continue to waste more time?” “That is why I request you that instead of just 14,500 schools, a plan should be made to transform and modernise all 10 lakh Government schools. All State should be brought together and plan should be implemented in next five years,” Kejriwal said in his letter.