AAP questions Gujarat's education policy, here's how BJP responded

AAP accused the Gujarat government of promoting a ‘marks over quality' approach in education.

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi on Sunday (December 5) questioned Gujarat on the education quality in government-run schools and implementation of the National Education Policy. The leader also accused the Gujarat government of promoting a ‘marks over quality' approach in the state.

Atishi said that NEP holds no true value in the absence of a proper implementation plan and is merely a wish list.

"When I was reading the new education policy, I felt that though we are good at formulating policies, the bigger question is whether we are able to implement it. This new policy is more like a wish list, just like we wish that India wins the cricket world cup or we people like me wish to remain fit," Atishi said.

However, BJP leader Jitu Vaghani in a strong response to the AAP leader said that it is due to the improved quality of education and infrastructure in Gujarat that nearly four lakh students of private schools have taken admission in state-run schools.

The minister also extended an invitation to the audience, which also had college students in attendance, to visit any government-run school in their area to verify his claims.

The BJP leader further said that Gujarat nearly has 33,000 primary schools run by the government.

“This is not a state having a size of a city. We have recently launched a Command and Control Centre to supervise the government schools. Officials from other states visit Gujarat to learn about it and implement it in their states," Vaghani said in his speech.

Addressing AAP’s National Education Policy concern, the leader said that all the recommendations of the policy will be implemented within the next 10 years and a roadmap for the implementation has already been prepared.

Vaghani also said that PM Narendra Modi during his tenure as Gujarat CM built toilets for girls in at least 33,000 government schools.

“This is how policies are formulated and implemented. But you did not know about this initiative because he did not spend Rs600 crores on its advertisement," the BJP leader added.

These leaders were speaking on NEP at the 'Youth Parliament of India-2021' event held at Karnavati University, a private university located at Uvarsad village in Gandhinagar district.

(With inputs from PTI)