DELHI: Attached with a petition before the Delhi High Court was a letter stating, “My name is Sheeba Parveen, a Class 6 student. I am called to attend school thrice a week, but I want to attend school regularly.” The high court, in a December 21, 2023 order, referred to the educational plight of over one lakh students in government schools in the national capital’s North East district as “alarming”. Students in these schools receive only two hours of education per day; some are forced to attend classes on alternate days, said the petition moved before the court.
The issue gained traction following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by an NGO, Social Jurist, which highlighted the predicament of those studying in several Delhi government-aided schools in the North East district, including those in Khajuri Khas, Sabhapur, Tukbirpur, Sonia Vihar, Karawal Nagar, among others. The inaction of the authorities violates the fundamental right to education guaranteed under Articles 14, 21, and 21A of the Constitution of India, along with the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, the litigant argued before the high court.
‘only thrice a week’
According to the plea, the North East-I district accommodates 1,45,909 students across 48 schools in 25 buildings. Specific schools like Sarvodya Kanya Vidyalaya and Sarvodya Bal Vidyalaya at Khajoori Khas provide only two hours of education, while others like Government Girls Senior Secondary School and Government Boys Senior Secondary School at Khajoori Khas and Sabhapur call students to attend classes on alternate days.
The high court, during the hearing of the case, observed that such an educational crisis, especially affecting underprivileged children who represent the future of society, cannot be tolerated.
Protesting against the deplorable condition of government-aided schools, North East Delhi unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) organised the ‘Ghanti Bajao, Kejriwal Sarkar Ko Jaago’, where hundreds of students along with their families participated in a demonstation. A letter demanding urgent redressal of the issues concerning students was also framed and sent to the Education minister and the Chief Minister.
DYFI State Secretary Aman Saini said, “CM Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet roam around the world and claim they have prioritised education. But in reality, the government is openly violating the Right to Education Act. The law states that there must be at least 7.5 hours of study per day, and the student-teacher ratio must be 1:30. But schools in northeast district have only one teacher and 50 to 80 students.”
Condemning the situation on ground, he said, “Some schools operate under an odd-even schedule and have two-hour classes. The number of students enrolled in most government schools in northeast Delhi is several times higher than the facilities available.”
Nusrat, treasurer of DYFI questioned, “Why discriminate against the students studying in government schools of northeast Delhi? Why are they being denied the right to better education?”
Education dept blames PWD norms
At a time when demolitions are making headlines, the Directorate of Education (DoE) is facing difficulty due to legal complexities in removing the existing old school buildings and constructing new buildings to ease the crowd, the high court was informed by the education department through an affidavit.
While stressing the urgent need to construct large new school buildings on acquired land, the department suggests expanding existing buildings vertically or constructing multi-storied ones after demolishing old buildings. However, some old buildings do not meet Public Works Department (PWD) norms and cannot be demolished or elevated to multi-storied buildings, further complicating the situation.
“It may please be noted that some of the existing old school buildings are still under-age as per PWD norms and they are not to be demolished or elevated to multi-storied buildings. But, without demolishing these old buildings, the current situation cannot be eased out,” the DoE affidavit stated. Move to demolish these old school buildings shall definitely prove to be a much sought-after solution to the problem of over-crowded schools in District North-East -1, it said further. An earlier affidavit by the DoE itself reveals that education director Himanshu Gupta has been writing to several departments highlighting the acute shortage of facilities in northeast Delhi.
Criticising the Delhi government for its inability to provide adequate space to school children, general secretary of the Government School Teachers Association (GSTA), Ajay Veer Yadav said, “There are some schools in northeast Delhi which have a strength exceeding 5,000 students despite the fact that they are facing a shortage of classrooms. We usually have a classroom of 6.8 metres and have 21 desks in a room that can accommodate 42 children. However, these schools are accommodating over 100 students in a classroom which seems almost impossible; even if we allow three students on each desk, the strength should be 63, but that is not the case here.”
He adds that, “The problem here is that the Delhi government recently merged around 100 schools. They combined the two shifts into one shift just to avoid the shortage of teachers but this policy has increased the crowd in the classrooms, hampering the entire teaching process. Some schools are holding classes on alternate day basis, others are doing so on the basis of odd and even. I have also filed a petition in the high court highlighting these issues.”
Chairperson of the Joint Forum for Movement on Education (JFME) Nandita Narain, said, “Firstly, we appeal to all the political parties to oppose the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It is jeopardising the future of lakhs of students. It all starts with the schools. The policy of merger and rationalization that the government is promoting now has to be opposed.”
Laying out the priorities of the students, Narain says, “When we need more schools, the government is surprisingly looking to shut them down or merge them into one. Last year, they had shut down around 100 such schools because there was no space to sit. The policy of merging schools has also led to a ‘steep decline’ in the classroom teaching-learning process. The government needs to rethink over this.”
Temporary Arrangements
On the crisis on ground, the Education department says they are dealing with the issue of overcrowding through three arrangements presently — by conversion of rooms, construction of porta cabins, and by shifting students to ‘less-crowded’ facilities.
All rooms other than classrooms, such as craft room, library, sports room, and even staff room, are being used as classrooms (on temporary basis) to accommodate the students, the department admitted. Another proposal to meet the space requirements, construction of porta cabins in schools, has been sent to the Public Works Department (PWD), it says.
A joint inspection has been completed and a Preliminary Estimate (PE) has been given by the PWD, the department said, assuring the high court that construction will begin soon. If the problem persists still, the exercise of shifting students will be carried out, the high court was apprised.
In case of Govt schools...
Social activist Advocate Ashok Agarwal, who moved the PIL before the Delhi High Court on the decrepid condition of north east Delhi government schools, blames the ‘dilly-dally attitude’ of the authorities.
He argued before the court that the city government’s reply reflects their discriminatory attitude towards the needs of the marginalised who, he claimed, are denied essential services like health and education. “These students will soon be growing up to and become voters. What are we giving back to our young generations; loss of faith in the system?” was his impassioned plea.
“If these children are less important for them, then the CBSE may be asked to alter its bye-laws which stipulates the essentialities for affiliation. Is it relaxable in case of government schools in northeast Delhi? Why are we are not treating these children as human beings? They do not have anyone to speak on their behalf; no parent, no teacher, no principal, no bureaucrat, no leader, no political party. They are not voters yet, who will favour their require-ments,”Agarwal lamented.
As per stipulations, adequate space in classrooms, library, sports facilities, among others are not only essentialities in terms of CBSE Byelaws but also mandatory in terms of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. Needless to say, if any of these essentialities are non-existent in any unaided private school, the school is liable to be de-recognised under the law. Any kind of discrimination with the children of poor is not only unconstitutional but also unethical and undesirable and may not be permitted by this Hon’ble Court to perpetuate, he says.
Porta cabin hazards
Construction of porta cabins as operational classrooms comes across as shabby idea as they are dangerous from health point of view, not durable and damaged easily by bad weather, poor ventilation that will be dangerous for students’ health and wastage of public money, the petitioner says.
It cannot be termed as “All-Weather Building” in terms of the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. There is another aspect also. This area is a low-lying area and during the rainy season rain water would reach to the porta cabins which could be disastrous for the safety of the students. Thus, porta cabins go contrary to the concept of conducive educational environment, he added.
Shifting of students
Partial shifting of students from the old Khajoori Khas building is totally unjustified, the petitioner argued, pointing out that large number of students still remain in the dangerous old building. It has to be demolished and re-constructed and that will take time. “Respondents are misleading the court in regard to facts,” the plea before the high court stated.
Accommodating the excess students in existing schools by the proposed measures, shifting 9,071 students from various schools to newly constructed school buildings in Shri Ram Colony, Khajoori Khas Chowk, is not a viable solution to the problem and not in the interest of providing quality education to the students, argues the petitioner. It was submitted that there are over 22,000 excess students in the 14 government schools who are required to be shifted to other government schools with available facilities.
As per the submission of the Deputy Director of North East-I, a proposal to the Director of Education for providing as many as 300 buses for transporting excess students to government schools in other districts for proper education to over 22,000 students, which has been turned down by the Department of Education without any justification.
“In the past, buses were provided for transporting students from then overcrowded Government School Sonia Vihar to other Government schools which continued till the school at Sonia Vihar was finally constructed. Thus, it is submitted that similar arrangements by providing adequate number of buses to the students is the only just and workable option available as a stop gap arrangement for education of the students,” the counter affidavit says.
In a response to the RTI application, the city government said that schools saw a reduction of 30,000 students in academic year 2023-24.
Merger woes?
The Delhi government reportedly merged 50 schools in April 2022. Another 50 were merged between May and September that year. Experts say the Delhi government’s decision to merge these schools making them co-ed came at a time when the city schools were operating in double shifts (morning shift for girls, evening for boys). This has prompted many parents to withdraw their daughters from government-run schools altogether due to cases of “indiscipline” in the new classrooms
Govt Denied required buses to move excess pupils
As per the submission of the Deputy Director of North East-I, a proposal to the Director of Education for providing a total of 300 buses for the transportation of excess students to government schools in other districts, so that quality education could be available to over 22,000 students, was turned down by the Education department without any justification.
Number in North East schools
1,45,909 students
48 schools
25 buildings
22,000 excess students in 14 govt schools
Violation of fundamental right to education under Articles 14, 21, and 21-A of the Constitution (Petitioner told the court)
One school for nearly 2,763 students Directorate of Education told Delhi High Court
As per an RTI response from the Delhi govt, schools saw a reduction of 30,000 students in academic year 2023-24 as compared to previous sessions