Fact Check: Kejriwal is wrong; Delhi does not have India’s first virtual school

New Delhi, Sep 01: On August 31, Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal while inaugurating the Delhi Model Virtual School said that this was the country's first such school.

He said, 'today we are inaugurating the country's first such virtual school. He also added that it was a year back that his government had announced the plan.

Many were quick to point out that this was not the first such school. OneIndia has learnt that this claim by Kejriwal is not right.

The Delhi government circular says that the Delhi Model Virtual School will be governed by the Delhi Schools of Specialised Excellence. It is affiliated with the Delhi Board of School Eduction. The circular also claims that this is the first online government school and it aims at providing free access to Delhi's education model for children from anywhere for a seamless learning.

However this is not the first virtual school. The Centre had in August 2021 launched the National Institute of Open Schooling. This school is a new model of learning and is an example of how leveraging technology and innovation can facilitate greater inclusion in education, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said at the time of its inauguration.

In October 2020, former Uttarakhand chief minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat had inaugurated the Global Seas Institute in Dehradun. This was the first fully virtual home school in India. The Aam Aadmi Party had been fact checked in 2021 when they said that their government planned to open India's first virtual school.

Hence the claim made by Kejriwal about his government being the first to open India's first virtual school is wrong.