An acre is enough to set up a Plus-II school (ISC) under the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations. For schools offering courses till Class X (ICSE), half an acre will suffice.

The earlier requirement for any Council school was two acres.

The decision opens the door for institutions keen to set up schools but struggling to find two acres of open space within city limits.

But it shuts the doors on the right of children to study in schools with breathing space and playing fields.

?A majority of existing schools have cramped classrooms, no playgrounds or even proper fire-fighting facilities,? observed Ismail Nehal, president, Association of Teachers of Anglo-Indian Schools. ?After this rule revision, more such schools will be allowed to come up? And what happens to those schools operating out of premises that would not even measure half-acre, forget an acre?? he asked.

The relaxation, council officials clarified after a meeting last week in Delhi, would be granted to schools in Calcutta and other cities where the population exceeds 2.5 million.

A growing tendency among schools to operate from a limited space ? thereby denying students the opportunity to pursue extra-curricular activities ? had prompted the council last year to enforce the two-acre stipulation.

The council had stopped accepting applications for affiliation from schools that were found to be operating from smaller plots.

?There is a growing demand for ICSE and ISC schools among parents and students in Calcutta. But many of those willing to set up schools have complained that they could not find a two-acre plot in town,? said Gillian Rosemary Hart, principal of Welland Gouldsmith School, and a member of the council?s executive committee.