SDMC to merge 29 schools, cites lack of students

New Delhi: Even as the South Delhi Municipal Corporation boasted earlier about admitting over 3 lakh children across its schools in the last year, the civic body is now planning to merge morning and afternoon sections at 29 select schools citing a lack of students and the advantages of requiring fewer number of school principals (currently, different principals run the morning and afternoon shifts).

While claiming that admissions to SDMC schools had gone up, the civic body had previously claimed that parents are choosing to enroll their children in schools under SDMC's jurisdiction because of the various infrastructural and education-related developments they had introduced.

However, now, the SDMC is set to merge shifts at 29 schools due to the lack of children enrolled there. As per officials, the selected schools have an average of just 150 students in each of them. Most of these schools are in the West and Najafgarh Zones (13 and 8 respectively), followed by six in the Central zone and two in the South Zone.

Accusing SDMC Mayor Mukesh Suryan of making false statements and presenting "fake data", Shikshak Nyay Manch's (Corporation Teacher's Union) President, Kuldeep Singh Khatri, asked, "The SDMC's Mayor was boasting that this time one lakh children have increased in SDMC Schools. If this is true, then why are these 29 schools being merged?"

However, education committee officials have insisted that the step to merge the schools had been taken in the interest of the students as well as the faculty. The plan is to merge schools with the morning and afternoon shifts since the schools have the infrastructure to accommodate all children at one go, they said, adding that each of these schools have around 20

classrooms.

SDMC's Standing Committee Chairman Col BK Oberoi said, "This will be good for everyone, this way we will be saving on principals for the schools and there will be more teachers in one school instead of being divided into morning and afternoon shifts. Children will also benefit since they will get access to better facilities."

Currently, SDMC schools have 1 teacher for approximately every 40 students. They are also planning to open an English medium wing in at least one school in each of the 104 wards under their jurisdiction, for which they have opened applications for the post of 200 qualified English teachers.