The slanging match between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the issue of education intensified further on Wednesday. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia conducted a sudden visit to Government schools in Punjab Chief Minister’s home constituency, while Punjab Education Pargat Singh hit back at AAP asserting that comparison of schools in both states is “illogical”.

Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s Education Minister, dubbed the condition of Punjab’s schools as “pathetic” after his surprise visit to two schools in Charanjit Singh Channi’s home turf — Chamkaur Sahib. His visit came amidst the war of words between the Congress, led by Pargat Singh, and AAP over the issue of education level and condition of Government schools in their respective States.

“Its toilet is stinking and classrooms are infested with spider webs and stuffed with broken furniture,” said Sisodia, standing outside a school in Makrona Kalan village in Chamkaur Sahib constituency.

Visiting the school along with AAP workers, Sisodia said: “I am in Punjab Chief Minister’s constituency and in his village...This school from nursery till Class 5 in Makrona Kalan has only one teacher, working on a salary of just Rs 6,000 a month. Besides, there is an assistant working in this school...This is the condition of a school in Channi’s constituency. If we call it a number one school, it is a joke with children.”

The bare-it-all spat on school education between the two states had begun last week on Thursday after Sisodia proposed joint visits to 10 schools each in Delhi and Punjab for their comparison.

Reacting to Sisodia’s proposal, Punjab Education Minister Pargat Singh had asked him why to compare only 10 schools and sought a list of 250 Delhi government schools for their comparison. And when Sisodia released a list of 250 Delhi schools with their locations, Pargat Singh had pointed out on Monday that he had demanded not only the locations but various other key parameters of schools also, including the numbers of students and teachers in them and their pass percentages, for their comparison on the National Performance Grading Index, 2021.

Sisodia on Wednesday scaled up the inter-state spat on the school education, by making surprise visit to the two Punjab schools in the Chief Minister Channi’s constituency. “Given the condition of these schools, how could he (Pargat Singh) given the list. I can very well understand his compulsion,” he said.

Pargat’s counter attack on Kejriwal, Sisodia’s lies

Lashing out at Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Government for their open lies about the so-called successful education system being run by AAP, Punjab Education Minister Pargat Singh on Wednesday asked if you have a such ‘wonderful’ system then why posts of principals and vice-principals lying vacant in 760 and 479 schools respectively besides having shortage of 41 percent non-teaching staff in Delhi schools.

He asked Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia what he wanted to hide by not providing the requisite list of schools. Describing Delhi’s education system ‘a bubble of water’, Pargat Singh said the comparison of a border State Punjab with the national Capital was totally unfounded. “Punjab is an agrarian state whereas Delhi is a municipal city so the comparison between these was wrong in entirety,” he said, adding that imparting quality education in border areas had always been a challenge.

On the basis of the circumstances of both states, the comparison is illogical, he added. Reacting on Sisodia’s entry to a “school’s store” for their vested political interest, Pargat Singh said that he never expected such a low and cheap political tactics from Sisodia.

“I believe in healthy discussion and fruitful debate,” said the Minister while lashing out at AAP leaders and workers as they entered a school amid the expected third wave of Covid terming that their act could endanger the health of students.

Pargat’s posers for Kejriwal-Sisodia

The Education Minister asked Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and his Delhi counterpart Manish Sisodia if the Delhi Education model is the best, then why is the number of students in Government schools decreasing and getting high in private schools.

“Why the result of Class X worse than the result during Sheila Dikshit’s Government? How many new schools have been opened by the Delhi Government? When Kejriwal is regularising the services of over 22,000 guest faculty? Why 42 per cent permanent posts of teachers are lying vacant in Delhi schools? Why the Aam Aadmi Party’s Government didn’t recruit a single teacher since its formation? How many sarv shiksha abhiyaan teachers have been regularised by the Delhi Government? What is the online transfer policy of Delhi Government for teachers?” he asked.