Will AAP, Arvind Kejriwal pay attention towards the plight of Urdu medium schools in Delhi?

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had come to power, promising that it will work for the common man, all sections of society.

In its manifesto, the party had said that it would address issues of Muslim community too and would earnestly work to redress the grievances.

On educational front, AAP government has lately been quite active and seems to have done its bit--from construction of school buildings to reining in private schools that charge excessive fee.

But when it comes to the Urdu medium schools, AAP hasn't shown much interest. The Urdu medium schools are crumbling, grapple with lack of teachers, non-availability of the most basic facilities.

Besides, there are fears about attempts to merge Urdu schools--just another way to bring their number down, before closing them.

If AAP is serious about education, then it should pay equal attention to Urdu schools in Delhi, which is not a huge state. Things can be sorted out faster in national capital.

Firstly, there is need to improve infrastructure--construction and repair of the dilapidated school buildings, upgrading the existing schools and opening new ones.

The demands include appointment of Urdu teachers, ensuring that the posts are filled (not kept vacant or surrendered) and premises are freed from encroachments.

In many schools, teachers who are not proficient in Urdu, are posted. Besides, there are no steps to ensure that Urdu is taught as third language in English and Hindi medium schools where students opt for the language but lack of teacher or management's disinterest has led to the situation that Urdu is not taught even as third language.

AAP had made promises to Urdu speakers. Its manifesto was in Urdu too. Hope the party takes action and shows sensitivity, else, it would be felt that AAP also played the 'Urdu card' at election time.

A delegation of All India Milli Council too called on Arvind Kejrwal a few days back, urging him to take steps in this regard.

 Urdu is an official language in Delhi government, however, the Urdu schools aren't given any priority. Link about delegation visit on TCN.

Dr Parvez Miyan led the delegation, which included Zaki Ahmad Beg, Hasina Hashim, Qari Asjad Qasmi, Sardar Darshan Singh, Mahmood  Husain, Victor Francis, M Imran, Devendra Bharti and S Ashraf Rizvi.

*Delhi government plan to merge Urdu schools