The Delhi government has replaced essentiality certification with self-certification and relaxed minimum land requirement norms for opening a private school to streamline the administrative process and allow more schools in residential or high-cluster areas, education minister Ashish Sood announced on Saturday.
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“The essentiality certificate serves an important purpose, as it ensures that new private schools are established only where there is a genuine need. If an area already has sufficient schools, there is no justification for opening additional ones. Further, the land requirement norms exist for a reason. Relaxing these requirements could allow anyone to open a school in a single room and label it as an educational institution,” he alleged.
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“Previously, under Rule 50 (ii) of the Delhi School Education Act and Rules (DSER),1973, the government had to assess the real need of an area by counting existing schools before granting recognition. This restriction has been removed,” read a statement issued by the minister’s office.
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“The minimum land area requirement previously mandated for the registration and setting up of private schools has been relaxed, acknowledging Delhi’s high urban density to allow institutions to emerge closer to residential clusters without compromising on structural safety or educational quality,” the statement added.
Sood said the move aims to align with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which mandates that recognition should be based on compliance with prescribed norms and standards, including physical infrastructure, safety measures, teacher qualifications, and pupil-teacher ratios.
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“This reform brings Delhi’s rules into complete alignment with the central RTE Act, ensuring that school recognition is based on transparent standards rather than subjective hurdles,” Sood said.
To be sure, besides recognition from the Directorate of Education, the schools need to be affiliated with an education board that has its own criteria for opening a school. For instance, the Central Board of Secondary Education’s 2018 bylaws specify their own minimum land requirements.
Meanwhile, education rights activist and lawyer Ashok Aggarwal criticised the move, alleging that it serves only two purposes: promoting the privatisation of school education and contributing to the decline of public school infrastructure.
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