Three-member panel to review policy on aided schools in Delhi

A three-member committee has been constituted by Delhi government to review the policy on aided schools in the city, citing "dissatisfaction" among the stakeholders including teachers, students, parents and "arbitrary" decision-making of its managements.
The committee has been set up by the Education Department following directions from Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. There are around 211 aided schools in the national capital.
The Committee will undertake a "fundamental re-examination" of the relevant provisions of Delhi School Education Act and Rules (DSEAR '73) and submit its report within two months.
A government official said that the city government provides grants-in-aid of around Rs 390 crore to these schools.

"However, even after spending such large sums of money in supporting aided schools, most stakeholders are dissatisfied with the outcome. Managements of these schools complain of a lack of autonomy, while the government feels it has no say in their management," said the official.
The schools not only receive a maintenance grant of 95 per cent of their recurring expenses from the government, non-recurring grants for contingency, rent, equipment, library, etc is also provided to them, the official said.

He said teachers complain of "arbitrary and ad-hoc" decisions made by managements and the absence of any grievance redressal mechanism.
Parents are "unhappy" with the infrastructure, quality of teachers and "poor" learning outcomes in these schools, the official said.

The committee will be headed by former Director (Elementary Education) of HRD Ministry Amit Kaushik, Special Director (Act-II), Education Department Shashi Kaushal and Hemanth Pothula, member of Education Governance Task Force of the Delhi Dialogue Commission.