Delhi Cabinet passes draft Bill to regulate hike in school fees

The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday passed a draft Bill to regulate school fees in the national capital.

Announcing the decision, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said, "I feel overjoyed to tell you that Delhi Government has made a historic and brave decision, and the draft Bill has been passed by the Cabinet today. A complete guideline, procedure for fees will be decided for all 1677 schools in Delhi, whether that is aided, non-aided, private and all kinds of schools. For the first time in history such a Bill is being drafted by the Delhi Government which is foolproof."

On April 7, the Delhi government had warned of strict action against private schools that have arbitrarily increased their fees. It had also accused the previous AAP government of looking the other way when some schools raised the fee during their tenure.

Sood had said that schools that fall under the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 have to seek permission from the Directorate of Education before implementing any fee hike.

Earlier in the month, AAP leaders had launched an attack on the BJP-ruled Delhi government against the alleged fee hikes.

Leader of opposition Atishi had alleged that many schools significantly raised their tuition without proper oversight, emboldened by the BJP.

Similarly, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia had alleged that the ruling BJP government had handed over Delhi's education system to the " education mafia" and said that several private schools have hiked fees by 20 to 82 per cent.

The Sood had raised concerns about some schools increasing their fees while facing allegations of financial mismanagement during the previous government's tenure.