Delhi cabinet clears ₹900cr plan for 21,000 smart classes in 5 yrs

The Delhi cabinet on Tuesday approved a ₹900 crore project to develop over 21,000 smart classrooms, upgrade school infrastructure, and roll out a dedicated teacher training programme in government schools over the next five years.

- Paras Singh

The initiative is the first major education reform by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government since it came to power in February.

The project, aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, was cleared at a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Rekha Gupta. Officials said it aims to bring Delhi government schools on par with their private counterparts through improved infrastructure and digital learning tools.

Briefing reporters at the Delhi Secretariat, education minister Ashish Sood said that of the 37,778 classrooms currently in use in government schools, only 799 — or 2.1% — are equipped with smart boards. “These were mostly installed through CSR initiatives, not through government funding,” he said.