Delhi govt budget: Rs 16,377 crore allocated for education

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also announced the establishment of a new army school and a new armed forces' preparatory academy in the city.

New Delhi: The Delhi government on Tuesday allotted Rs 16,377 crore for education for the financial year 2021-22.

Presenting the budget in the Delhi assembly, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said like the previous six years, education this time too will comprise “25 per cent” of the Rs 69,000-crore budget.

Keeping in line with the theme of “patriotism” for the new budget, Sisodia said the Delhi schools will introduce a “deshbhakti pathyakram” (patriotic syllabus) to instill a sense of nationalism among the students.

As part of this syllabus, an entire period every day will be dedicated towards patriotism, he said.

“Through ‘deshbhakti pathyakram’, we want to ensure that every educated person should become such a hardcore patriot so that if he/she holds a government office, he should feel bad about flouting even a red light, let alone take bribes.

“Every educated person must be respectful towards women, fulfill their responsibilities towards the environment, and see patriotism also in equality and brotherhood…We aim to create such patriots in our schools,” Sisodia, who also holds the Education portfolio, said.

He said despite the country being independent for 75 years, “95 per cent” of the country’s population does not have access to “quality education”.

“Which is why Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been insisting that education needs to be made a public movement,” he said.

He also announced the establishment of a new army school and a new armed forces’ preparatory academy in the city.

“There are 33 army schools in the country but Delhi does not have a single one. We will be opening Delhi’s first army school, and at the academy where besides their regular education, students will also be prepared to enter the NDA as well as the Indian army,” Sisodia said.

Among the other major steps that will be undertaken by the government will be a new syllabus for classes Nursery to 8, establishment of a new Delhi school education board, and the establishment of 100 schools of excellence, he said.

He also said designing of a “virtual model school” had already begun. It would benefit students residing in any part of the country but want to get educated under Delhi’s education model, he added.

Additionally, the government also plans to start the country’s first teachers’ university where teachers from across the globe will be trained, the education minister said.