Asian Age
Outdated Delhi law blocks new private schools
- By Our Correspondent
New Delhi, Nov. 14: While the Delhi government does
not have the resources to set up new schools in the
capital, the Delhi School Education Act, on account of
its "stringent and outdated" provisions is proving to
be the stumbling block for the private players to come
up with the same.
Curiously, while the government has been zealous in
outsourcing infrastructural facilities to private
parties, it is yet to adopt a similar posture on the
opening up of quality private schools even as
admissions elude numerous children in the capital
every year.
"Since the DSE Act was formulated in 1973 there has
been a sea change in demography as well as the
sociological needs of the people here. While the
population has soared , the Act still carries a
limited and obsolete perspective with regards to
granting permission for opening of schools," said a
top education department official. "In absence of a
flexible approach on certain parameters, especially of
land and space, besides the procedural and
administrative wrangling, the private players get
dissuaded," added the official.
The directorate of education is so stringent in
accordance with the DSE Act, clauses that most private
parties, who could set up quality schools, get lost in
the modalities of essentiality certificates and
management certificates, remarked the official.
Delhi gets on an average about one lakh children who
require a school. "In terms of opening of schools,
what the government was managing, at the most, was one
one tenth of what should have been ideally," claimed
the official. Besides a change in the legal framework
of the Act, which acted as a bottleneck in setting up
of private schools, there was a need for a change in
the mindset as well.
For instance the DDA policy of the Floor Area Ratio
(FAR) needed to be changed in the changed
circumstances where there was an acute shortage of
land in Delhi. Permitting sharing of play ground
between the schools could be in harmony with the land
and population ratio in the city amongst other
measures, said the official. In fact, Chief Minister
Sheila Dikshit had recently suggested liberalising the
infrastructural requirements for Higher Education and
leave their standing to the market forces.Though it
was yet to be translated, added the official
__________________________________
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Outdated Delhi law blocks new private schools
- By Our Correspondent
New Delhi, Nov. 14: While the Delhi government does
not have the resources to set up new schools in the
capital, the Delhi School Education Act, on account of
its "stringent and outdated" provisions is proving to
be the stumbling block for the private players to come
up with the same.
Curiously, while the government has been zealous in
outsourcing infrastructural facilities to private
parties, it is yet to adopt a similar posture on the
opening up of quality private schools even as
admissions elude numerous children in the capital
every year.
"Since the DSE Act was formulated in 1973 there has
been a sea change in demography as well as the
sociological needs of the people here. While the
population has soared , the Act still carries a
limited and obsolete perspective with regards to
granting permission for opening of schools," said a
top education department official. "In absence of a
flexible approach on certain parameters, especially of
land and space, besides the procedural and
administrative wrangling, the private players get
dissuaded," added the official.
The directorate of education is so stringent in
accordance with the DSE Act, clauses that most private
parties, who could set up quality schools, get lost in
the modalities of essentiality certificates and
management certificates, remarked the official.
Delhi gets on an average about one lakh children who
require a school. "In terms of opening of schools,
what the government was managing, at the most, was one
one tenth of what should have been ideally," claimed
the official. Besides a change in the legal framework
of the Act, which acted as a bottleneck in setting up
of private schools, there was a need for a change in
the mindset as well.
For instance the DDA policy of the Floor Area Ratio
(FAR) needed to be changed in the changed
circumstances where there was an acute shortage of
land in Delhi. Permitting sharing of play ground
between the schools could be in harmony with the land
and population ratio in the city amongst other
measures, said the official. In fact, Chief Minister
Sheila Dikshit had recently suggested liberalising the
infrastructural requirements for Higher Education and
leave their standing to the market forces.Though it
was yet to be translated, added the official
__________________________________
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Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page.
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