Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday said his government will create a model school in the southern state on the lines of Delhi and invited Arvind Kejriwal to visit it. Stalin along with his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal visited Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Vinod Nagar where officials briefed the Tamil Nadu chief minister on the change in the education system in the city under the AAP government. An official informed Stalin that the Delhi government has been spending around 25 per cent of its budget on education consistently for the last six to seven years. "In 2014-15, government schools had a pass percentage of 88 in class 12, which was less than private schools. It increased to 98 per cent in 2019-20 as compared to 92 per cent in private schools," he said. Stalin said his government has been replicating Delhi's model schools in the southern state. "After coming to power in Tamil Nadu, we have been giving the highest priority to the education and medical sectors. Just like model schools are running in Delhi, we are doing in Tamil Nadu also. "We will invite Chief Minister Kejriwal after the completion of work there. He should come, I invite him on the behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu," he said.

According to a Delhi government statement, Stalin said, "I heard about Delhi government schools and Mohalla clinics from my Cabinet and newspapers. I contacted Arvindji a few months ago and told him about my interest in visiting them. He accepted my request and showed me the schools and mohalla clinics today. "What he has built is excellent. I'm planning to build a model school like this in Tamil Nadu very soon," he said. The Tamil Nadu chief minister also interacted with the patients and doctors at one of the mohalla clinics. Kejriwal told Stalin that principals of government schools are sent for training abroad and teachers are trained in Indian Institutes of Management. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told Stalin that the Delhi government is moving children away from rote learning to mindful learning. When Stalin asked about improvement in terms of English, Kejriwal told him that they have tied up with the British Council and the US Embassy to train teachers in the language.

The Delhi chief minister also briefed Stalin about the new education board, happiness curriculum, deshbhakti curriculum and the entrepreneurship programme -- Business Blasters. Kejriwal told his Tamil Nadu counterpart that his government focused on improving school infrastructure in the first few years. "We have sports facilities, including swimming pools. One cannot even think of swimming schools in government schools. We have a very good infrastructure," he said. "At the second stage, we started sending all principals and teachers for training. They are now full of energy and confidence. And now we are focusing on the content being taught in the schools," he said.?Officials said more than 500 students from Delhi government schools qualify for JEE Mains every year. Around 3.5 lakh children have shifted from private schools to Delhi government schools this year, they said. Kejriwal said education can help build a better society and an empowered nation.?"The Delhi government would love to share its experiences with Tamil Nadu and will learn from their work too. We need to learn from each other's ideas. All states need to work together to help the country walk faster towards development," he said.?Sisodia said Stalin's Delhi visit will motivate both the states to bring reform in their education system.?"We can bring an unprecedented transformation in the country if we work together to improve our education system by learning from each other," he said.

PTI INPUTS