"Delhi Govt helping private schools, ignoring parents," says AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj on fee hikes

India Gazette

2 days ago

New Delhi [India], June12 (ANI): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bhardwaj on Thursday accused the Delhi government of acting under pressure from private school lobbies by introducing a school fee ordinance without any legislative scrutiny or public consultation.
Addressing a press conference, Bhardwaj alleged that soon after the formation of the new government in Delhi, private schools began arbitrarily raising fees under various heads--uniforms, books, stationery, air conditioning, extra classes, and extracurricular activities--without any recourse for parents. He said the fee hike was imposed from April 1, even though the law requires prior approval from the Department of Education.
'The government has not taken action against any school nor asked them to roll back the increased fees. Instead, it quietly brought a law via ordinance without any discussion or public consultation,' Bhardwaj said.
He accused the government of avoiding scrutiny by not tabling the bill in the Delhi Legislative Assembly and instead seeking Presidential assent.
He further alleged that details of the ordinance were selectively leaked to only two newspapers, and the complete text had not been made public. According to Bhardwaj, the ordinance appears designed solely to protect the interests of private school owners.
He also took issue with the new fee regulation mechanism introduced in the ordinance. 'The regulation committee at the school level will now decide fees. This committee comprises school insiders: three teachers, one principal, and a representative from the management, and only one parent selected through a lottery. That parent may not even know school accounts or audits,' Bhardwaj said.
Bhardwaj said that it is deemed valid under the new arrangement if the committee approves a fee hike. 'There is no longer any requirement for approval from the Director of Education,' he added, terming the setup as a 'rubber stamp' for private schools.
He criticised the clause that provides a penalty of Rs 50,000 only if a school charges more than the committee-approved fee. 'Why would a school demand more when the committee itself will approve the inflated fee? There will never be a penalty,' he argued.
Highlighting another issue, Bhardwaj said that if parents want to appeal against a fee hike, the law requires signatures from 15 percent of all students' parents. 'For a school with 3,000 students, where will parents find 400 others with addresses and consent to file an appeal?' he asked.
Calling the law anti-parent and pro-management, the AAP leader said it betrayed Delhi's middle class. He said the ordinance bypassed the Assembly even though a special session could easily have been called.
'The government is hiding behind procedural excuses and running away from debate because it knows it is working at the behest of private school owners,' Bhardwaj said during the press conference.
Earlier, the Delhi Cabinet approved the School Fee Act, which regulates fee increases in all private schools across the city. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced that the Act would bring transparency to the fee structure of 1,677 private schools.
The Chief Minister emphasised that the Act was meant to regulate fees, transparently ending arbitrary fee hikes. She claimed that previous governments had allowed fees to increase unchecked, but her government had taken steps to address the issue.
The Delhi Cabinet gave its nod to the Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees Bill, 2025, relieving thousands of students and parents across the capital.
The bill's key provisions included a three-tier committee structure to govern fee regulation. The first level comprised the School-Level Fee Regulation Committee, which included a DOE nominee, five parents selected by lottery (including two women and one SC/ST member), and school representatives.
The second level consisted of the District-Level Committee, which was invoked if the first level failed to resolve the issue within 30 days.
The third level included the State-Level Committee, which was to be involved if the issue remained unresolved at the district level within 30-45 days.
Parents representing at least 15 per cent of a school's students were allowed to directly escalate a case to the district committee if dissatisfied.
Schools violating the provisions faced penalties ranging from 1 lakh to 10 lakh for non-compliance or bypassing the process. (ANI)