The Delhi Primary Education Act, 1960

(1) This Act may be called the Delhi Primary EducationAct, 1960. (2) It extends to the Union territory of Delhi. (3) It shall come into force on such date 1as the State Government may, by notification in the OfficialGazette, appoint.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, (a) "academic year" means the year beginning on such date as a local authority may specify withrespect to any specified area or with respect to approved schools generally or any approved school orclass of approved schools in particular within its jurisdiction; (b) "approved school" means any school in any specified area within the jurisdiction of a localauthority imparting primary education which (i) is under the management of the State Government or the local authority, or (ii) being under any other management, is recognised by the local authority as an approvedschool for the purposes of this Act; (c) "attendance authority" means any person appointed to be an attendance authority undersection 7; (d) "to attend an approved school" means to be present for instruction at an approved school onso many days in a year and at such time or times on each one of those days as may be fixed by thelocal authority concerned; (e) "child" means a boy or girl within such age group, not being less than six or more thanfourteen, as may be specified in a declaration made under section 4; (f) "local authority" means the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the New Delhi MunicipalCommittee and the Delhi Cantonment Board; (g) "parent", in relation to any child, includes a guardian and every person who has the actualcustody of the child; (h) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (i) "primary education" means education up to such class or standard, not beyond the eighth classor standard, as may be prescribed; (j) "rural areas" shall have the meaning assigned to it in section 2 of the Delhi MunicipalCorporation Act, 1957 (66 of 1957); (k) "special school" means any institution which imparts such primary education as is in theopinion of the State Government suitable for children suffering from any physical or mental defect; (l) "specified area" means any area within the jurisdiction of a local authority in which primaryeducation is declared by that authority to be compulsory under section 4.

(1) It shall be the duty of every local authority to provide forcompulsory primary education for children ordinarily resident within its jurisdiction, and for this purposeit shall, from time to time, submit to the State Government such proposals in the form of a scheme as itmay think fit providing for such compulsory primary education in the whole or any part of the area withinits jurisdiction for children of such ages and up to such class or standard as it may decide. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the State Government may, at any time,call upon a local authority to submit to it within such time as may be specified a scheme for compulsoryprimary education in such area within the jurisdiction of the local authority for children ordinarilyresident therein, and of such ages and up to such class or standard, as the State Government may specify. (3) The scheme submitted under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be in such form as the StateGovernment may specify and shall contain the following particulars, (a) the area in which primary education shall be compulsory; (b) the approximate number of children to whom the scheme will apply, classified according toage and mother-tongue; (c) a list of existing approved schools and the schools, if any, proposed to be opened for thepurpose, classified by languages in which instruction is given or is proposed to be given; (d) the number of teachers already employed and the additional staff proposed to be recruited; (e) the recurring and non-recurring cost of the scheme; and (f) such other particulars as may be prescribed. (4) The State Government may, after making such inquiry as it may consider necessary, sanction withor without modifications the scheme submitted by the local authority under sub-section (1) or sub-section(2).

(1) On receipt of sanctionunder sub-section (4) of section 3, the local authority shall give effect to the scheme so sanctioned bymeans of a declaration that with effect from the first day of the next academic year primary educationshall be compulsory in any area specified in the declaration for children ordinarily resident in that areaand within such age group and up to such class or standard as may be specified in the declaration. (2) Every declaration under sub-section (1) shall (a) be published in the Official Gazette and in such other manner as the local authority maydecide; (b) be so made as to ensure that there is an interval of not less than one hundred and twenty daysbetween the date of the publication of the declaration and the first day of the next academic year.

The State Government shall, in respect of every scheme sanctioned undersub-section (4) of section 3 or prepared under sub-section (1) of section 17, bear such part of the recurringand non-recurring cost of the scheme as it may from time to time determine.