New Delhi: For the children of guards, sweepers and gardeners employed with Delhi University, the promise of new classrooms has come before the promise of safety.Ten months after chief minister Rekha Gupta and education minister Ashish Sood inaugurated a four-storey block at Delhi University Social Centre Co-Ed Secondary School with much fanfare, the building still does not have a mandatory fire NOC — even as Classes XI and XII are already being held there.Built for the children of DU’s Class IV staff and other low-income families, the North Campus school has begun using rooms on the ground floor of the block because of space constraints, even though key approvals like fire clearance are pending.Under the Delhi Fire Service rules, educational buildings above 9 metres or higher than G+2 must secure fire clearance before they can be occupied, as part of mandatory fire prevention and life safety norms.The lapse comes at a time when multiple fire incidents have been reported across DU colleges in recent months and an RTI showed several campuses were operating with expired fire extinguishers. In April, a fire broke out in Hindu College’s computer lab. In the same month, another fire was reported in the portacabins of the students’ union office at Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College.The head of the school, Garima Bharti, said the school has not yet applied for a fire NOC and it was still unclear who was responsible for doing so.“Since the land belongs to Delhi University and this is a govt-aided school, there is still a lack of clarity on who will apply for the fire NOC. We have not applied yet. We will first seek clarity on that and then proceed,” she said.Bharti said the shift was temporary and driven by necessity, not readiness.“There is a space crunch in the old building, so for now, some rooms are being used. The building has otherwise been handed over, but the fire NOC, lift clearance and some electrical work is still pending. We are hoping these will come through in the next few months and the plan is to shift after the ongoing admission cycle is over,” she said.The school currently has 17 students in Class XI and 28 in Class XII – -(first senior secondary batch), all attending classes in the new block.Concerns over the lapse were also raised at a recent meeting of the university’s executive council, where member Aman Kumar flagged the issue during zero hour.“I raised the matter before the vice-chancellor during zero hour and sought clarity from the university’s engineering department. We were informed that the fire clearance is still pending. At a time when the university has seen repeated fire incidents, this is a serious lapse. We must also consider that the burden of uncertainty has fallen on a school built for the children of the university’s lowest-paid workers,” Kumar said.“Moreover, the school building was inaugurated and put to use without even basic regulatory clearance. This is deeply concerning,” he added.Founded in 1947 by the spouses of St Stephen’s College faculty members for the children of domestic workers employed in university households, the school began as a small welfare initiative on the campus. It was later recognised by MCD, gradually expanded to the primary and middle levels, and in 2025 was upgraded to senior secondary.Today, the school has nearly 900 students from nursery to Class XII. Most of them are children of guards, gardeners, cleaners and other Class IV employees working in the university, alongside students from low-income neighbourhoods such as Roop Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Wazirabad, Burari and Sant Nagar.Its expansion, however, has outpaced state support.While the school receives govt aid up to Class VIII, no grant has been extended to the senior secondary section. As a result, Classes IX to XII are being run without state support, through student fees, donations and internal contributions. Students in Classes 9 and 10 pay Rs 800 a month, while those in Classes XI and XII pay Rs 1,500, apart from bearing the cost of uniforms and books.The school authorities said they have sought grant-in-aid for the senior secondary section as well, arguing that the expansion was driven by demand from families who otherwise have few affordable schooling options in the area.The school currently runs with 35 teachers, of whom 19 are permanent. While Delhi University provides land, infrastructure and partial support, the school said 95% of govt aid remains limited to the junior section. In 2023, the school received a grant of Rs 20 lakh from DU, the school authorities said.
