After surveying 64 schools over the past month, the Education Committee set up by MCD in August has flagged negligence and poor conditions in several schools across the Capital.
During an inspection of an MCD school at Prem Nagar in Karol Bagh on Wednesday, the committee observed multiple violations of norms. Members said the school lacked functional washrooms, and faced issues such as teacher absenteeism and irregular monitoring of teaching practices. A show-cause notice was issued to the Deputy Director of Education (DDE) of the Karol Bagh Zone and the School Inspector (SI).
Amit Kharkhari, Deputy Chairman of the committee, who led the inspection, said, “The school was in extremely poor condition, with a foul smell detectable even 20 ft away from the washrooms. It has approximately 2,500 students across both morning and evening shifts. Despite having Rs 3.5 lakh in MCD funds available with the school, no inspection has been conducted by any officer from the civic body, the SI, or the Education department since the academic year began in April.”
“There are only 19 SIs for around 1,500 schools. We are aware of the staff crunch …All principal positions will be filled by next week,” Kharkhari also said.
Yogesh Verma, director of the committee said, “We have directed all schools to clean their water tanks. Budgets from the MCD have been allocated for repairing schools and toilets, and the work will commence shortly.”
Verma also announced an increase in the per-student grant for MCD school students from Rs 1,650 to Rs 1,750. “The total amount will be directly transferred into the students’ accounts,” he added.
