Ordinance on school fees favours private schools, claims AAP
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday alleged that BJP-led Delhi govt's ordinance on regulating fee hikes favours private schools and decried it as an attempt to "fool" parents.
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There was no immediate reaction from the ruling BJP to the allegations.
On Tuesday, Delhi Cabinet approved an ordinance empowering the govt to impose fines up to Rs 10 lakh on private schools for violating fee norms and even revoke their right to propose fee revisions. Education minister Ashish Sood said the cabinet, chaired by chief minister Rekha Gupta, approved the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Ordinance, 2025, which will be sent for presidential assent through the lieutenant governor.
AAP Delhi state president Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that in order to favour private schools, govt brought the ordinance through the backdoor. Calling it an "open" and "blatant" surrender of governance, he said the law is drafted entirely in favour of school management. "Ever since the BJP formed a govt in Delhi, the first session of private schools began with a wave of fee hikes. Parents were left with no choice but to pay," he said.
Previously, schools had to seek approval from the Directorate of Education before raising fees. Bharadwaj said, "From April 1, private schools increased fees arbitrarily without approval, and the govt took no action—no rollback or refunds were ordered."
Criticising the govt for bypassing public consultation and not bringing the bill before the legislative assembly, he said, "The draft was not made public, was not uploaded online, and no citizen feedback was sought."
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Bharadwaj explained the ordinance hands fee-fixing power to school-level committees, whose decisions will be final without govt oversight. These committees include five school members—three teachers, one principal, and one management member—and parents chosen by lottery. He warned the lottery might select uninterested or uninformed parents, giving schools a voting majority.
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