Dharmendra Pradhan Reacts to Kejriwal’s “Junkyard” Remark, Says Delhi Schools Worse

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal stating that government schools in Delhi are below average.

Pradhan slammed the Delhi chief minister over his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that over 80 per cent government schools in the country were worse than a “junkyard”.

Pradhan said, “Some people are 'Bayan Bahadur'. Recently, Arvind Kejriwal wrote that 'Over 80 percent government schools in the country are worse than junkyards.' I condemn this statement. Since they have come to power in Delhi, enrolment of students in government schools decreased.”

Pradhan said that when AAP was contesting for elections in 2015, it had said in its manifesto that it will build 500 model schools. Further commenting on the qualitative status of the schools in Delhi, the Union education minister referred to the results of the National Assessment Survey (NAS) 2021 and said that the government schools in Delhi scored much less than the national average in all classes which were assessed.

It may be mentioned that Kejriwal in his letter to Modi referred to the Pradhan Mantri Schools For Rising India (PM-SHRI) Yojana for the upgradation of 14,500 schools across the country and sought a plan to upgrade all one million government schools.

“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,” Kejriwal said in his letter.

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?”

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