In 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) swept to power in Punjab with 92 of 117 Assembly seats, riding on a key promise based on its Delhi model: “Sikhya Kranti”, an “education revolution” that would transform government schools into institutions parents could trust for “quality, equitable and inclusive” learning.
Four years on, there has been significant progress in learning levels, with Punjab performing better than the national average in almost all parameters. But an investigation by The Indian Express shows that the party’s own leadership may not be confident enough, at least for now, to deeply invest in the system — when it comes to their own children.
Consider this: Of the 31 AAP MLAs with school-going children, including six state ministers, only one — Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana (Maur, Bathinda) — has his children studying in a state government school in the 2025-26 academic session. Almost all the remaining 30 have sent their children either to premier private schools in India or institutions abroad.
At least 25 of these MLAs had already enrolled their children in private schools before they were elected to the Assembly, and any education reform needs time to have a tangible impact on the ground. But the stark numbers frame the challenge for a party that has made education a key governance plank. They also affirm the disconnect of the lawmakers — evident in the absence of their stakes — with the system they promised to shape or reform.
Over the past two months, this newspaper reached to all the 117 MLAs in Punjab to measure the gap between public posturing and personal choice when it came to education for their kin. The response — from 114 MLAs directly and close family members in three cases — was telling (see chart):
- Of the 117 legislators, 36 have school-going children: 31 (AAP), two (Congress), one (SAD), one (BSP) and an Independent. The Assembly is dominated by AAP, with 94 MLAs now after winning two bypolls; Congress has 16, SAD 3, BJP 2, BSP 1 and Independent 1.
- Of the 31 AAP MLAs, 27 confirmed that their children study in private schools in India. So did the five non-AAP MLAs. These schools include top-of-the-line institutions such as The Doon School, Dehradun; The Lawrence School, Sanawar; and, The Scindia School, Gwalior.
- Of the 27 AAP MLAs with children in Indian private schools, 10 have sent their children to top institutions in Chandigarh or residential facilities outside Punjab — including three state ministers. The remaining 17, including three other ministers, have enrolled their children in private schools in their own constituencies, mostly English-medium convent schools.
- Two AAP MLAs said their children study at schools in the UK and US, respectively — one said his “wife and children are US citizens and live there”; the other said his “wife is a UK citizen” and so their son studies in London. And another AAP MLA said his two children are undergoing home schooling.
- Of the five non-AAP MLAs (Congress 2, SAD 1, BSP 1 and Independent 1), three have enrolled their children in top private schools outside the state, one in Chandigarh and another in his own constituency — all of them had opted for private institutions for their children before getting elected.
Asked why they had not enrolled their children in government schools, the AAP MLAs cited a range of reasons that amounted to an indictment of their own system: limited opportunities, quality gaps with private institutions, social or family pressure, lack of exposure to English, and reluctance to shift children to the state education board.
One AAP MLA said he shifted his child from a government school to a private institution due to lack of teachers. At least three MLAs offered a simpler explanation: their children’s “friends circle”.
“There is no difference in syllabus between government and private schools, but a gap remains in exposure and opportunities. My daughter represented her school abroad, which may not have been possible in a government school… My wife and I are busy with work, and the level of attention our children require in our absence was not possible in a government school,” one of the AAP MLAs said.
“I can give the names of 6-7 schools in my own constituency that are in such a pathetic state that one feels like crying… Some don’t have buildings, others don’t have teachers and some are running from a single room. Why would I throw my daughter in a well?” another AAP MLA said.
A third AAP MLA, whose child studies outside the country, said: “Even if he had been here, I would not have admitted him to a government school as they still lack exposure and opportunities, which is a prerequisite today.”
Maiserkhana, whose two children study in a government school, said, “If we won’t admit our own children in government schools, then how can we convince the people to do that?” The Maur MLA shifted one of his children from a private institution to a government school during Covid, before he became an MLA, and later enrolled the other child directly in a state school (see adjacent story).
The five non-AAP MLAs alleged that there was a shortage of teachers in government schools, and dismissed “Sikhya Kranti” as a scheme “only on paper”. They also objected to the state government’s decision last year to change the medium of instruction from English to Punjabi.
The Indian Express is not publishing the names of the 35 MLAs, whose children are not studying in government schools, to prevent the minors involved from being identified and targeted. But this newspaper’s findings show a sharp contrast between the AAP government’s repeated public messaging on the quality of its own schools and the choices its own MLAs have made for their children.
- The AAP government has selected 117 Schools of Eminence for Classes 9 to 12, promising modern infrastructure and specialised coaching for competitive examinations. At least 10 of the 31 AAP MLAs have children studying in these classes — but all in private schools.
- At least six AAP MLAs shifted their children from private schools in their constituencies to high-end private institutions in Chandigarh after getting elected.
- And, while at least three AAP MLAs had already enrolled their elder children in private schools by the time they got elected, they later admitted their younger children also in private institutions.
That’s not all.
On April 7 last year, while targeting previous state governments during a speech in Nawanshahr, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said: “It’s not the British or Americans who shattered the dreams of common people, it’s our own people who did that. They sent their own children to big schools in hill towns, and for our children they left schools, which had no washrooms, no benches.”
Four months later, during an official event in Chandigarh, Mann said: “Previous governments never paid heed to government schools as their own children studied in posh convent schools. They turned government schools into ‘mid-day meal centres’ where children were given just dalia (broken wheat) to eat and sent home without any learning.”
‘A political question’
The AAP government launched “Sikhya Kranti” in Punjab on the back of its “Delhi education model” under which it had allocated 25 per cent of the Budget for education in the national capital; implemented measures to bring transparency in admissions; upgraded government schools while adding over 22,000 new classrooms; and, put in place new curricula and training programmes for teachers.
Official records show that Punjab has 19,243 government and 7,589 private schools, and over the past few years, the state has got its fair share of credit, too, in education.
In 2024, Punjab topped the National Achievement Survey (PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan) replicating its performance from 2021. The survey selects students from Classes 3, 6 and 9 as samples to evaluate overall education outcomes. Punjab stood first with 80 marks in Class 3, surpassing Himachal Pradesh (74) and Kerala (73). For Class 6, Punjab and Kerala were joint top performers with 67 marks each. And, in Class 9, Punjab topped with 57 marks.
According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 for Rural India, released by Pratham Foundation, a survey on learning levels of children in Punjab found a significant improvement in solving arithmetic problems although reading abilities still remained a cause of concern.
Last month, Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said Sikhya Kranti was delivering “historic results”, claiming students were shifting from private to government schools as an endorsement of improved quality.
Responding to questions from The Indian Express (see interview) on what could be done to inspire MLAs to send their children to government schools, Bains said it was “not just a policy question” but “also a moral and political question”.
“The day public representatives begin to feel fully confident that a government school can give their child the same dignity, safety, exposure in English language, digital access, sports opportunities and future prospects as any private school, the entire conversation will change,” he said.
Moreover, on March 8, the state’s Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema proposed an allocation of Rs 19,279 crore for the education sector for 2026-27, an increase of 7 per cent over last year, while announcing the launch of ‘Sikhya Kranti 2.0’ to transform the system “with an outlay of Rs 3,500 crore over the next six years”.
“We have focused on upgrading infrastructure, strengthening foundational learning and creating centres of excellence within the government school system. In FY 2026-27, this reform journey enters its next phase: consolidation with expansion,” Cheema said.
Yet, enrolment data points to a disheartening trend for government schools. There were 26.69 lakh students in government schools in Punjab in 2024-25, down from 28.23 lakh the previous year. During the same period, enrolment in private schools rose from 29.81 lakh to 30.63 lakh.
This newspaper has previously reported that teacher shortage was a major challenge faced by government schools: over 50 per cent do not have principals, 30 per cent are without headmasters and over 40 per cent of posts for block primary education officers are vacant.
When contacted with this newspaper’s latest findings, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress accused the ruling party of “doing what it once criticised others for”.
Former education minister and Congress MLA Pargat Singh, whose children studied in private schools, said: “They (AAP) are the fake revolutionaries. Even during our reign, government schools had several shortcomings but we never made false claims of bringing ‘Sikhya Kranti’. If the revolution has actually arrived, why are their own children not in government schools?”
Share
