Education is one true instrument of change and the government of Delhi has realized this better than anyone.
In a recent move to further and bolster the education in the state, the government has planned to set aside Rs 10 crore to set up a boarding school for children from homeless families living on the roadside, footpaths, under flyovers and stairs, or in open places of worship, pavilions, and railway platforms, who are deprived of basic facilities like shelter, food, and education.
Bolstering The State Education
Manish Sisodia, Deputy CM, while announcing the state Budget for 2022-23 said that “The government has taken several measures to provide basic education to these children. However, these measures have been only partially successful… Concerning the future of these underprivileged homeless children at an early age, the Delhi government has decided to set up a boarding school with modern facilities. These schools will also facilitate the children to live along with education and try to bring them into the mainstream of the society.”
According to the 2018 survey by NGO Save the Children, there are as many as 35,000-40,000 children (homeless or without supervising adults) on the streets.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at a press conference after the Budget said that “When you stop at a traffic light, a small child knocks on your window and asks you for money or tries to sell you something, no one pays any attention to them. Why? Because they are not voters, they are not a vote bank. No government pays any attention to them. Today, we will make a Rs 10 crore residential state of the art facilities school for them.”
First and foremost is the emotional and psychological support, said Kejriwal. All the previous attempts to pick the children up from traffic lights have failed due to the fact that they lacked humanity. After they are picked up, they are either put in jail or childcare centres. No one is there to ask after them, and they return to the same situation. Speaking of the newly planned schools, Kejriwal said that the school will be one where they will get 5-star facilities, and these children will be brought to the mainstream and given respectful lives and be made good citizens.
For the next financial year, Sisodia has allocated Rs 16,278 crore for education. Just like the previous years, the sector has received 21.47 per cent or a lion’s share of the budget. It is a little lower than 23.74 per cent or Rs 16,377 crore allocated in 2021-22.
A new Armed Forces Preparatory School is being set up by the Delhi government. This school is currently in the process of admitting its first batch of students. The new boarding school for the children, hence, shall be the second residential school to be set up by Delhi government.
The intention of setting up such a facility is to provide a safe, stable environment in which children from marginalised and insecure circumstances can study.
Aam Aadmi Party’s accomplishments in the educational sector have received lot of praise and emerged as a significant poll plank. The party hopes to make its foray into other states using this model. In Punjab, where it recorded a thumping win, education reforms had featured prominently in its election manifesto.
School Science Museum
50 crore have been allotted to the proposal for a School Science Museum to be set up in Chirag Enclave. He said that “With this, many such topics of science among students and teachers, which may seem like the world of magic through books and videos, will be easily understood by them by visiting this museum. This School Science Museum will play an important role in developing curiosity and interest in science among children”.
Sisodia also said the government is commencing work to convert all its classrooms to digital ones, and that Montessori labs will be set up in 100 schools. While he did not announce any new schemes or projects in higher education, he said the process of admitting 250 sportspersons has been started at the new Delhi Sports University, and that the government is trying to start B.Ed. courses at its recently inaugurated Delhi Teachers University from the next session.
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