Mann selling ‘fake Delhi model’ of school education in Punjab: Akali Dal

Chandigarh, Feb 13 (IANS) The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday said Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann owed an explanation to Punjabis for selling the “fake Delhi model of school education”, claiming that this had played havoc with the education system of the state and even lowered education standards.

In a statement here, SAD General Secretary Parambans Singh Romana said the truth about the Delhi model of school education had been “exposed” yet again with the national survey on Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) showing that Delhi had the worst PTR next to only Bihar in the country.

He said the PTR was 1:40 in primary and 1:39 in secondary classes in Delhi against the national average of 1:28 and 1:24 in primary and secondary classes, respectively.

Asserting that this was not the first time that national surveys had exposed the Delhi model of school education, Romana said earlier the National Achievement Survey 2021 had ranked Punjab schools ahead of Delhi at all levels of school education.

He said other surveys including the Foundation Learning Study, 2022 and the Performance Grading Index survey had also ranked Punjab schools above those in Delhi.

Asking the Chief Minister to reject the Delhi model of school education and revert back to the model established by Parkash Singh Badal which had paid good dividends and taken Punjab to the third position in school education nationwide, Romana said: “We should not blindly adopt a model which has proved to be an utter failure.”

The SAD leader said AAP had spent hundreds of crores of rupees on propaganda to sell a model which was nothing but a tool for use as an election gimmick. “Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has on orders of his master Arvind Kejriwal even started remodeling the Punjab education system after the Delhi model.”

He said like in the case of the health sector where rural dispensaries were turned into Aam Aadmi Clinics, he said the Meritorious Schools established by Parkash Singh Badal were now being turned into Schools of Eminence. “This shows that the AAP government has nothing new to give to Punjab and is engaged on a cheap name changing spree only.”

–IANS

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