‘Numbers belie AAP govt claim on revolutionary changes in education’

Crores spent on ads but nothing done at ground level: Walia
As part of an “expose on the “failures” of the three-year rule of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, former Delhi Education Minister Kiran Walia said crores of rupees were spent during these three years on advertisements regarding historic changes in the city’s education sector but nothing has been done at the ground level.

‘Funds unspent’

Dr. Walia alleged that Rs. 1,982 crore of the budget for education over the past two years remains unspent. She added that the numbers do not support the Kejriwal government’s claims on revolutionary changes in the education system.

Dr. Walia said there were 17.75 lakh students in Delhi government schools in 2013-14 and the number dipped to 16.77 lakh in 2015-16. However, she added, 1.42 lakh students increased in private schools over the past two years.

“Under the Kejriwal government, Delhi’s average Class X board exam results dipped from 98.40% to 91%,” she claimed.

On the government’s promise to to build 500 new schools in Delhi after coming into the power, she said not a single school has been built on land purchased by the AAP government.

Stating that the Congress had built 100 schools in Delhi during its tenure, the former Minister claimed that the 10 schools inaugurated were introduced by the Congress government.

The Congress hit out at the Delhi government for spending crores of rupees on taking teachers abroad to see teaching methods in developed countries instead of spending the money on improving the conditions of existing schools.