Activist Flags Severe Overcrowding in East and Northeast Delhi Government Schools
The recurring problem of overcrowded classrooms in Delhi government schools is back in sharp focus after education activist and lawyer Ashok Agarwal sent a letter to the Delhi education department. In the communication, Agarwal sought urgent intervention from authorities to curb an excessively high student-classroom ratio in several government schools, particularly across east Delhi.
According to the letter, the severe capacity problem is unfolding across multiple schools in the area. Several class sections are currently packed with between 70 and 80 students. In certain extreme cases, class registers have expanded even further, with close to 90 students reading together inside the exact same classroom.
The pressure is especially acute at the senior secondary level. "The situation is particularly serious in senior secondary classes (XI and XII), where the student-classroom ratio remains exceptionally high, especially in classes involving subjects such as physics, chemistry and biology," Agarwal stated in his letter.
Agarwal pointed out that learning conditions are being heavily compromised by institutional shortages. He added that a persistent shortage of subject teachers along with the lack of additional class sections continues to directly affect the enrolled students.
The concern over stretched school capacity is neither new nor confined to east Delhi. Similar overcrowding has repeatedly surfaced in government schools situated across northeast Delhi, where high student enrolment coupled with limited classroom capacity has created major logistical bottlenecks for school administrations.
To manage the heavy overflow of students, government schools in northeast Delhi have been prompted to implement double shifts. School authorities have also had to repurpose libraries and other campus spaces into temporary classrooms and, in some cases, stagger attendance among their pupils.
This measure has placed direct limits on classroom access. A ground report from northeast Delhi in September 2024 found that this mounting infrastructure pressure was actively affecting how often some children were able to attend school.
