Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday inaugurated the city’s first school that will prepare students for the armed forces. The Shaheed Bhagat Singh Armed Forces Preparatory School in Jharoda Kalan in Najafgarh currently has 175 students. Kejriwal asked the students to take in the feeling of living and dying for the nation.
The state-of-the-art school has an exclusive preparatory wing to instill officer-like qualities (OLQs) in students through individual and group assignments, mock interviews, psychometric tests, and personality development workshops.
It has a free hostel facility with cadet mess for boys and girls and is part of the Delhi Government School of Specialized Excellence and affiliated with the Delhi Board of School Education. It is open to all Delhi residents and students can access grades 9 and 11, officials said. “The Delhi Government Armed Forces Preparatory School begins today, in addition to special education, students will receive free four-year coaching for the National Defense Academy and similar competitions,” Kejriwal said.
The prime minister said the school offers services “that you wouldn’t get at the poshest schools”. “Eighty to ninety percent of the students here come from government schools themselves. Education is completely free in our schools, all children here get the same facilities to eliminate the gap between rich and poor,” he said.
He said the school was built within a year and they have exceeded their own expectations. “A few years ago we realized how Delhi does not have a Sainik school to prepare cadets for the military. In just a year we built this school and even exceeded our own expectations,” he claimed. The school also offers comprehensive preparation (academic and service) for students who wish to join the NDA/Naval Academy and other uniformed services.
“Many students used to prepare and appear on their own for these tests, including the NDA and other entrance exams. Other states had Sainik schools, but Delhi has never had such a school,” he said. Kejriwal motivated students to devote their entire lives to the country and recalled his student days at IIT Kharagpur where he passed out in 1989. “At the time, I was only thinking of doing something for the country. Many students went abroad and settled there. It is our own country and we have to work for it. I will live here, fight and die for the betterment of the country,” he said.
This year, more than 18,000 applications came in for admission to the school. The school has a three-stage admission process: aptitude test, physical endurance tests, psychometric tests, and a third-stage medical aptitude test. “It was a tough game. More than 18,000 students applied for admission. Your children have overcome such an uphill battle and the credit for their success goes to you too. I pray to the Almighty that they all get selected in the NDA or whatever exam they appear in,” he said.
The prime minister said they will also invite experts, such as retired and serving officers of the armed forces, to coach students. Naming the school after Shaheed Bhagat Singh was a deliberate decision, he said.
“He sacrificed his life at a very young age of 23 by being hanged. In the present day, at the age of 23, guys are looking for a girlfriend or a job. We named this school after him so that every student who attends this school has the spirit to sacrifice their lives for the country after being inspired by the man himself,” he added. He asked the students to remember that even the poorest of the poor have contributed to the facilities they receive at this school because they say it is tax money.
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