Aam Aadmi Party keeps claiming that they have revolutionised public sector health care and education in Delhi. While they cite Mohalla Clinics as examples of world-class public health system, the AAP leaders and Delhi ministers including CM Arvind Kejriwal claim that they have improved the government schools so much that people are moving their children from private schools to government schools.
Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders have claimed that enrolment in government schools in Delhi is going up, and it is proof of improvement of the government schools.
However, it seems this logic applies only in Delhi, because as per same Delhi CM, while more students in government schools in Delhi indicates improvement of govt schools, more students in government schools in other states do not prove that. Instead, in other states like Himachal Pradesh it is a proof of poor economic condition of people.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal made such a claim in Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur on Saturday, where he made a correlation between children attending government schools and poverty in the state. In a political rally, Kejriwal claimed that as most students attend government schools in Himachal, it indicates poverty in the state.
In Himachal Pradesh, 14 lakhs students go to schools out of which 8.5 lakhs go to govt schools while 5.5 lakhs go to private schools. This means most students go to govt schools which indicates poverty in the state: AAP national convenor & Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in Hamirpur, HP pic.twitter.com/y9Pnwuwroz
— ANI (@ANI) June 11, 2022
On Saturday, Kejriwal was speaking at a political rally in Hamirpur titled ‘Shiksha Samvad’ that focused on the state of primary education in Himachal Pradesh. During his address, he expressed his concern over the large number of children going to government schools in the state. He said, “I have some data collected from the internet. How many of you send your children to government schools and to private schools?” Kejriwal asked for a show of hands.
“According to data, 14 lakh students attend schools and out of them, 8.5 lakh go to government schools while 5.5 lakh go to private schools. If so many children go to government schools, which accords to nearly 70-80% of them going to government schools. This means that there is so much poverty in Himachal Pradesh, that people cannot even…The state of government schools is so abysmal. When a man earns two bucks extra, he wishes to send his children to private schools, right?” said Kejriwal.
The Delhi CM also conveniently used wrong calculations show that more students in Himachal go to govt schools. He said that among 14 lakh students, 8.5 lakh study at govt schools, which means 70-80% children attend government schoold.
8.5 lakh in 14 lakh is 60%, not 70-80% as claimed by Arvind Kejriwal. He deliberately mentioned wrong numbers knowing that most people will not bother to do the calculation themselves.
Kejriwal said that while every parent desires the best quality of education for his children, it is only at a time of apathy that he sends his children to government schools. This is at a time when the Delhi CM could be seen boasting about children in Delhi switching to government schools on a regular basis.
In Delhi, 2.5 lakh students struck off their names from pvt schools and took admission in govt school. We’ve improved govt schools in last 5 years but other parties couldn’t do it in the last 70 years. They deliberately didn’t do it to keep people poor: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal pic.twitter.com/OyxXX0wydc
— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2021
Delhi’s new government schools are equipped with world class infrastructure.
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) September 9, 2019
Delhi govt’s vision is that all our children must get high quality education, regardless of their economic background. https://t.co/yC4a9bH7Qs
Earlier this year, Delhi’s Deputy CM Manish Sisodia claimed that the number of students going to Delhi government schools has risen by 21%. While AAP leaders including Kejriwal think of students going to government schools in Delhi as laudatory, doing so in Himachal Pradesh makes them poor. This strange display of elitism coupled with regionalism was also called by many netizens when the part of Kejriwal’s tweet went viral.
What bloody nonsensical statement is this. It can be the good standard of educations in Govt schools in HP! Yeh banda is a twister to his convenience.
— Kautilya_Uvacha (@Yogakshema_) June 11, 2022
Hain? Ye kya logic hua? In Delhi he thumps his chest by claiming that lakhs of students leave private schools every year to join govt schools under his govt. What does that mean? That poverty is increasing in Delhi?
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) June 11, 2022
Ohh God, in that logic if in Delhi many students switched from private to public schools(as per you govt sources) does that mean Delhi poverty getting more worse.
— kdb କାଳିଦା (@mrkdbhai) June 11, 2022
While Kejriwal has kickstarted AAP’s campaign for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, which are to be held later this year, he has found himself on a sticky wicket in his debut speech on education.
