Internet Is Reminded Of Narendra Modi's Initiatives In Education Sector As Gujarat CM, Thanks To Arvind Kejriwal: Here's How

In a series of tweets, Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal boasted of forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to focus on education in Gujarat for the first time.

CM Kejriwal said that his government had done a wonderful job in the field of education and has improved government schools in Delhi.

He also posted a photo of PM Modi sitting in the classroom along with a photo of Delhi Deputy CM Sisodia in a classroom, implying that PM Modi has followed in the footsteps of his deputy.

Sisodia, too, in several tweets, claimed that this was the first time that PM Modi has put his focus on education and that the BJP government had done nothing in the last 27 years to improve education in Gujarat.

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However, the claims made by the AAP leaders were refuted by netizens as well as PM Modi himself (in the course of his speech at the event).

The prime minister is on a two-day visit to Gujarat where on Wednesday, he launched ‘Mission School of Excellence’ at Adalaj in Gandhinagar.

The Mission, with a total outlay of Rs 10,000 crores, is aimed at strengthening education infrastructure in Gujarat by setting up new classrooms, smart classrooms, computer labs and overall upgradation of the infrastructure of schools in the State.

During the event, PM Modi interacted with students and went on to sit on a bench in a classroom.

Modi’s Initiatives as CM of Gujarat

During his speech, PM Modi recalled the state of education in Gujarat two decades back. He said that 20 years back, 20 out of 100 children would never go to school.

Consequently, as chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi took several initiatives to increase the school enrolment ratio, arrest the dropout rate, encourage girl education, and enhance school infrastructure.

In 2003, he launched Kanya Kelavani Yatra (Girls' Education) and Shala Praveshotsav Abhiyan (School Enrolment Movement) programmes.

Under these initiatives, Modi led an entire team of Council of Ministers, Members of Parliament and all Secretaries, besides other officers, and people's representatives, to spread the message of education in every corner of the state, especially among the tribal communities. Modi would spend days touring the state and urging parents to send their children, especially girl children to school.

The movement aimed at bringing about a behavioural change among the people, so much so that it becomes a festival to enrol children in schools. As a result, the dropout rates came down sharply. In 2020-21, the dropout rate at the primary level stood at 1 per cent.

During the event on Wednesday, PM Modi met the tribal students whom he had got enrolled in schools, back in 2003.  The children he nudged during his tenure as chief minister, today stood confidently narrating a story of success.

PM Modi said that in the last two decades, more than 1.25 lakh new classrooms were built in Gujarat, and more than 2 lakh teachers were recruited.

“I still remember the day when programs like Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani Mahotsav were started. The effort was that when the son and daughter go to school for the first time, it will be celebrated like a festival”, he said.

Another of the flagship programme started by Modi, in 2009, as the CM, was ‘Gunotsav’, which aimed at enhancing the quality of education. It evaluated teachers and students at the primary level and provided solutions in a fast-track manner to improve learning outcomes.

In 2011, i.e., the third year of Gunotsav, CM Modi along with his council of ministers, IAS officers and 3,000-odd officials participated in the campaign to evaluate 2-lakh teachers and 60-lakh students studying in 32,742 government primary schools in Gujarat for three days from November 24 to 26, 2011.

In his speech, he recalled the initiative in coming up with proper solutions based on the scientific evaluation of the aptitude, skills and abilities of the students. The programme has continued till now and is being adopted by other states such as Assam to bring transformational outcomes right at the beginning of school education.

Nurturing India’s Young: A Priority For PM

In fact, the overall development of children and nurturing India’s next generation have been some of the priority areas for PM Modi.

Unlike, the proclamation made by CM Kejriwal, it is not the first time PM Modi has visited school children or interacted with them.

In fact, under PM’s personal project, every year, before the beginning of exams, he interacts with students all over India through his programme, ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’. He personally answers their questions and tries to allay the fear of exams by underlining the need to see exams as another marker of growth and not the basis of their entire life ahead.

The experiments Narendra Modi took as the chief minister of Gujarat have come in handy when it comes to his approach as the prime minister. From his flagship programme, ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ to his insistence on building separate toilets for girls in every school under ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, the seeds of these schemes could be found planted in the soil of Gujarat.

The fact that a National Education Policy has been brought after three decades, that too under PM Modi, points to the importance he accords to improving India’s education sector. The number of new AIIMS, IITs, IIMs and other institutions of higher education that have been built in the last 8 years has surpassed the earlier records.

Certainly, it shows that it is not the first time that PM Modi has thought of education.

However, CM Kejriwal has done well to bring into the public eye the initiatives taken by PM Modi for India’s young.