There is no greater virtue than providing good education to children; That is why we have doubled the budget for education and now we are spending 40% of Delhi’s total budget on education and health, said Delhi’s CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal, during the inauguration of the newly constructed building of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar School of Specialized Excellence in Paschim Vihar on Monday. The CM further said that the central government is spending only 4% of its budget on education and health. He said that earlier the dreams of children studying in government schools used to die, but we have given wings to their dreams by providing all kinds of modern facilities.
This school is equipped with modern facilities including 54 classrooms, two libraries, 13 labs, 18 activity rooms, a lift, and a multipurpose hall, where 1200 children can be admitted. Earlier, on February 4, the Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone for 4 new school buildings in the Kirari Legislative Assembly constituency, where 10,000 children will be able to receive education. During this event, Education Minister Atishi and other dignitaries were present.
After the inauguration of the new building of the Ambedkar School of Specialized Excellence in Paschim Vihar, CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that when I came here, the first word that came out of my mouth upon seeing the building of this school was, ‘Wow! What a magnificent school has been built.’ The building of this school looks very beautiful from the outside. The CM said that the NCC cadets here saluted in a very professional manner. “I go to many big schools and colleges. And I have noticed that children often lack synchronization and other such attributes. But, here the children gave excellent salutations, and I want to congratulate them all. I want to congratulate all the children on this. After seeing many excellent facilities inside the school, I wished I had also studied in such a school.” he added.
The CM stated that such excellent facilities are not even provided in Delhi’s best private schools. “We try to provide the best possible education to every kid in Delhi whether belonging to a rich or poor family. Here 1200 children will be admitted. A day before yesterday we went to Kirari to lay the foundation of 4 new schools where 10,000 students will study.”
CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal further added that as per a calculation, in the last 1 year, they have inaugurated many schools in which 1-1.5 lakh students will commence study. “At this speed, we’re expanding educational infrastructure in Delhi, many new schools are being opened, and on a large scale existing infrastructures are being upgraded. This school was built in 1957, its building was in shambles and was declared ‘unsafe’. By demolishing the pre-existing building, the new excellent structure has been erected. New buildings are being built wherever government schools’ buildings are crumbling, by demolishing the existing ones. Because of this, teachers and students are getting confident and excellent education is prevailing holistically,” he added.
The Delhi Chief Minister stated that earlier when a child studying in government school and a child studying in private school used to meet, the child from the government school used to have low self-esteem. The government school students used to study in ‘tin-roofed school’, and ‘tent wala schools’, while the private school students used to commence their schooling in schools with excellent infrastructure, education, and results. “That low self-esteem in government school students has vanished away, now interacting with students from government schools, he has noticed that they speak in fluent English. Delhi Government school students are clearing entrance exams like NEET, IIT, and other prestigious exams in different streams. Now, the government school students proudly say that they’re studying in government schools,” the CM said.
“There is no bigger work of merit (punya) than to facilitate excellent education to the children of the poor. Whenever death approaches, I’ll die in solace. I have facilitated the excellent education of lakhs of children in Delhi. When our government was formed, we dreamt of providing equal education to everyone. At that time, it seemed a daunting task. We have strong intentions, and we increased Delhi’s budget for education. Earlier governments used to spend on unnecessary things, but now we have different priorities. We decided that other things can be done later, but excellent education for children should be arranged first. Since assuming power in 2015, we have doubled Delhi’s education budget to ₹10,000 crores, up from ₹5,000 crores in 2014. Because of this spending , excellent schools are being constructed,” the Delhi CM mentioned.
CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal continued, “Recently the Central Government has presented the national budget, and only 4% has been allocated to the education and health care sector in the entire budget. While in Delhi, we spend 40% of the total budget on the education and health of Delhiites. That’s why excellent schools, hospitals, and Mohalla Clinics are being constructed. When our government was formed, we aimed to provide good education to the children of the poor. Many people suggested issuing an order that all IAS, IPS officers, and ministers’ children must also compulsorily study in government schools. But forcing doesn’t lead to a good education. We adopted another idea that we will make all government schools so good that all ministers, IAS, and IPS officers would want to admit their children in government schools themselves.”
“I am pleased to say that many of our MLAs have enrolled their children in government schools by withdrawing them from private schools. There are many MLAs like Gulab Singh from Matiala constituency and Amanatullah Khan from Okhla constituency whose children were studying in private schools, but they got their children admitted to government schools because they think that the government schools in their area have now become very good. There are also many wealthy people like a prominent lawyer practicing in the Supreme Court who has got his child admitted to a government school after withdrawing from a prestigious private school. They have no shortage of money. They believe that the government school near their home has facilities that are not available in that private school,” the CM expressed.
The Delhi CM conveyed, “A child studying in a government school told me that he came from Delhi’s prestigious St. Columbus School. When children are getting admitted to government schools after withdrawing their names from schools like St. Columbus, it indicates that something good is happening in our government schools. Some improvement must be happening in our government schools, that’s why people are admitting their children to these government schools after withdrawing them from private schools. Our model has been successful. We arranged for a good education for everyone. We didn’t force by passing orders.”
CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that most of the children studying in government schools come from poor families, but each one of them has a dream. Every child wants to do something and become something. Earlier, they did not have the means to fulfil their dreams, and dreams used to die, but now we have given wings to these children to fulfil their dreams, providing all the facilities and resources. Now they have to put their heart and soul into fulfilling their dreams. Nothing in life is free. This money is coming from the Delhi government, which is the tax money of 2 crore people of Delhi. Even when a poor person buys matches, pencils, or pens from the market, he pays many taxes including GST and excise. You are getting an education from their tax money.
“As you progress in life and go to any field, do not forget your country. Because this country has given you a good education. I also always have this feeling for the country. In 1989, I passed mechanical engineering from IIT Kharagpur. We used to get all the facilities there, but our tuition fee was only ₹30 per month. Within 30 rupees a month, such excellent education cannot be provided in prestigious institutions like IIT. My country was educating me. My country was spending money on my education, that’s why I reached here today. So, whatever you become, always remember that your country has educated you. This country’s biggest contribution is education. Make sure you serve this country,” the CM concluded.
While addressing the residents and students of the school, Education Minister Atishi said, “I have done my schooling from a renowned private school in Delhi. But today I can proudly say that the ASoSE Pashcim Vihar school building is way better than my private school. This magnificent school building has surpassed even the most popular private schools in Delhi. I congratulate the team of PWD for building this magnificent school building.”
She added, “But we must never forget the old times of our Delhi Government Schools. I still remember that time in 2015 when the Kejriwal Government was formed in Delhi, and we made a promise to improve Delhi Government Schools. When we started visiting Delhi Government Schools, we had tears in our eyes upon seeing the condition of the schools. This was just 9 years ago; whenever anyone visited Delhi government Schools, they had to first bear the stench from toilets. There were no desks and benches for students. Doors and windows in the classroom were broken. Lights and blackboards were broken. Teachers were put on various duties that restricted them from taking classes. Students studying in them used to have an inferiority complex and remained stressed. They used to think that they were studying in government schools because their parents could not afford to send them to private schools.”
The Education Minister further said that today, after 9 years, the Delhi Government Schools have completely transformed. The Delhi Education revolution brought by the Kejriwal Government has completely changed the education system in the state. Not only has the school infrastructure improved, but in 2015, when Shri Arvind Kejriwal became the Chief Minister of Delhi, there were only 24,000 rooms in Delhi government schools. This means that from 1945 to 2015, only 24,000 rooms were constructed in Delhi Government Schools. But since 2015, in just 9 years, CM Arvind Kejriwal’s government has constructed 20,000+ rooms in Delhi Government Schools. This is leadership.
Today, Delhi government schools are no less than private schools of Delhi. For the past 7 years, the results of Delhi Government Schools have been better than private schools. The time has gone when people used to queue up outside private schools for admission. Today, people line up outside Delhi Government Schools and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Schools of Specialized Excellence. This year, when the admissions were opened for ASoSEs, we received 1.40 lakh applications for 6000 seats. This is Arvind Kejriwal’s education revolution. Today, children passing out from our schools don’t think about getting jobs; instead, they dream of becoming top-notch engineers, doctors, and job providers. Not only this, last year nearly 1500 students cleared the IIT-JEE and NEET Exams, and today they are studying in some of the prominent educational institutions of the country, she added.
Education Minister Atishi said, “On the occasion of the inauguration of this new school today, I would like to thank CM Arvind Kejriwal on behalf of all Delhi residents for building such excellent schools.” She added that for any parent, it is a dream to give the best quality education to their child, and the people of Delhi are lucky that they have a Chief Minister like Arvind Kejriwal who thinks about their child’s future even more seriously.
“I am confident that very soon we will see the long list of the names of students from this school in the selection list of prominent universities like Delhi University and others.”
The Delhi government constructed the building in just 1.5 years
This school building is three stories tall, besides the basement, constructed by PWD. The original school structure, constructed in 1997 as a G+1 building, had 45 Semi Permanent Structure (SPS) rooms. It was among the first three Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalayas created by the Directorate of Education, GNCTD in the late 1990s. Safety concerns in 2019 led to the demolition of old SPS rooms and the installation of temporary sheds in the open space on the school premises to ensure the uninterrupted education of children here. In 2020, approval was granted for the construction of a new G+3 Pucca building. Construction began in July 2022 and is completed now. The new Pucca building now occupies the area where the previous SPS rooms were demolished. Once the students relocate to the new building after its inauguration, the temporary sheds will be dismantled.
The infrastructure in School:
The total plot area is 14713.041 Square Meters (about 3.6 acres). The new building has 129 equivalent classrooms consisting of 54 classrooms equipped with green board and furniture, 13 Laboratories, 2 Libraries, 18 activity and other rooms, Toilet blocks on every floor and 2 lifts. Fully air-conditioned multi-purpose hall with a capacity of 130, and open Assembly courtyard.
About the enrolment and benefit to children in the area
• Currently, the school is hosting the remaining batches of Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVV) and the Ambedkar School of Specialised Excellence- Humanities.
• In RPVV there are 245 students in classes 10, 11 and 12 while in ASoSE there are 110 students in classes 9 and 10 in Humanities.
• In the upcoming academic session, 2024-25 STEM too will be introduced in this school.
• The new school building has a significant catchment area, covering Paschim Vihar, Nangloi, and Peeragarhi. As this marks the first Ambedkar School of Specialized Excellence (ASoSE) in District West B, students from distant areas like Tikri and Ranhaula may also opt for admission here.
• At maximum capacity with both Humanities and STEM streams in all classes between 9-12, the total intake of students would be up to 1200.
• The state-of-the-art laboratories and libraries will provide world-class teaching-learning opportunities.
• Upon the removal of the temporary sheds, the area will be repurposed for the construction of state-of-the-art sports facilities, including basketball and badminton courts.
