Lesson for AAP: Education is NOT a Problem of Bricks & Walls

Surely, a budget allocation of 24 percent is unprecedented for an Indian state. But despite shelling out almost Rs 49,740 for every student for the year 2016-17 during the same period, 50,765 students dropped out of Delhi government schools. The transition rate of students in state government schools from class 9 to 10 was at 56.95 percent, whereas it was 98.55 percent from class 7 to 8 for the academic year 2015-16 to 2016-17, effectively meaning that nearly half the students dropped out before senior secondary school. With its micro-management of schools, Delhi government is essentially trying to become the ‘mother of all children’. It starts to treat learning like a logistical problem, prescribing impossible targets in return for better buildings.