Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday said the Delhi government will set up 7,000 smart classrooms in its schools by the end of the year. She added that 175 digital libraries and 100 A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Language Labs offering foreign language instruction in English, French, and German will also be made operational in the Delhi government-run schools. The CM made the announcements following a meeting she chaired with the principals of Delhi government schools in her Assembly constituency of Shalimar Bagh. ‘Intimidating parents’ In a social media post later in the day, she spoke about the “alarming reports of schools employing bouncers to intimidate parents and students”. “Education is a right, not a business. Our children deserve compassion, not coercion. Schools must remain spaces of learning, values, and nation-building,” the CM said. Her comments come a day after the Delhi High Court expressed dismay at the “reprehensible practice” by Delhi Public School, Dwarka, of allegedly hiring bouncers to block the entry of the students who had not paid the increased fee. Ms. Gupta hit out at the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for engaging in “propaganda about improving education” while “failing to provide” basic education infrastructure despite being in power for 11 years, citing the state of a government school in her constituency’s Haiderpur village. “The area neither has an English-medium school nor a higher secondary school where science is taught,” she said. The CM added, “Their much-celebrated school buildings were structurally weak — one built in 2018 deteriorated within just two years. This exposes their ‘education model’ and shows that it was merely a facade.” She said that many government schools lack proper sports grounds, face hygiene and security issues, and suffer from acute staff shortages.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta visited a Delhi govt. school in her Assembly constituency of Shalimar Bagh and chaired a meeting of school principals on Friday.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday said the Delhi government will set up 7,000 smart classrooms in its schools by the end of the year. She added that 175 digital libraries and 100 A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Language Labs offering foreign language instruction in English, French, and German will also be made operational in the Delhi government-run schools.

The CM made the announcements following a meeting she chaired with the principals of Delhi government schools in her Assembly constituency of Shalimar Bagh.

‘Intimidating parents’

In a social media post later in the day, she spoke about the “alarming reports of schools employing bouncers to intimidate parents and students”.

“Education is a right, not a business. Our children deserve compassion, not coercion. Schools must remain spaces of learning, values, and nation-building,” the CM said.

Her comments come a day after the Delhi High Court expressed dismay at the “reprehensible practice” by Delhi Public School, Dwarka, of allegedly hiring bouncers to block the entry of the students who had not paid the increased fee.

Ms. Gupta hit out at the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for engaging in “propaganda about improving education” while “failing to provide” basic education infrastructure despite being in power for 11 years, citing the state of a government school in her constituency’s Haiderpur village.

“The area neither has an English-medium school nor a higher secondary school where science is taught,” she said.

The CM added, “Their much-celebrated school buildings were structurally weak — one built in 2018 deteriorated within just two years. This exposes their ‘education model’ and shows that it was merely a facade.”

She said that many government schools lack proper sports grounds, face hygiene and security issues, and suffer from acute staff shortages.

‘Ad hoc hirings’

“Many still do not have full-time principals and are run on ad hoc arrangements,” said Ms. Gupta.

“We are ensuring recruitment for all vacant positions, appointment of permanent principals, and deployment of adequate security and sanitation employees in our schools,” said the CM.

She also criticised the Delhi Board of School Education, which was started by the previous AAP government, saying, “This parallel board could pose issues for students seeking college admissions and may affect the recognition of their certificates in India and abroad. Such decisions [to create a new board] endanger the future of our children.”

Ms. Gupta also inaugurated a water cooler at a school in Shalimar Bagh and said that plans are being made to instal such machines in all the nearly 1,000 schools run by the Delhi government as well as in other parts of the city.

AAP did not issue any response to the allegations levelled by the CM.