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The Delhi Cabinet approved a bill to regulate the school fees amid complaints.
The purpose of the bill is to curb the huge increase.
Guidelines for 1,677 schools will be established, both aided and private.
New Delhi:
The Delhi cabinet on Wednesday approved a law to regulate the school fees amid the complaints of “arbitrary” hikes.
During a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Delhi School Education Transparency was approved in the determination and regulation of fees 2025 bills.
Referring to Delhi School’s education transparency, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said, “… I am very happy to say that the Delhi government has taken a bold and a historic step, and the draft bill has been passed by the cabinet today.”
He said, “A full guideline for all 1,677 schools in Delhi will be fixed for fees, whether they are assisted, non-aided or private. For the first time in history, such a bill is being dragged by the government for the first time in history.”
He said that in recent times, the issue of “arbitrary” school fee increase was widely discussed and there was “nervousness” between parents due to complaints about “harassment” of students in the name of some schools activities and fee increase. “The previous governments in Delhi did not make any provision to prevent the fee hike. There was no guidelines to help the government to prevent the increase in fee by private schools,” he said.
Education Minister Ashish Sood, who was also present for the presser, said that three committees will be formed to implement the new rules. He said that the panels will decide the fees for three years on the basis of the infrastructure of the school.
School teachers and parents will also be involved in the decision making process, Mr. Sood said. “Three teachers and five parents will be part of this process. These members will be selected through a draw and decide on the fee for three years,” they later told NDTV.
The minister also said that a 10 -member committee will be formed at the district level. It will include two women and one from a Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes category.
There have been long complaints by parents and parents against “irregular and excessive” fees hike by private unadrected schools in the national capital. Parents have also accused the schools of forced practices, which have been threatened to deny the admit card for board examinations and to strike the names of those they describe as unauthorized fees. He also alleged that students faced mental harassment in schools when the fee payment was delayed.
After the Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, the issue took a political turn, Atisi swiped a swipe in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and challenged Ms. Gupta to stop the increase in all private schools immediately.
On 15 April, Ms. Gupta said that notices were issued to schools on complaints of “arbitrary fees hike” and said that her government was committed to transparency and protection of children’s rights for education.
A day later, the Delhi government inspected 600 private schools, after complaints of irregular fees. According to the Directorate of Education (DOE), district-level committees were formed to look into the complaints. The committees are led by magistrates related to sub-division and include officials, accounting officers and principals of government schools.
The DOE said that schools were found guilty of increasing arbitrary fees for profiteering, demonstrations were being notices under Section 24 (3) of the Delhi School Education Act and Rules (DSER), 1973.
Inspections also revealed that several school fees failed to fulfill their statutory obligations about the fee details and audit financial reports, as mandatory under Section 17 (3) and Section 180 (3) of DSER.
On 16 April, the Delhi High Court included the Delhi Public School in Dwark at a library to treat “outrage” with “outrage” at Dwark and did not allow them to participate in classrooms or interact with their colleagues.
Justice Sachin Dutta said that the school, who was treating students like “chattail”, was eligible for closure.
