We want a drug-free Punjab where children are empowered through education, says Manish Sisodia | Chandigarh News

Addressing a gathering after dedicating a new block in the School of Eminence in Nawanshahr district here, Mann said sending a child to a government school was the common man’s compulsion till now. “But, with the education system revamped, it is now their wish,” he added. Sisodia also expressed joy and pride as he visited the newly built government school and said, “We want a drug-free Punjab where children are empowered through education. Mann and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal have devised a dual solution. On one hand hit drug traffickers so hard that they flee the state or abandon the trade altogether; and on the other, educate children so well that they never fall into the trap of drugs or drug dealing.”

Addressing the gathering, Sisodia said, “When I stepped inside this school, I felt immense happiness. The building is so magnificent that even most private schools cannot be compared with this. But a beautiful building alone does not make a great school — if that were the case, 5-star hotels and palaces would have been enough to educate children.”

Sisodia, the party’s state in-charge, added that Punjab’s future is in safe hands under Mann’s leadership.

“What makes this school truly excellent is not just the infrastructure, but the outstanding teachers. Every child and parent we met today praised not only the school, but especially the teachers. They are truly remarkable. Engineers construct buildings and teachers turn those buildings into schools. The government built this excellent facility, and the teachers have transformed it into an institution of learning,” Sisodia said, adding that the children of Punjab are full of dreams and confidence and they just need a little support to fulfil their potential.

Sisodia added that the AAP’s politics doesn’t rely on wealth or communal division. “We don’t have property empires or the politics of hate to offer. All we have is a vision to educate your children. That’s what Kejriwal and Mann bring to the politics of this country,” he said.

He added that the government has upgraded over 12,000 government schools across Punjab and over 29 lakh children are now studying in these schools, where they receive quality education in modern classrooms.

“Three years ago, when we campaigned in villages, we saw schools with broken walls, no benches, no bathrooms, and no clean drinking water. Today, not a single school in Punjab has children sitting on the floor. All have proper benches, high-tech labs, libraries, and secure boundary walls,” Sisodia said.

Highlighting the success of the AAP’s education model, Sisodia shared that 189 students from Punjab’s government schools have cleared the JEE exam and will now study in IITs—all without spending a single rupee on tuition or coaching.

Lashing at the previous governments in the state, Mann said they never paid heed towards imparting quality education. “The children of big leaders used to study in convent schools. Government-run institutions were never their focus. Instead of imparting education, government schools were merely midday meal centres during previous regimes,” he said claimed.

Slamming leaders of rival parties, Mann said they had already been ousted from power and were in political oblivion.

Sharing details of his government’s initiatives in the education sector, the CM said that teachers were being sent abroad and even to prestigious national institutes to upgrade their skills.

The staff has helped enhance the rate of admission in government schools, he said and added Punjab was witnessing an “education revolution”.

Now, teachers and principals are focusing only on education as the state government has recruited the required staff for all other work, he claimed.