The battle for course correction in India’s corporation-run schools

Today, MCD runs 1,534 primary schools in the city, serving over 700,000 students — the highest of any municipal corporation in India

New Delhi

The entrance to the MCD primary school at the B-1 block JJ Colony in Bawana. (Raj K Raj/HT)

Ashok Agarwal, a lawyer based in the Capital, stepped into a Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) school for the first time in 1997.

“That year, Delhi’s private schools had hiked their fees by up to 400%, sparking massive protests by outraged parents who turned to me for legal recourse. I visited a MCD school in Shahdara out of curiosity, wondering why, despite numerous public schools in the Capital, parents preferred expensive, private ones,” recalled Agarwal.

What he saw shocked him. “The MCD school was a small setup under a tin-shade roof, with children sitting on the dirty, soggy floor.”

Now 71, Agarwal has since waged a legal battle in an attempt to overhaul Delhi’s public school system. His activism has been crucial in the abolishment of private schools interviewing young children and their parents before granting admission, ensuring equal rights for differently abled children, and securing court mandates to appoint special educators across Delhi government, MCD, and private unaided schools.

“I have been visiting public schools for the past 27 years, and it pains me to say that despite this prolonged battle to ensure quality education for poor children in Delhi, not much has changed—except that many of these schools have upgraded to brick structures,” laments Agarwal.

However, Delhi’s civic body is not the only corporation that fails to deliver its mandate to provide primary education —municipal corporation schools across the country have consistently made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

A history of municipal education

Municipal corporations established the first schools in cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai (then Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras) in the late 19th century or early 20th century to provide primary education to urban children. It was believed that civic bodies could integrate educational planning with other aspects of urban development, such as infrastructure, health, and sanitation, leading to better student outcomes.

“Municipal corporations were considered ideally suited to provide education due to their direct connection with the community, which meant they could offer a more responsive and tailored educational system,” said Deep Chand Mathur, former PRO of MCD.

Today, MCD runs 1,534 primary schools in the city, serving over 700,000 students — the highest of any municipal corporation in India. In contrast, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has about 320,000 students enrolled in its 1,147 primary and secondary schools, while the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has 95,000 students in its 281 schools, and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has 16,000 students enrolled in its 224 schools.

In April, the Delhi high court, addressing a PIL filed by Agarwal, rebuked MCD — which runs primary-level classes up to grade 5 — for its failure to supply uniforms, notebooks, and stationery to approximately 200,000 students lacking bank accounts. The court remarked that this “did not represent a happy situation” and would lead to children losing interest in their education.

Schools run by GCC are in no better condition. Many believe an inadequate education budget is the root problem. While roads and drains receive more than ₹1,000 crore in budgetary support, education gets less than ₹100 crore annually. This has resulted in most GCC schools lacking basic amenities such as safe drinking water, clean toilets, and adequate furniture.

GCC deputy commissioner (education) Sharanya Ari did not respond to HT’s questionnaire about the state of affairs at corporation-run schools.

Students at the KMC-operated Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy Memorial School in Kolkata. (Samir Jana/HT)

Last year, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) decided to close down 18 of its 242 primary schools due to declining student enrolments and dilapidated school buildings. Battling a fund crunch, KMC is seeking to partner up with corporate houses and other government and non-government organisations to help upgrade its schools. Last year, it asked the public to donate children’s books to the 224 schools run by the civic body.

In February, the civic body presented a budget of ₹5,166.52 crore, allocating only ₹52.12 crore to education. Both mayor Firhad Hakim and deputy mayor Atin Ghosh did not respond to HT’s calls and messages for a comment.

Course correction

Despite being a major education provider, MCD has grappled with years of governmental apathy and neglect. But its officials insist a course correction is underway. “We have identified schools in need of upgrades and constructing new ones while renovating existing ones citywide. These new schools will feature smart boards, play equipment, spacious playgrounds, and modern teaching methods,” said a senior MCD official.

“Additionally, we are making efforts to boost enrolment, including for children with special needs (CWSN) through door-to-door surveys, pamphlet distributions, and audio messages. Many school principals have recently undergone management and leadership training at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs),” the official said.

In recent years, some corporations in cities such as Mumbai and Ahmedabad have successfully rebranded and revamped their schools. For example, BMC — India’s richest corporation — in 2020 rebranded its schools as Mumbai Public Schools (MPSs), introducing a new logo and colour scheme for buildings.

“We have been constantly improving our schools. Renaming was aimed at changing the perception of municipal schools and attracting more students,” said a BMC official.

“Our schools now offer non-state board curricula such as ICSE, CBSE, IGCSE, Cambridge, and even IB, making BMC the first civic body to do so in the country. This has ensured that students have multiple curriculum choices, leading to a significant increase in enrolment,” said the official.

In February, BMC presented its highest-ever budget of ₹59,954.75 crore for the financial year 2024-25, allocating ₹3,497.82 crore to its education department.

The budget also introduced several new schemes, including financial assistance for top scorers from BMC schools— ₹25,000 annually towards higher education or college tuition fees, whichever is higher. Another scheme offers ₹50,000 one-time assistance for medical and professional entrance exam preparation, and the third provides the same amount for competitive exam preparation, including Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) or Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

“The success of municipal schools is when the local community proudly feels ‘it is our school’. Corporations like Mumbai have undertaken important initiatives to improve their schools. Mumbai, for instance, has collaborated with NGOs to provide essential pre-primary education, crucial for laying a strong foundation for primary education. The corporation has also invested in new infrastructure,” said Farida Lambay, co-founder of Pratham, an NGO dedicated to improving education quality for underprivileged children.

“What’s noteworthy is that BMC has not only transformed the perception of its schools but also engaged parents actively through parent groups. But one area needing improvement is student attendance, currently at about 66%. Besides, there is a need to fill teacher positions regularly,” Lambay added.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation School Board has also been working to strengthen its schools, converting existing schools into “smart schools”.

“Our smart schools feature smart boards, 3D educational charts, development programmes, and vocational training. We have also distributed laptops to students in many of these schools. We are currently operating 80 smart schools,” said Ahmedabad municipal commissioner M Thennarasan.

“Approximately 9% of the corporation’s budget is allocated to education. We wish to elevate all schools to the standards of top private schools,” he added.

Milind Mhaske, CEO of Praja Foundation, which advocates participatory city governance and brings out annual reports on municipal education in Delhi and Mumbai, emphasised that apart from the budget, there is a need to reform the administrative structure that governs municipal education across cities in India and give more power to school leaders, including principals.

He pointed to the example of New York City, where local school boards wield substantial financial and administrative powers, with board members acting as educational leaders influencing policies governing their public-school system.

“The decision regarding a school should be taken at the neighbourhood level. There is a need to adopt new management practices by giving more autonomy to school leaders. The beginning must be made by first empowering mayors,” Mhaske said.

“Besides, comprehensive, regular evaluation of children to measure learning outcomes and proper, periodic evaluation of teachers with support for building their capacities are essential to maintain education standards in municipal schools,” he added.