Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday rued that the focus in schools is on completing the syllabus and not enhancing knowledge even as he claimed the AAP government’s education model is being “bought” by voters in poll-bound states of Punjab and Goa.
“The biggest drawback in our education system is that classrooms have become victims of curriculum as the focus is only on completing the syllabus and not enhancing knowledge,” he said at the launch of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for 2016.
“I know I am an ‘unpopular’ minister among teachers and school authorities but I will contest elections only on the plank of education model and not ask votes for construction of any flyover. We sell this idea in Punjab and people are buying it,” he added.
Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, said that transforming the education system requires groundwork and the beginning of it might come at the cost of “popularity” for politicians.
“At least 90 per cent of politicians and officers work for their own interest. The ministers want to work on projects on which they can seek votes, while the officers want to work on projects that may look fancy on their work reports,” he said.
“But the education sector remains ignored. I go to schools for random inspections and have observed that in schools, where students cannot write and read basic words, the syllabus will always be found complete as per the records,” he added.
