Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia
Delhi Education Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the government schools in Gujarat are in a "bad shape". The schools were in such dilapidated condition that it appeared that a defunct scrapyard has been opened and the kids had been asked to attend it, Manish Sisoda said while addessing a press conference on Thursday, April 14.
Mr Sisodia on Monday visited two state-run schools in Gujarat's Bhavnagar, the hometown of state education minister Jitu Vaghani, and claimed that they are in bad shape with their walls covered in cobwebs and toilets stinking while 'guest teachers' are managing them on a salary that is renewed monthly.
On Wednesday, Mr Sisodia wrote a letter to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel inviting him to visit Delhi government-run school.
In his two page letter to CM Bhupendra Patel, Manish Sisodia said, "Two days ago, I had an opportunity to visit few government schools in Gujarat which fall under the constituency of education minister Jitu Vaghani. I was shocked and saddened by what I saw during the visit. The schools were in such dilapidated condition that it appeared that a defunct scrapyard has been opened and the kids had been asked to attend it. There were spider webs in the classrooms, staffroom and verandah of school premises. In majority of classrooms, students were seen sitting on the floor and there were very few rooms with desks in them. The drinking water and toilet arrangements in these schools were in shambles."
"I am unable to understand how teachers and students attend seven hours of school time in premises that don't even have toilet facility. I have also noticed that such teachers taught at these schools who were hired only on one month basis,” he added.
Targeting the BJP and seeking to highlight the “Delhi model of education”, Mr Sisodia said the ruling party in Gujarat has done little to improve the condition of government-run schools despite being at the helm for the last 27 years.
In his letter, Mr Sisodia mentioned that government schools in Delhi too were in the same condition till 2015 when he took charge as the education minister. "I hope you will keep the political differences aside and visit Delhi government schools to observe the Kejriwal model of governance and how we have been able to improve our schools," the Deputy CM said.