BJP slams AAP govt’s ‘world class education’, points to poor condition of MCD school in Kapashera

New Delhi: BJP leaders in Delhi on Tuesday criticised the AAP government for its claim of providing “world-class education” in the city. They alleged that they found small children lying on floor mats at the MCD school in Kapashera, which also lacked basic amenities like toilets and drinking water.

The AAP hit back at the BJP, alleging that the MCD deserved the tag of “most corrupt department” as it was running the civic body. The AAP will transform the MCD schools just as it has done with the Delhi government schools, the party claimed in a statement.

A BJP delegation in Delhi, including its president Virendra Sachdeva and South Delhi MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, visited the primary school of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which is run by the AAP.

“The AAP government, which claims to have given Delhi a world-class education model, has forced hundreds of students in its MCD schools to sit on jute mats in the classroom,” Sachdeva said after the visit.

He said the BJP will file complaints with the Delhi Lieutenant Governor and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to ensure immediate action to provide basic amenities to the children.

“We will also take up this issue with the Mayor of Delhi so that improvements can be made and the children have a bright future,” Bidhuri said.

Sachdeva said people often hear from Education Minister Atishi and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia that they have created world-class schools in Delhi, but it was disheartening to see the conditions at the MCD school in Kapashera.

“Not only were the children studying on jute mats on the floor, three different classes were also found in one hall of the school,” he said.

“The school has 1,250 students but there is no water cooler and all the taps in the school are either dry or broken and there is no drinking water available for the children. The toilets there were extremely dirty and there was no separate washroom for the girl students,” Sachdeva alleged.

The school has been without a principal since 2022. In addition, seven teachers from the school are employed for tasks other than teaching, while six of them are on long-term leave, he further claimed.

Bidhuri said the Aam Aadmi Party leaders and the local MLA in Kapashera should tell the people about the education revolution they are talking about.

Leader of the Opposition in the MCD, Raja Iqbal Singh, alleged that the Kejriwal government continues to “mislead” Delhiites on issues of primary schools, healthcare and sanitation even as the AAP is at the helm of the city government.

According to the AAP, more than 60,000 schools have been closed in the BJP-ruled states in the past two years, unlike the Delhi government’s schools, which are among the best in the country.

The MCD schools will be transformed and brought on par with Delhi government schools, the party said.