Image in NYT Article on Delhi Schools Is From Sarvodaya, Not Mother Mary's

We found that the photo used by The New York Times was indeed taken at Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in Delhi.

On Friday, 19 August, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the house of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the alleged irregularities in the implementation of excise policy 2021-2022.

Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, has termed the raids as "conspiracy" and alleged that he will soon be arrested. Amid this, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed that the Central government is targeting Sisodia after The New York Times carried a story on the Delhi model of education.

While the BJP leaders hit back calling the article "paid," Kapil Mishra claimed that a photo used in the article was not even from a public school, but a private school in Delhi.

Identifying the school as Mother Mary's in Delhi, Mishra said that AAP was selling lies in the country and even abroad.

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However, we found that the picture was indeed taken at a Sarvodaya Vidyalaya. There is enough proof within the picture which poke holes in this claim.

CLAIM

BJP leader Kapil Mishra shared the picture and claimed that the picture used in the article was that of a private school in Delhi and not of Sarvodaya Vidyalaya.

This photo collage has been widely shared on Twitter to further the claim.

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WHAT WE FOUND OUT

First we checked the details of Mother Mary's School (the school mentioned by Mishra) on its website. We found that the school is situated in Mayur Vihar in Delhi and it is an all girls school, with no branches.

The image used by The New York Times shows both – girls and boys – in the picture.

Next, we located the image used by Mishra on the school's website and could notice some differences in the uniform.

• The colour of the collar is different.

• The sleeves are different.

• The colour of the buttons on the front jacket.

• The logo on the pocket in the NYT story clearly reads 'Sarvodaya'.

We reached out to The New York Times and Charlie Stadtlander, Director, External Communications, told us that the picture was clicked at Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in Kakrola.

Stadtlander further said that the daily "stands behind the caption and given location of the photograph."

Clearly, a false narrative was build around the newspaper's coverage of Delhi's education model to discredit the daily and the Delhi government.

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