Delhi Election 2020: Manish Sisodia seeks second term from Patparganj with a Grade A report card

• Delhi allocated as much as 25% of its budget to improve its schools.
  
• Two Delhi government schools have swimming pools which are unheard of in India.
  
• Sisodia’s plan to divide into different streams as per capabilities, earned criticism from educators.
  
• He is seeking a re-election from Patparganj claiming that a lot is left to be done to implement the party’s Education First policy.

In the last few years, many middle-class Delhi parents have yanked their children from pricey private schools. Why not, the public schools in the city are just as good or even better in terms of infrastructure and quality. But this change did not come easy.

Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister, who holds multiple portfolios in the Delhi assembly has pulled off the unthinkable – increasing its education budget manifold. In fact, as much as 25% of the budget goes into improving the schooling system.

From broken benches to swimming pools

A few years back, photos of Delhi government school students splashing in a swimming pool went viral. This is unheard of in India where public schools are known to have broken doors and students squatting on the floor.

Sisodia was instrumental in pulling off the government’s ‘education first’ policy. Now, the schools have parent-teacher meetings which aim to reduce dropouts. He also included a happiness curriculum includes mental exercises, meditation and much more.

However, his plan to divide students into different streams as per capabilities earned criticism from educators who called it a neo-caste system. To which, the former journalist who is also the son of a teacher said, “How can you teach literature to a student struggling with letters?”

Sisodia’s experiments as an education minister

He went on to write a book called Shiksha- My Experiments as an Education Minister. Going ahead, he plans to implement a new-age education system wherein students can choose the level of a subject like Science or English, based on the course they would want to pursue.

"You have four grades for subjects. For instance, divide science into four grades - science for doctors and engineers, science for sportsperson, and science for humanities,” he said speaking about their upcoming new education board that hopes to introduce an entrepreneurship course and more.

He had also been an RTI activist had been with the party since its Anna Hazare campaign days. Now, he is seeking a re-election from Patparganj claiming that a lot is left to be done in improving the cause of education.

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate list for Delhi Election 2020