"Mischievously motivated": LG Saxena did not reject Finland training tour for Delhi teachers, says his office

Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday said that Raj Bhavan had not rejected any proposal to send Delhi government teachers and educators for a training programme in Finland and said that any statement to the contrary is "misleading and mischievously motivated."

"The LG has not rejected the proposal of training program for Primary-in-charges in Finland. Any statement, on the contrary, is misleading and mischievously motivated," the Raj Niwas Delhi posted on Twitter.

A subsequent tweet by Raj Niwas read, "The Govt has been advised to evaluate the proposal in totality and record the cost-benefit analysis in tangible terms, so as to assess the effectiveness of various foreign training programmes for teachers undertaken in the past."

It also advised the Delhi government to examine and identify similar training programmes in the Institutions of Excellence, within the country, "so as to ensure optimal utilization of resources, fiscal prudence and administrative effectiveness."

The series of tweets by the LG come in the wake of Delhi Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia's allegation condemning the alleged refusal for the training programme. Sisodia had on January 12 said that the restrictions on such training by the Lieutenant Governor is an attack on education.

As per a Delhi Government release, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has planned to send two groups of 30 teachers to Jyvaskyla University in Finland in December 2022 and March 2023. The 5-day training program is meant for primary in-charges of Delhi government schools and teacher educators of SCERT. Under this, SCERT has made a budget provision in its annual plan and SCERT has been given a grant in aid by the Delhi government for conducting such training programmes.

Jyvaskyla University is Finland's top university, an international centre of excellence and among the top 40 universities in the world in the 2019 Academic Ranking of World Universities.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday tweeted about the LG's alleged refusal. "We have been sending Delhi government school teachers abroad for training, it has contributed greatly to Delhi Education Revolution; it is not right to stop them from going for training abroad," Kejriwal posted on Twitter.

Sisodia also said in a statement that, "the LG says that there is no justification for this training and has asked SCERT to do its cost-benefit analysis. I want to ask the LG how the cost-benefit analysis of this training is to be done. Are the changes in Delhi government schools after this training - the wonderful atmosphere for learning, the excellent results of our children in board exams, and the re-instilled faith of parents in Delhi government schools, not the benefits?"

Sisodia had said that the restrictions on such training by the Lieutenant Governor is an attack on education.

"After coming into power, the Kejriwal government sent its teachers for training to leading countries and institutions that are best in the field of education such as Singapore, Finland, Oxford Cambridge and IIMs. This initiative was taken to provide global exposure to the teachers of the world's education models and adopt them in their schools," he added.

Sisodia also said, "Due to this international training, the confidence of teachers and school leaders has increased, and they now look at education from a global perspective."

"Due to this, the board exam result of Delhi government schools has improved to 99.6% today. Hundreds of children from our schools are getting admission to IITs and the top medical institutes. Today, even a child from a poor family is able to dream big and get admission in the best higher educational institutions in the country" he added.

Sisodia pointed out that the Delhi government has so far sent 1079 of its teachers to different countries through its various foreign exposure visits/training. "Of these, 59 teachers have gone to Finland, 420 to Cambridge and 600 to Singapore for training. Apart from this, to date 860 school principals have taken training in prestigious institutes like IIM Ahmedabad and Lucknow," Sisodia said.

( With inputs from ANI )