AAP National Media In-charge Anurag Dhanda raises questions on Haryana’s education system; says children are forced to sit on mats and the floor in 5°C temperature in government schools

Chandigarh (The Uttam Hindu): AAP National Media In-charge Anurag Dhanda on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the BJP government over the grave and alarming condition of government schools in Haryana. He said that severe cold prevails across Haryana, with temperatures dropping to 5–8 degrees Celsius, yet thousands of children are still forced to study while sitting on mats or directly on the floor in government schools. This is not merely mismanagement, but a direct injustice to children’s health and future.

Anurag Dhanda said that the Education Department had conducted verification of the requirement for “dual desks” in all government schools and had also sought demand reports by 5 March 2025. The government had claimed that children would no longer be made to sit on the floor, but till December 2025 there has been no improvement in the situation. The question is—where did that entire dual-desk plan go? Is children’s suffering limited only to paperwork for the BJP government?

He said that ground reports clearly show that many government schools neither have sufficient classrooms nor have broken doors and windows been repaired, nor are there any arrangements to protect children from the cold. In many schools, children are studying in corridors; elsewhere, they are compelled to sit on the floor in cold air inside rooms without windows. Even basic facilities like heaters, warm water, or winter protection are not available.

Anurag Dhanda stated that the situation is so bad that in several places there are only 3–4 rooms for 600 students. In some schools, more than 350 children are forced to hold prayers and classes in the open. Many government primary schools do not even have their own buildings and are operating from other schools after being shifted. This reflects the true picture of Haryana’s education system.

Questioning the silence of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, he said the Chief Minister must explain what the government is doing when small children are studying while sitting on the floor in freezing cold. Is this the BJP’s so-called “Haryana Model” and “world-class education” that is glorified from public platforms?

Anurag Dhanda further said that the situation is worse due to the acute shortage of teachers in the state. More than 30,000 teacher posts are lying vacant. In several districts, there is one teacher for 400–500 students. Nearly 90% of government schools do not have headmasters, resulting in a lack of proper guidance for students and poor school administration. Instead of permanent recruitment, the government is running an ad-hoc system through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam, which is continuously degrading the quality of education.

The Aam Aadmi Party has demanded that the government immediately provide dual desks in all government schools, free children from the compulsion of sitting on the floor, urgently fill vacant teacher and headmaster posts, carry out repairs of school buildings, and ensure essential facilities for children’s safety during the winter season.

Anurag Dhanda said that the Aam Aadmi Party will raise its voice for children studying in Haryana’s government schools and take this issue to every resident of the state. Children’s future should not be confined to files and announcements, but must be built in safe, dignified, and better classrooms.