Bill on school fee hikes underlines education not a commercial enterprise: Delhi CM

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday said the broad message of the bill introduced by the Delhi government to regulate fee hikes by private schools was to underline that education was not a commercial enterprise. "Its for the first time that a government is openly standing alongside the parents of school children in Delhi. The AAP is looking sideways now as the BJP government did what it could not do while being in power in Delhi," Gupta told reporters.

Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood tabled the 'Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees Bill, 2025' on the first day of the ongoing Monsoon session. The bill is scheduled to be discussed and passed in the Assembly later in the day. Members of the House were also allowed to propose amendments in its provisions.

Three-tier fee regulation for all private schools

It seeks to regulate the fees of all private, recognised unaided schools in Delhi through a three-tier system of assessment and approvals via committees set up for the purpose, with stiff penalties in case of violations. On Thursday, Sood said all private and unaided schools in Delhi irrespective of where they are built will now need prior permission from government before raising their fees from now on Until now, only around 350 schools built on government-allotted land were required to seek approval before hiking their fees, he said.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj criticised the bill saying it is designed to protect more than 350 private schools from high court and Supreme Court rulings that previously kept their fee structures under tight scrutiny. Bharadwaj claimed that under existing laws and court directions, these schools were already required to seek permission from the director of education before increasing fees.