“Institutions created in the spirit of social service after Partition are struggling today under teacher shortages, administrative delays and an uncertain future.”

Delhi’s government-aided schools occupy a unique and important place in the educational history of the capital. Many of these institutions were established in the difficult years following Partition, when Delhi was witnessing an unprecedented influx of displaced families and there was an acute shortage of schools.

At that time, education was not regarded as a commercial enterprise. There were very few private “public schools” in the form in which we know them today. Education was largely considered a *social responsibility and an instrument of nation-building.*

Public-spirited citizens, philanthropists, community organisations, educational societies and social reformers came forward to establish schools. They contributed land, buildings, money, time and, above all, commitment. Their objective was not profit. Their mission was to ensure that children, particularly those belonging to ordinary and economically weaker families, were not deprived of education.

Many such institutions subsequently became government-aided schools.

Today, decades later, we need to ask an uncomfortable question:

Are we allowing this valuable educational legacy to slowly disappear?

A Successful Model of Government–Community Partnership

The aided-school system was, in essence, an early and successful model of public community partnership.

The management provided the institution, infrastructure, social involvement and administrative support, while the Government extended financial assistance, particularly towards salaries and recurring expenditure.

Delhi Government records themselves show the significance of this system. In 2016, while announcing a review of the policy relating to aided schools, the Government stated that there were 211 aided schools in Delhi receiving a recurring maintenance grant covering 95 per cent of recurring expenditure. The Government at that time also acknowledged an important reality: managements complained about lack of autonomy while the Government had its own concerns about accountability and administration.

That acknowledgement remains relevant today.

The relationship between the Government and aided-school managements should therefore not be viewed as that of a donor and a beneficiary. Both are partners in providing affordable education to society.

The Biggest Crisis: Shortage of Teachers

Among the many difficulties confronting aided schools today, perhaps the most serious is the shortage of teachers and other essential staff.

A school ultimately exists because of its teachers.

Beautiful buildings, smart classrooms, laboratories and digital systems cannot substitute for a qualified teacher standing before students every day.

Whenever sanctioned teaching posts remain vacant for long periods because of approvals, procedural requirements, recruitment restrictions, court cases, administrative interpretation or movement of files between different authorities, the ultimate victim is neither the Government nor the management.

The victim is the student! 

A mathematics class cannot remain without a mathematics teacher while administrative formalities continue for months. A science stream cannot function effectively without qualified science teachers. Laboratories cannot be properly utilised without laboratory staff. Similarly, schools require principals, administrative staff, librarians, special educators, counsellors, computer teachers and other personnel according to their needs.

Teacher vacancies must therefore be treated as an educational emergency, not merely an establishment or administrative matter.

Administrative Procedures Are Overwhelming Schools

Another serious concern is the increasing administrative burden on aided-school managements.

Accountability is necessary. Public money must unquestionably be used transparently and responsibly. No genuine school management can object to reasonable supervision.

But accountability should not become administrative paralysis.

Schools today have to deal with numerous permissions, approvals, inspections, portals, returns, recruitment procedures, financial sanctions and compliance requirements. Even routine matters can sometimes take considerable time.

The difficulty becomes greater because managements have responsibility for running their institutions but often feel that they do not possess adequate administrative authority to discharge that responsibility effectively.

This creates an unfortunate situation:

Responsibility remains with the management, but the authority required to fulfil that responsibility becomes increasingly limited.

There has to be a better balance.

These Schools Serve the Families Delhi Still Needs to Serve

The importance of aided schools should also be understood from the perspective of affordability.

They have historically educated children from middle-income, lower-middle-income and economically weaker families. Many have produced generations of doctors, teachers, administrators, entrepreneurs, professionals and responsible citizens.

Government and government-aided schools continue to form an integral part of Delhi's admission framework even today; the Directorate of Education's current 2026–27 admission system specifically includes Government and Government-Aided Schools.

If aided schools weaken or close, their students do not simply disappear from the educational system.

The Government will ultimately have to create additional capacity elsewhere.

Therefore, preserving a well-functioning aided school may actually be more economical and socially beneficial than allowing it to decline and subsequently creating replacement infrastructure entirely from public resources.

The Irony of Our Times

Many aided institutions were established when people with limited resources donated whatever they could for education. Land was precious even then. Yet social-minded individuals established schools because they believed that educating the next generation was a sacred social obligation.

Today, land values have increased enormously. Education itself has become a major economic activity, and premium private schooling can cost families substantial amounts.

At precisely such a time, institutions established on the principle of “ *education as service rather than* *business”* deserve greater protection not gradual neglect.

The Delhi Government itself, while legislating on school fees in 2025, reiterated the public-policy objective of curbing commercialisation and profiteering in education.

If that principle is accepted, institutions historically founded on a non-commercial and charitable philosophy deserve special policy attention.

What Should the Government Do?

Delhi needs a comprehensive Aided Schools Revival and Modernisation Policy rather than dealing with problems institution by institution.

First, the Directorate of Education should undertake an immediate school-wise assessment of all sanctioned teaching and non-teaching vacancies and establish a time-bound recruitment mechanism. Vacancies affecting classroom teaching should receive the highest priority.

Second, there should be a single-window system for aided schools so that proposals relating to appointments, promotions, financial sanctions, infrastructure and other essential matters do not remain pending at different levels indefinitely.

Third, statutory timelines should be prescribed for important approvals. Where an authority does not communicate objections within a reasonable period, the matter should automatically move to the next level for decision.

Fourth, there should be regular structured dialogue between representatives of aided-school managements and senior officers of the Directorate of Education. At present, many problems arise not from policy itself but from absence of communication and differing interpretations at operational levels.

Fifth, genuine managements with a proven record should be given reasonable operational autonomy, accompanied by transparent audit and accountability mechanisms.

Sixth, a special infrastructure-modernisation programme should be developed for old aided schools. Many institutions possess ageing buildings requiring renovation, laboratories, sports facilities, digital classrooms, fire-safety upgrades, accessibility infrastructure and modern educational equipment.

Seventh, rules and procedures governing aided schools should be comprehensively reviewed in the context of present-day educational requirements. Regulations framed decades ago cannot always respond efficiently to the needs of twenty-first-century schools.

Finally, there should be a policy mechanism for identifying aided schools facing genuine existential difficulty and assisting them before they reach a stage from which recovery becomes impossible.

Do Not Force Social Institutions to Give Up

One of the most worrying possibilities is that committed educational societies may eventually conclude that running an aided school has become administratively impossible.

If social organisations that have served Delhi for 50, 60 or 70 years begin withdrawing from education, it would represent much more than the closure of a few schools. Delhi would lose an important tradition of voluntary social participation in education.

Governments change. Administrations change. Policies evolve. But institutions built through decades of sacrifice cannot easily be recreated once they disappear.

The buildings may remain, but the institutional culture, alumni network, community attachment, traditions and spirit of service created over generations cannot be reproduced through a government notification.

A Partnership, Not an Adversarial Relationship

The Government and aided-school managements should therefore stop viewing each other from opposite sides of the table.

Their objective is identical: to provide good education to the children of Delhi.

The Government brings public resources, regulation and educational policy. Managements bring institutions, infrastructure, community participation, history and voluntary commitment.

Both sides need each other.

A mechanism based on trust with accountability, autonomy with transparency, and support with responsibility can revitalise the aided-school system.

The Time to Act Is Now

Delhi takes legitimate pride in its educational achievements. But educational progress cannot be measured only by establishing new schools or launching new initiatives.

It must also include preserving institutions that have served society faithfully for generations.

The founders of Delhi's aided schools did not establish them to create businesses.They established them because a newly independent and Partition scarred nation needed classrooms.They did not ask what financial return education would provide.They asked: How can we educate our children?

That spirit deserves respect.

The Government of Delhi and the Directorate of Education should urgently initiate a comprehensive dialogue with aided-school managements and prepare a long-term roadmap for their survival, reform and modernisation.

Because if teacher vacancies remain unfilled, essential approvals remain delayed, infrastructure deteriorates and managements gradually lose the ability or willingness to continue, these historic institutions will decline one by one.

And when we finally recognise what Delhi has lost, it may be too late to rebuild it.

Aided schools are not a liability of the Government. They are a legacy of Delhi's civil society and a valuable partner in public education.

The choice before us is clear: reform them, strengthen them and allow them to serve another generation or remain indifferent and watch a noble educational movement slowly die.

(Author is the Patron - Delhi Aided Schools Association.)