How to Open a New School

in India

Schools in India are required to run as charitable organizations, however, many people know the vast amount of money that can be made from the schooling sector in India as there is a tremendous shortage of good schools for the increasing number of children who require schooling every year.

How to start a new school in India

1. Register trust so as to prove the non profit motive of opening the school. 2. An Essentiality Certificate is required to be obtained from the Department of Education. This document is what is later used to help acquire land to build the new school at a reduced price from government authorities.

GUIDELINES FOR ESSENTIALITY

CERTIFICATE

What is expected for opening

school in Delhi area . . .

• Any individual, association of individuals, society or trust, desiring to establish a new school, not being a minority school, shall before establishing such new school, give an intimation in writing to the administrator of his or their intention to establish such school. (Rule 44 of the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973) • An application in this regard is be submitted d by any individual, association of individuals, society or trust, in the prescribed application form. A copy of the Application Form is annexed. While applying for grant of Essentiality Certificate, the following documents are required to be submitted along with application. • Processing fee of Rs. 500/ - (rupees five hundred only) in the from of DD drawn in favor of Director of Education, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi. • Memorandum of Association and Rules & Regulations of the Society/ Trust. • Affidavit as to the relationship of the members of the Society/ Trust. • Registration certificate of the Society/Trust • Copy of FDR in the joint name of the Society and the concerned Deputy Director of Education for Rs. 2.00 lakhs valid for three years. • Affidavit that the Society/Trust will run the school under the provisions of the Delhi School Act, 1973 and the Rules framed there under. • Undertaking regarding fees and other charges. • Complete list of the members of the Society/Trust along with full particulars (educational qualification, occupation, residential and occupational address) and signature of the members with supporting documents. • Details of land and building with supporting documents, if any. • Project report of the proposed school. • Experience of the members of the Society/Trust in the field of education with supporting documents. • An undertaking to the effect that if the Society/Trust is granted Essentiality Certificate for a period of 05 (five) years, the Society/Trust will not apply for extension of Essentiality Certificate beyond 05 (five) years. 3. The following instructions/guidelines are to be strictly followed while applying for grant of Essentiality Certificate for establishing a new school. • The applicant should clearly mention the address (correspondence and permanent) of Society/Trust in the application form. • The applicant must enclose a copy of Memorandum of Association and Rules & Regulations of the Society/Trust duly attested by the Gazetted Officer. • The applicant should also enclose a copy of Registration Certificate of the Society/Trust duly attested by the Gazetted Officer. • The applicant must indicate the stage of education intended to be imparted. (Stage means Middle School, Secondary School or Senior Secondary School). • The applicant can obtain relevant information regarding number of school of the intended stage in existence in the Zone, where the new school is proposed to be established and the population of such zone, from the Department’s Website. The website address of the Department is http//www.edudel.nic.in • The applicant should also submit an affidavit regarding relationship of the Members of the Society/Trust irrespective of the fact whether the Members of the Society/Trust are related to each other or not. • The applicant should enclose a copy of FDR for Rs. 2 Lacs (in the joint name of the Society and the Deputy Director Education of the concerned district) valid for at least 3 years. The applicant should give a certificate that the FDR submitted by the society will not be used for applying for other Essentiality certificate(s) for establishing any other school(s) in any other zone(s). • The applicant should clearly mention in the affidavit that the Society/Trust will run the school under the provisions of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 and the Rules framed there under. • The applicant should give an undertaking (regarding the fees and other charges i.e. registration charges, admission fee, tuition fee, etc. • proposed to collected) that the amount of registration charges, admission fee, tuition fee etc. will be strictly in accordance with the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 and instructions issued by the Directorate of Education from time to time. • While giving the list of members of the society/Trust, the applicant should clearly mention the educational qualifications, occupation, occupational address and residential address of the members of the Society/Trust along with their Signatures. In case any of the members is a Govt. servant, NOC from his/her employer is to be enclosed along with the application form. • The applicant should also submit the bio -data along with supporting documents of all the members of the Society/Trust. • If the applicant is in possession of any land and building, supporting documents, duly verified by the Manager of the School, should also be enclosed with the application form. • The applicant should submit a Project Report of the proposed school indicating therein the facilities to be provided to the students, financial position of the Society/Trust, source of financing the cost of the Project, fixed assets (if any) etc. • The applicant should also indicate the proposed procedure, till recognition is granted, for the selection of Head o f School, teachers and non- teaching staff and the minimum qualifications for their recruitment. He should also clearly mention the proposed scale of pay for all the categories of the staff, until the recognition is granted to the school under the Act. • The applicant must ensure that no column in the Application Form is left blank. Any deviation from the sequence in the Application Form will not be entertained. • The applicant should also enclose copy of last three years’ audited statements of the Society/Trust. • The applicant should also submit an undertaking that the Society/Trust will not utilize the land allotted by DDA or any other land owning agencies other than for the purpose specified in the Land Allotment Letter. • In case the society is already in possession of valid Essentiality Certificate, it should be clearly indicated whether they have established a school against the said Essentiality Certificate of not. • The Application Form for Essentiality Certificate, complete in all respects as indicated above, should be submitted to the Education Officer of the Zone in which the school is proposed to be established. It may be noted that the Society/Trust will be able to establish the school only in the Zone for which Essentiality Certificate has been granted. • The Competent Authority will have full right to reject any application for Essentiality Certificate without assigning any reason thereof. • The Essentiality Certificate, if granted, would be valid for a period of 05 (five) years. No extension of the Essentiality Certificate would be granted. • The Society/Trust will have to abide by all instructions and circulars issued by the Department of Education from time to time, as far as grant of Essentiality Certificate is concerned. The conditions for grant of Essentiality Certificate can be changed any time by the Department of Education and the department would not entertain any representation in this regard, even if any of the changed condition adversely affects the interest of the Society/Trust to establish a school. One of the best articles I have seen on starting a school and getting the various licenses required is a document done by Mayank Wadhwa, a summer intern who participated in the Summer Research Internship Program 2001 of the Centre for Civil Society in New Delhi. She has meticulously listed the step by step procedure of starting a school in India. The various licenses required, as well as the hurdles one has to face to open a new school in India.