New Delhi, 7 April

The Delhi government will take strict action against private schools that arbitrarily hiked their fees, Education Minister Ashish Sood said on Monday, and accused the previous AAP dispensation of turning a blind eye to such a practice.

A list of such schools has been compiled, and each will be inspected. Based on the findings, necessary action will follow, he said.

'Out of 1,677 private schools in Delhi, 335 operate on government land and are bound by the Delhi School Education Act of 1973, requiring government approval for fee hikes but only 114 schools are exempt from this condition,' Sood said at a press conference.

Citing a 2004 Delhi High Court judgment in the 'Modern School case,' he reiterated that private schools could not hike fees without Directorate of Education (DoE) approval.

According to a statement, Sood cited data from a private school in Dwarka that had hiked its fees consecutively from 2020 to 2025 by seven per cent to 20 per cent.

He also named a few private schools that had hiked fees without DoE approval by 30 per cent to 38 per cent.

AAP has recently launched an attack on the BJP government over "fee hikes" in schools.

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

Last week, former education minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the BJP government had handed over Delhi's education system to the 'education mafia' and claimed several private schools hiked fees by 20 per cent to 82 per cent.

Responding to the allegation, Sood challenged the senior AAP leader to show proof. 'If any evidence is submitted, appropriate action will be taken.'

He also raised concern over a few specific schools that were facing allegations of financial mismanagement, hiking fees significantly during the previous dispensation.

Sood claimed that these cases involved discrepancies running into crores of rupees and added no audits were conducted.

He also revealed the education department had not received any audit reports from private schools during the past 10 years, despite it being a legal requirement.

During the past 10 years, only 75 of Delhi's 1,677 private schools were annually audited, he claimed.

Sood announced that on the instructions of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, an investigation had been launched against a private school in Dwarka, led by the Kapashera district magistrate.

'The school's year-on-year fee hikes are under scrutiny. Within the next 10 days, data on fee hikes across all private schools will be made public on the DoE website to ensure transparency,' he said.

Other schools also reportedly hiked their fees. The government is auditing all such cases and strict action will follow based on the report of a committee including respective subdivisional magistrates (SDMs), he said.

The committee has been formed to collect audit reports from all 1,677 private schools. The committee includes tehsildars and accounts officials to ensure thorough and impartial investigations.

Sood mentioned that the city government, under a directive from the chief minister, had appealed to courts to expedite hearings in fee hike cases.

Additionally, the education department has launched an email under the deputy director of education's supervision where parents or guardians can report grievances related to unjustified fee hikes. Parents or guardians can also file complaints in person at DoE offices.

Schools found guilty after investigation will face strict action, Sood said.