NEW DELHI: Promising to improve the condition of government schools and making them as "attractive as private ones", Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal Saturday said good education was the basic right of every child.
Addressing a function organised by NGO Teach For India at St. Stephen's college here, the former Delhi chief minister said government schools in Delhi were in a bad shape "because of vested interests".
"We are not against schools being run by private organisations but some of them are run by big businessmen and politicians who have destroyed the government schools so that they can have a large number of students in order to earn more and more," Kejriwal said.
He said this trend needs to corrected and if voted to power in Delhi, his party will "do everything possible to improve the condition of the government schools... and even good and rich people would start sending their children to government schools".
Kejriwal said there was no shortage of money to improve the education system in the country.
He also dismissed reports on shortage of good teachers.
"The government has made teachers clerk. They are engaged in all sorts of work but teaching. A teacher is put on election duty and all sorts of assignments are given to them...," he said.
He also said that local committees should be formed to improve the school admission system.
Kejriwal expressed concern over the dropout rate in schools. "Five lakh students get admitted to schools every year, but only half of them passout."
He also promised to make education loans easy, if voted to power.