New Delhi, July 25, 2020: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah stating that the Director of Education should remain posted in Delhi till the current education session (March 2021). Addressing the letter to the Union Home Minister, Manish Sisodia on Saturday said that the entire country is currently undergoing an unprecedented crisis due to corona.
The worst effect of lockdown due to Corona is on the education of children. Schools and universities are completely closed. The Delhi government is trying to continue the education of children in some way even in this era of crisis through step-by-step planning. The sudden removal of the Delhi Education Director amid the crisis would greatly harm the efforts of the Delhi government of supporting the education of the children in the time of Corona.
Vinay Bhushan got the charge of Director of Education only for one year, why such a hurry to remove him from the post-Manish Sisodia.
In a letter addressed to the Union Home Minister, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the 12th class results in government schools in Delhi have been 98 percent this time. He wrote, “This is probably the first time that the state government schools have received such spectacular results. Soon after the results came out last week, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and I were working with a team of officers and academicians to formulate a strategy so that in the years to come, not a single child in government schools remained uneducated and every child could play a role in nation-building by gaining the best of education. Together with our principal, teachers, and students, we were quickly engaged in this strategy. I, along with the officials of the Education Department, also spoke to the students who scored less and tried to understand where the shortfall was. In a system where 98 percent of the children have passed, 2 percent of the children failed because of various circumstances and reasons. In the process of talking to these students and formulating a forthcoming strategy to further improve our education system, I had an order from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India stating that the Director of Education, Delhi, Vinay Bhushan, has been transferred out of Delhi and sent to Andaman. On one side I was witnessing the officers dreaming about a fruitful education system for Delhi in the next few years, and on the other side, I was reading your order in which you pulled out the foundation stone of those dreams. Vinay Bhushan has got the charge of the Director of Education only for one year, then why did you see feel a hurry to remove him from this post and send him out of Delhi?”
Delhi’s education model is being praised not only in the country but all over the world -Manish Sisodia Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah the reason for Vinay Bhushan’s transfer. “Were you not happy that government schools in Delhi have yielded good results? Did you not feel that the officials and their teams who have made this possible should be commended and have their work put forth in front of the entire country as a model so that government schools all over the country can get back their lost dignity?
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal believes that without education, we cannot make our nation strong and developed. Working on the same vision, the government schools in Delhi are developing a new identity today and the education model of Delhi is being appreciated not only in the country but all over the world. Do you not think that with such a chief minister, you should discuss the roadmap for improving the education system of the entire country, rather than sending Delhi’s Director of Education out of Delhi without consulting him?”
The transfer was ordered without consulting the Chief Minister of any Union Territory -Manish Sisodia.
In the letter, Manish Sisodia wrote, “You say that Delhi is a union territory. If it is so, is it not the responsibility of the Centre to help in improving the education system in Delhi? Under the law, you are the controlling authority of the IAS officers belonging to the AGMUT cadre (Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram, and Union territories). This authority has been given to you so that you consult the chief ministers of these states and territories and deploy IAS officers amongst them. You have ordered these transfers without consulting the Chief Ministers of any of these states.
The Deputy Chief Minister has requested the Home Minister to reconsider his decision and change the order of transfer of Shri Vinay Bhushan and allow him to continue his tenure as the Director of Education if Delhi at least till March 2021 (end of the current education session). “Also, please ensure that before ordering the inter-state transfers of any officers, the Chief Ministers of those states are consulted. I hope you will not disappoint me and make a positive decision on the above at the earliest.”
By Varun Bhardwaj: