New Delhi: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday inaugurated Shaheed Bhagat Singh Armed Forces Preparatory School, which will provide free training to students to prepare for the defence forces.
The one-of-a-kind school in Najafgarh’s Jharoda Kalan area is affiliated to Delhi Board of School Education and currently has 175 students. Around 18,000 aspirants had applied for admissions.
Addressing the event, Kejriwal said, “Besides special education, students will get a four-year-long coaching for NDA and similar competitive examinations for free. A couple of years back, we realised that Delhi has no sainik school to prepare cadets for the army and now, within a year, we have built this school. We have surpassed our own expectations. This is a state-of-the-art facility and 80%-90% students have been absorbed from government schools itself.”
Highlighting how providing education for free will eliminate differences between children of the rich and poor, Kejriwal said, “Nobody should be able to realise from which background a particular student comes from. They will get an environment where they are treated at par with each other. During our anti-corruption movement, both Manish Sisodia and I used to dream of an education system where everyone is treated equally.”
At the school, which also has hostel facilities, students will be taught all the qualities of an officer, psychometric tests will be done apart from individual and group tasks, mock interviews and personality development exercises, Kejriwal said while adding that retired and serving officers will be roped in as experts to train students.
Stating that even the poorest of the country has contributed towards this education, Kejriwal said that the students should repay the favour on passing out of the school and achieving their dreams. Adding that the school has been named after Bhagat Singh to instil inspiration among the students, the chief minister said, “It is our country and we have to work for it. I am optimistic that all the students will get into the armed forces.”
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said, “When the deshbhakti curriculum began a year back, the CM had said that we would make every child a staunch patriot. All the children present here are full of patriotism. Individuals from this group will become colonels and generals in future. Some of these youngsters will be standing at the borders to protect our nations.”
Addressing the students, Sisodia said, “The country has a lot to give and therefore, you must reaffirm this resolution every morning that you need to do something for the country.
Admissions to the school, which began in March, were conducted over three phases, including an aptitude test, physical endurance test and medical fitness test. There are around 100 seats each in classes IX and XI.
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