An Unprecedented Opportunity

While winning confidence vote in Delhi Assembly on 2nd Jan , Arvind Kejriwal re-iterated 18 promises made by AAP to people of Delhi

One of this is ;

Open 500 new schools in 5 years

That is approx one new school every 4th day  !

I was reminded of BJP's promise to people of Gujarat in its poll manifesto released on 3rd Dec 2012 , before Gujarat Assembly elections

Viz:

If voted to power , we will build 50 lakh houses for the poor of Gujarat in 5 years

which translates to, 2,739 new houses EVERY DAY  !

By now , BJP Government should have built  10,27,125  houses  !

But no one - even opposition - is asking ,

" Where are these houses ? "

AAP may not be so lucky , with people of Delhi - and BJP MLAs - asking every 4th day ,

"  When can I send my child to the new school  ?  "

No doubt , AAP , before releasing the manifesto , must have figured out the resources required to build 500 new schools , viz : ,

>   Land  ............  2,500 acres

>   Money  ..........  Rs 5,000 Crores

>   Teachers ........  25,000

>   Annual salaries / Maintenance cost......... Rs 100 Crores

But in case , if at this stage , it appears doubtful to raise such resources , there is a way out  !

Unlike BJP in Gujarat , AAP in Delhi can build 5,00 ( or even 5,000 ) ,

VIRTUAL  SCHOOLS

And do this in 6 months , instead of in 5 years  !

And do this at 1 % of the cost of building physical schools  !

Now all that AAP need to do to impart online education to 3 lakh Delhi children , is :

>   Find 3 lakh donors , each of whom will sponsor ONE Delhi child , by

     donating Rs 2,000 / -

>   With this money , buy 3 lakh tablet computers ,( Aakash 4 specs ), which are pre-loaded

     with all the text books and other instructional materials

>   At a cost of Rs 10 crores , cover entire Delhi with Wi-Max internet .

     Google ( or Bill Gates ) would be happy to help out

>   Grant Rs 10 crores to IIT-Delhi , to create " VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS "

      for each and every subject ( 1st to 10th standards )

      Prof Rahul Deshmukh ( IIT-Mumbai ) who has created such an

      infrastructure for the engineering subjects , should be happy to help

>   Get Dr Sugata Mitra ( the " Hole-in-the-Wall " fame , Delhi educationist )

      to spearhead the entire project - the broad framework being available

      in the Cover Story ( Can Technology Educate Us ? ) of Digit magazine

      of March 2013

If anyone in AAP has lingering doubts re feasibility of such a project , just send him to look at what Subhash Rathod , Principal of a small school of Sanganwa ( 35 Km from Rajkot ) has managed to do , ( and without any government help ! ) , viz ;

>  Wi-Fi enabled campus

>  Smart Classrooms

>  Digital Teaching Aids

    ( using Rs 5 lakhs of insurance money that Rathod received after the

      death of his only son in a road accident in 2011 )

>  Tablet for every child

     (  cost borne by a local industrialist , Jayanti Patoliya )

>  Syllabus and study materials in Gujarati , using special software

>  No school bags  !

People of India expect AAP to innovate , not just in ushering a NEW POLITICAL SYSTEM , but also in EDUCATION SYSTEM  !

ARVIND ,

Don't miss this unprecedented opportunity  !

*   hemen   parekh   (  05  Jan   2014  /  Mumbai  )