Delhi Public School Society or DPS Society, is a chain of schools. The descriptor "Public School" references the model of the long-established public schools in the United Kingdom.[1] The Delhi Public School Society is the administrative authority for all its institutions in India and abroad.[2]
As of October 2024, there are 213 schools running under the DPS Society as franchises in India, and 6 more abroad. These are not core schools and are not managed directly by the DPS Society.[6]
Controversy
Due to its legacy, good academic and extra curricular performance, and alumni network, schools affiliated with the Delhi Public School Society are considered to be one of the best in India. This has given rise to a situation where other schools not affiliated with the "Delhi Public School Society" have named and branded themselves as DPS schools.
The first such case was that of the "Delhi Public School Ghaziabad Society" which was started in collaboration with the Delhi Public School Society but later became a separate organization, and currently runs a chain of eight schools. A court case was filed in 2002 in the Delhi High Court by the Delhi Public School Society against the Delhi Public School Ghaziabad Society was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.[7]
A second case, involved DPS alumni and society president Salman Khurshid, starting a parallel organization DPS World Foundation to run schools under the name of DPS World Schools. Khurshid was thrown out of the DPS society and a case was filed against his foundation.[8][9] The Supreme Court of India decided in favor of DPS society and DPS World Foundation changed its name to Delhi World Foundation and currently runs a chain of 60 schools named Delhi World Public Schools.[10]
The third such case was of the DPS Trust. The organization based in Rohini, New Delhi offered franchises to open schools under the brand name of DPS in smaller cities. The Delhi High Court, on 16 December 2012, barred the ‘DPS Trust’ from using the name ‘DPS’ or its registered logo as well as the name Delhi Public School for running a school or education-related services. The trust was ordered to pay Rs 10 lakh as damages.
[11]
Arvey Malhotra, a 10th-grade student at one of the DPS society schools, DPS Greater Faridabad allegedly committed suicide at his residence blaming the school for inaction on his complaints about bullying.[12] Arvey in his suicide note alleged that the school administration and other students bullied him over his sexuality [13] and the school's headmistress was held on the charges of abetment to suicide.[14] The mother alleged the homophobic nature of bullying and history of sexual assault in the DPS school.[15]
