‘Leak in education’: Delhi Govt drops land rule, helps 2,000 unrecognised pvt schools get legal sanction

"It's a leakage in education – like a chai ki dukaan,” said Ashok Agarwal, an education activist and advocate describing Delhi’s recent decision to scrap the minimum land-area requirement for private schools – a rule that until August 26, 2026, had been one of the few checks ensuring a school had enough space for a playground, classrooms, basic facilities before it could be recognised.

The order follows a July 18 decision by Delhi education minister Ashish Sood to scrap the "Essentiality Certificate" (EC) – the clearance that required anyone opening a new school to first prove it was actually needed in that area.

Those in favour say the changes will cut red tape and bring Delhi in line with the Right to Education Act’s (RTE) objective norms and standards. Critics say they strip away the one practical tool that stopped a school from being run from a balcony or a room.

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Delhi Govt Land Rule: What changed

Delhi education minister Sood approved scrapping Rule 44(3) and Rule 50(ii) of the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973. Rule 44(3) required applicants to "submit a prior notice of intention to open a school" and obtain "an assessment of its necessity in a particular zone. Rule 50(ii) required the government to assess the "real need" of an area by counting existing schools before granting recognition.

In place of EC, schools will now follow a self-certification system wherein they will "only have to certify that they meet the norms prescribed under the RTE Act, including infrastructure, safety, teacher qualifications and pupil-teacher ratio”.

Sood said the changes bring Delhi's school-recognition framework "in line with the provisions of the RTE Act, under which recognition is based on objective norms and standards rather than subjective assessments of local need" and is meant to simplify recognition and cut paperwork.

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A separate order on August 26 removed the fixed minimum land-area figure schools previously needed to be recognised, extended, or allowed to add higher classes.

It is this rule that is now at the centre of a debate.

RTE Act: What Delhi private schools still have to follow

Even though the land-area rule is gone, schools in Delhi still have to meet all the other requirements listed under the RTE Act, 2009. The Act states that "No school shall be established, or recognised, under section 18, unless it fulfils the norms and standards specified in the Schedule." These include:

• An all-weather building with at least one classroom per teacher and an office-cum-store-cum-head teacher's room, barrier-free access, separate toilets for boys and girls, safe drinking water, a kitchen for mid-day meals, a playground, and a boundary wall or fencing.
• A minimum number of teachers based on enrollment – for classes 1 to 5, a pupil-teacher ratio not exceeding 40 and two teachers for up to 60 children; for classes 6 to 8, at least one teacher each for science and mathematics, social studies, languages; plus one teacher for every 35 students.
• Minimum 200 working days and 800 instructional hours a year for classes 1 to 5; 220 working days and 1,000 instructional hours for classes 6 to 8. Teachers must also [ut in 45 hours a week, including preparation time.
• Teaching-learning equipment for every class; a library stocked with newspapers, magazines, and books; play material, games, and sports equipment as required.

Chandrakant Singh, who has tracked the impact on over 2,000 unrecognised schools, said: "This rule being removed will make a way for them to be recognised," adding that there is already high demand for public schools in the city. "In this way, the government will have all the details," he said.

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He stressed that only land norms were removed, not the other requirements. "Facility reports, health certificates, water harvesting reports, building certificate reports, affiliation reports, qualified teachers, libraries – all of that is still mandatory," he said.

Singh summarised what he called five benefits of the change – unrecognised schools would get recognised; data collection would improve; schools would face a penalty running into lakhs of rupees if they failed to submit the other required reports; children would gain from schools closer to home; and “supply and demand will match”.

Singh said proximity matters most for children for daily-wage workers who travel to school without parental help.

Delhi Private Schools: The legal gap

Khagesh B Jha, Supreme Court advocate and education activist, said that the land-area rule sat outside the education department’s own domain to begin with. “First, land-requirement norms come under the Master Plan of town planning — they have nothing to do with the education department. So removing this rule doesn't make sense, and it's practically impossible”. He, however, added that land-related norms could be relaxed to help schools without being scrapped outright.

In fact, the RTE Act does not have any specification of land requirement, so technically nothing is being 'diluted' on paper, but in practice. It means anyone can again set up a school in “a balcony or a room”, as long as the other boxes are ticked.

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"There’s another catch – affiliation. Even with recognition in place, CBSE [the Central Board of Secondary Education] requires around 16,000 square metres of land for a school to be affiliated to it. But if a school doesn't meet that standard, it can simply seek affiliation with any other board. Bharatiya Shiksha Board, for instance, requires only around 1,100 square metres. One can easily show that on paper and a school can be set up,” Jha said.

"Affiliating board is an examination board, which only becomes relevant for Class 10 and Class 12. What happens to everyone else, up to Class 8? The RTE Act's rules only govern up to Class 8. I'm not sure where the DSEAR gets the authority here, when this isn't even their area of expertise, especially when it should be coming under the masterplan.”

"This also has an impact on quality control. It's a complete mess — basically, a school without land. I find this rule self-contradictory," concluded Jha.

Delhi Schools: Safety concerns, oversight

Agarwal said the move could accelerate the growth of unauthorised schools across the city.

He said land-leveling rules, parameters and a full system exist to ensure a school is set up properly. "If this is removed, anyone can start a school," he said.

"There has to be some minimum standards for land norms. Children need a playground, library, music, art education, computer education and various other curricular and extracurricular activities, else there would be no difference for school and homeschooling," said Shikha Sharma Bagga, director, Forum for Indian Parents, and an advocate at the Supreme Court.

Sudha Acharya, principal of ITL Public School, said safety concerns should outweigh those benefits, adding that recognised private schools scrutinise the qualifications and training of their teachers in ways informal or newly opened schools cannot. "There is a huge difference," she said, pointing to a lack of resources and oversight likely under the new norms.

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Acharya said ages 3 to 8 are known to be the most important stage for neural development, and that the NEP identifies formal education during this period as essential. "This rule, where anyone can start a school, will not help this situation," she said.

She also rejected the argument that school proximity is a pressing issue in Delhi. "We are not a hilly or mountainous place," she said. The change could instead become "a way for them to get into the business", warning that fee structures could go unmonitored and lead to "a huge rise" in costs for parents, Acharya added.

Mitra Ranjan, a member of the RTE Forum, said the removal of land-ownership norms could weaken compliance with the RTE framework. "There should be district codes to check whether there are schools that align with and follow the RTE," he said.

"This will lead to more privatisation of schools, which is then difficult to keep tabs on," he said, adding that the move could ultimately "destroy the educational system".