New Delhi/ Prayagraj: In Prayagraj, known as the educational capital of the country, Delhi's Education Minister and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia made a big announcement saying that if the Aam Aadmi Party forms the government in Uttar Pradesh, then 25% of the first budget will be spent on education.
Accusing the present government of decimating the state's education system, he said that the Yogi government has only reduced the education budget by 17 percent to 13 percent and contributed to the worsening situation of government schools.
During the program 'Shiksha Ki Baat with Manish Sisodia of UP' on Thursday, while interacting with students and people from the intellectual class, he called upon the people of the state to vote for better education of their children this time. It is Kejriwal's guarantee that we will make all government schools in Uttar Pradesh better than private schools.
Manish Sisodia, while strongly attacking the Yogi government on the issue of education, said that five years of the state government are about to come to an end but even today 40 percent of the schools in UP do not have electricity. There is a shortage of teachers from primary, secondary to higher education.
According to Sisodia, "Till 2017, the number of children studying in government schools in UP was 60 percent and the number of children studying in private schools was 40 percent, but the Yogi government in its tenure so far has reversed this figure. Today 40 percent of children are studying in government schools and 60 percent in private schools. Fees of private schools are being increased continuously, but due to the sad state of government schools, the poor are also forced to take their children out of government schools and get them admitted in private schools."
Sisodia referred to his visit to Lucknow when he was stopped from visiting a government school by the police. "The Yogi government avoids any discussion on the matter of education. They stopped us from seeing that one school, but we received pictures of the poorly maintained schools across the state under the Selfie with School campaign. In Uttar Pradesh, government schools and colleges are lying in ruins and are used to tie up animals. While in some schools, rotis and only salt are being served as mid-day meal, at others girl students are even forced to make these rotis," he said.
"Many schools do not have toilets. In the absence of desks, children are forced to sit on the ground and study. Many people of the intellectual class including state in-charge, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and state president Sabhajit Singh were present on this occasion," added Delhi's deputy CM.
Manish Sisodia raises issue of teachers' struggle
Manish Sisodia raised the issue of the struggle of the teachers in the state. Describing the anguish of over one and a half lakh Shiksha Mitra and agitated candidates over teacher recruitment in Yogi Raj, he said that if our government is formed in UP, we will immediately recruit to all the vacant posts of teachers. Raising the issue of married educationist sisters who shaved their heads in protest, he called the Yogi government anti-teachers and clearly said that only education will change the future of UP. So this time the people of the state should vote in the name of better education for their children and the development of the state.
Will stop corruption existent in the name of education
Manish Sisodia accused the Yogi government of corruption in the name of education. He said that when schools and colleges were closed during the Corona period, a big scam was committed in Kasturba Gandhi Residential School in the state. Rupees Nine Crore were withdrawn in the name of stationery and food for girls in these schools. This type of corruption will be brought to an end if our government is formed. No officer or leader would have the courage to embezzle money that is for the education of children. The only place for such corrupt people will be in jail.
We will change the face of government schools
Manish Sisodia said that until now the political parties here used to discuss only issues like caste religion, temple-mosque. There was no discussion over education. For the first time, the people of the state have got a political alternative in the form of AAP which places education as the centre of the debate. Not only do we discuss, but we also have demonstrated by our performance in Delhi. Today the government schools there are outperforming private schools. From infrastructure to results, government schools are delivering better than private schools.
Until a few years ago, the result of government schools was around 80%, it has now reached 99.6%. This result is an outcome of the training teachers received from prestigious institutions including IIMs, Cambridge and Oxford. If we form the government, we will also provide such training to the teachers of UP.
Govt job is to make children cultured and patriotic
Manish Sisodia said that we are running a five-minute meditation class in Delhi schools to make children cultured. Parents themselves believe that this effort of the government has brought positive changes in their children. Five students of a Delhi government school got admitted to IIT, one of whom is the son of a washerman. There, 20-30 out of 80 girls are pursuing medical studies after successfully clearing NEET.
We are giving a loan of ten lakhs without any interest to the meritorious students in Delhi for studies. It is the responsibility of the government to make the children cultured and patriotic. With this spirit, under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, we started the Happiness Curriculum followed by the Deshbhakti Curriculum in Delhi schools with a patriotic curriculum. We have also started the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum in Delhi Schools which will encourage job-givers instead of job seekers in Delhi schools. If we are elected in UP, we will deliver similarly here also.
