A few days ago, the Delhi High Court had pulled up officials over the poor condition of government schools in the North East Delhi district of the national capital. This happened following Advocate Ashok Agarwal submitting a report on these government schools. The Delhi High Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed by NGO Social Jurist, represented by Advocate Agarwal.
Advocate Agarwal has been visiting these schools in order to note how these institutions have some major and despicable problems- from broken benches to no stationery for the pupils; and from no drinking water to no water facility in the washrooms; a lack of proper resources in these government schools in Delhi begs the question of why the concerned officials and the Delhi government could not maintain the standards for their educational institutions, which they otherwise claim to be existing in public.
Ahead of the next hearing in the matter on April 23, Sonakshi Datta of GoaChronicle spoke with Advocate Ashok Agarwal, who has been collecting data about all these government schools in North East Delhi. Advocate Agarwal said, ‘The state of these schools in Delhi is absolutely pathetic. This is nothing but a mockery of the helplessness of the students studying there.’
Advocate Ashok Agarwal told us that visiting these schools, he found out that the benches meant for the students were broken, and there were no books or writing material being made available for the children. He added how one female student in one of the schools told him that she could not go to the washroom for the whole day because there was no water available to be used in the restroom.
Over 200 Students found studying in tin classrooms in a Delhi Govt school Jagatpur. These tin classrooms exist for the last 26 years. DHC 20 years ago held that Govt cannot be permitted to run classes in tin classrooms. pic.twitter.com/WUkoaUisi1
— Ashok Agarwal (@socialjurist) April 19, 2024
यह देखने वाला नज़ारा है। pic.twitter.com/lNAMs6awsg
— Ashok Agarwal (@socialjurist) April 18, 2024
The condition is such that even potable water is not available in the schools. He added how the children did not even have school uniforms to wear, and in one instance, 107 students were sitting in one single classroom!
Agarwal further mentioned how a school was being run from a tin building, and after the Delhi government officials, especially the Secretary of Education, was called out by the court, the students studying there have now been shifted to another building. But it is also noteworthy that the attendance of these students is still being recorded in the older building only. A high rate of absenteeism was also seen among the students.
‘In a class of 73 students, only 42 were present, making the number of absentee students, 31.’, added Advocate Agarwal. He said how in an MCD school, three different sections were sitting in one classroom, with two teachers teaching, while the third one was absent! It was also seen that the students of classes 9-12 received Rs. 3000 each for books and other materials, but shockingly, this happens at the end of the academic year while this should be the first thing happening at the start of a year.
Earlier, the NGO Social Jurist had argued that the education of more than 1 lakh students in these schools was being affected as they were forced to study in schools offering either two hours of education per day or education on alternate days.
सुनो कितनो की क्लास है, कितने प्रेजेंट है और कितने गैरहाज़िर है। pic.twitter.com/44FY0K2tyD
— Ashok Agarwal (@socialjurist) April 18, 2024
Data collected on absence of students (18.4.24)
Ahead of the next hearing, the Delhi High Court has asked the Secretary of Education, who confessed that the condition of the government schools in Delhi is pathetic, and said that there was no lack of funds or resources and hence, the issues will be resolved in a time-bound manner, to file an affidavit to reply to the detailed report submitted by Agarwal.
