'Education or Extortion?' Parents Protest Against Delhi Private School Fee Hikes, CM Rekha Gupta Issues Warning

Several private schools in Delhi have increased their fees, leaving many parents worried. The sudden rise in tuition fees by several private schools in Delhi has led to widespread concern among parents, many of whom say they are unable to afford the increased charges. Last week, a group of parents with children attending a private school staged protests across the city, calling for action against what they believe are unjustified fee hikes.

Parents have also taken to social media to express their frustration, urging the government to step in.  

One father, sharing his grief on Twitter, expressed his frustration with the recent fee hike: "I'm a father of two girls, my monthly income under 30k, last 5 years I have admitted my child in a Pvt School of East Delhi, school fee was Rs 2990, now it has increased to Rs 9,300." 

Now Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta reacted to this and said,"Parents of children from some schools are constantly meeting me and telling me their problems. It is certain that no school has the right to harass any parent or child, threaten to expel them from school or increase the general fees. There are rules and laws for this, which are very important to follow. If any school is found violating this, then it will have to bear consequences... We have issued notices to all the schools against which we are receiving complaints."

Earlier, the education minister Ashish Sood responded on social media, saying "There are 1,677 private schools in Delhi out of which 335 are on government lands... 114 schools have not been bound to take permission from the state government as per the Delhi School Act 1973... We are being blamed for increasing Delhi school fees... The Supreme Court passed an order in the 2004 Modern School case that Delhi schools are bound to take permission from the Directorate of Education before increasing their fees... But they (AAP) got this order dismissed in 2024 in the Delhi High Court... Rekha Gupta will investigate the corruption in such cases where under-the-table money was taken." 

Amid a political row over the issue of alleged illegal fee hikes in several private schools in the Capital, Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood vowed to make public the data on fee hikes in the next 10 days on the Directorate of Education (DoE) website “to ensure transparency”. 

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