BJP leader and former Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu on Thursday visited the School of Eminence (SOE) in Sector 32, highlighting a stark contrast between the state government’s publicity campaigns and the ground reality of its much-publicised “education revolution”.
“The AAP government has been selling this school as a model of world-class education, but the reality on the ground is completely different. The sports facilities are lying in a neglected condition, the tiles around the swimming pool have broken, the filtration plant is lying junked and the swimming area remains permanently locked. “The name of Arvind Kejriwal is proudly displayed on the walls as part of the inauguration ceremony. Publicity does not repair broken tiles. And photographs cannot replace functioning sports facilities,” he stated. “The Punjab government keeps showcasing this school and similar projects in its publicity campaigns. Ministers and AAP leaders talk about an education revolution, but they do not want people to see what is actually happening inside these schools after the cameras have gone away,” he added. “A school becomes excellent when children actually get access to quality classrooms, functioning laboratories, proper sports facilities and safe recreational infrastructure. In response, Bittu demanded that the Punjab government immediately make public the exact expenditure incurred on the swimming pool and sports infrastructure, details of the maintenance contract, the agency responsible for upkeep, and the reasons for keeping the swimming facility locked.
Children who were promised world-class sporting facilities can now only see the swimming pool in photographs,” Bittu said. Bittu said the administration had mastered the art of public relations while completely neglecting public infrastructure. If a swimming pool is locked, its filtration plant is junked and the surrounding infrastructure is falling apart, then calling it a world-class facility is nothing more than political propaganda,” he said.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party urban district in-charge Jatinder Khangura had earlier maintained that the present government had successfully upgraded several government schools and recently inaugurated two new Schools of Eminence in Ludhiana.
