Delhi Cabinet takes BIG decision on school fee hike, govt to impose...; check details

The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved a bill to regulate fee in all private schools in the national capital, which will provide a huge relief to parents who raised issue of arbitrary hike every year. Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that schools will face strict penalties from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh for non-compliance of the government’s directives. Gupta, who termed the move “bold and historic”, said that the BJP government will call an urgent session of the Delhi Assembly to pass the Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees Bill, 2025. 

The chief minister, flanked by Education Minister Ashish Sood, said that the issue was discussed widely in recent days and there was “panic” among the parents due to activities of some schools and complaints regarding “harassment” of students in the name of fee hike. “The previous governments in Delhi made no provision to prevent fee hike. There was no guideline to help government prevent fee hike by private schools,” she said. 

Sood said that the Bill proposes formation of a three-tier committees at school, district and state levels. This will bring much-needed transparency and structure to the process of determining school fees and protect parents from unregulated hikes. The entire process will be time-bound, ensuring that parents are not left in limbo, he said. 

According to the education minister, at the first level, every school will constitute a school-level fee regulation committee. This committee will include the chairperson of the school management, the principal as member secretary, three teachers, and five parents, including members from SC/ST communities and at least two women. 

“A nominee from the Directorate of Education will serve as an observer. Schools will no longer be able to increase fees arbitrarily. Any hike will be allowed only once every three years and only after approval from this committee. The decision to increase fees will be based on 18 critical parameters, including the condition of classrooms and buildings, the school’s financial reserves, and the quality of science laboratories, libraries, and playgrounds,” he said. 

These standards aim to ensure that fee hikes, if approved, are justified by real infrastructure or service improvements. Sood further announced that these school-level committees will be formed by July 31 and will be required to submit their reports within 30 days. “If the school-level committee fails to submit its recommendation on time, the matter will be escalated to the District Level Committee. If resolution is still not achieved, a State Level Committee comprising seven members will be empowered to take a final decision,” he said.

 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)