Delhi: Minister vows to ban arbitrary school fee hikes; exposes previous AAP govt's graft

IANS April 7, 2025 192 views

Delhi's Education Minister Ashish Sood has launched a significant investigation into private school fee practices from the previous AAP government's tenure. He has publicly challenged Manish Sisodia to prove the BJP government's alleged laxity and has set up a dedicated email for parents to report arbitrary fee increases. The minister claims the previous administration failed to conduct proper audits and allowed schools to exploit students and parents through unauthorized fee hikes. Sood promises transparency and swift action, including publishing a comprehensive report of fee hikes within 10 days.

"Why did they not lodge any complaint against errant schools" - Ashish Sood, Delhi Education Minister
New Delhi, April 7: Assuring action against arbitrary fee hike by private schools, Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Monday challenged former minister Manish Sisodia to approach the CBI and get a probe ordered if he has proof to prove laxity on the part of the BJP government.

Key Points

1

BJP government launches comprehensive audit of Delhi private school fee practices

2

Minister reveals Rs 115 crore unpaid EWS student fee liability

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Exposing decade-long irregularities in school fee management

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New complaint mechanism launched for parents to report fee hikes

Addressing a press conference, Sood promised that the Rekha Gupta-led state government will get an investigation done into which private school illegally increased fees during the AAP rule.

He also released an email ID – ddeact1@gmail.com – on which parents will be able to lodge their complaints against arbitrary fee hikes by schools.

Sood criticised the previous AAP-led administration in Delhi for alleged irregularities in auditing private schools and not acting against them for extraneous reasons.

“Why did they not lodge any complaint against errant schools. We will get cases registered and within 10 days we will upload information on website about fee hikes allowed by the AAP government in the last 10 years,” said Sood.

“The previous government also indulged in irregularities in admission of EWS students. In some cases, five EWS students of one family were admitted to one school. The previous government has left a liability of Rs 115 crore towards fee payment of these students which was not paid to schools, forcing managements to harass EWS students,” he said.

The Minister said the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 mandates annual audits for all 1,677 private schools in the city. However, over the past decade, only about 75 schools were audited annually.

“The education department has no record of audit reports of any school related to the past 10 years,” he said.

He alleged a school caught committing a fraud of Rs 15 crore was allowed to raise fees by 15 per cent and 13 per cent in two phases.

Calling Sisodia a jobless politician, Sood said that he calls himself as the “father of education revolution” in the city but he allegedly blackmailed private schools and later allowed them to hike fees.

“Did the Arvind Kejriwal government frame any policy to keep managements of private schools under check?” he asked.

He said there is no record of cancellation of recognition of any school and accused the previous government of issuing notices to schools and settling matters “under the table” even as middle class parents suffered due to hike in salaries.

Earlier, in a video message, Leader of Opposition Atishi alleged that parents across the city were up in arms against the arbitrary fee hike by private schools and the BJP government was just a mute spectator.

Her party colleague Sisodia highlighted the “revolution” brought about in the education sector in the city over the past 10 days.

Reader Comments

R
Rahul K.
Finally some action against these private schools! My kid's school increased fees by 25% last year with zero explanation. Hope this new system actually works 🤞
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Priya M.
While I appreciate the focus on fee regulation, the constant political blame game is exhausting. Can we just focus on solutions rather than who did what in the past?
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Amit S.
The email complaint system is a good start, but will there be any real consequences for schools that violate rules? We've seen many such promises before...
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Sunita R.
As a teacher at a private school, I hope any new regulations consider our salaries too. Many schools hike fees but don't increase staff pay accordingly 😔
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Vikram J.
The EWS admission scam is shocking! 5 students from one family in same school? No wonder regular parents struggle to get admissions. Needs proper investigation.
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Neha T.
Transparency in school audits is long overdue! But releasing 10 years of data in 10 days seems unrealistic. Hope they don't rush and compromise accuracy.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Tags:
Delhi Education Ashish Sood Manish Sisodia School Fee Hikes AAP Corruption Private School Audit
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