Atishi Alleges Delhi Government Will Allow Schools To Hike 10% Fees Every Year

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi on Monday wrote to Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta over the issue of rising school fees in private schools and asked her to issue orders immediately that no school collects the enhanced fee from any parent or guardian, until the accounts of the schools are audited.

Atishi, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi assembly, asked the government to ensure that "all accounts of schools seeking a fee hike be audited by CAG empanelled auditors in a time-bound manner. Any approval for a fee hike of even 1-2 per cent should only be granted to schools whose legitimate expenses cannot be met without such an increase."

"It has also come to our knowledge that a meeting was held between the current Education Minister of Delhi Ashish Sood and private school representatives on April 6, 2025. During this meeting private schools were assured that they would be allowed to raise fees once the protests of parents and the Aam Aadmi Party quiet down," Atishi said in a post on X.

"It was apparently stated that the Delhi government will bring a notification allowing 10 per cent increase in school fees every year, without any audits. Since Ashish Sood is a very senior minister in your cabinet, we can only assume that this decision has your green signal as well. If this notification is issued, this will have a huge financial impact on parents who send their children to these schools," she said.

दिल्ली में बेलगाम फीस बढ़ने का कारण है प्राइवेट स्कूलों और भाजपा की साँठ-गाँठ।

इस साँठ-गाँठ के सूत्रधार हैं - श्री भरत अरोड़ा। ये प्राइवेट स्कूलों की संस्था - 'Action Committee for Private Schools' के चेयरमैन हैं, और सालों से फीस की बढ़ोतरी के लिए लड़ते आए हैं। यह भाजपा के... pic.twitter.com/cVbFxZN7Yp

— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) April 9, 2025

The Letter reads, "Education is not a commercial activity, and profiteering cannot be allowed in private schools. Over the last 10 years, the previous government led by Arvind Kejriwal ji and thereafter me followed this principle not just in letter but also in spirit. Unfortunately, within the first two months of your government, it appears that private schools are being given a license to fleece parents as they wish."

"Parents of children studying in private schools in Delhi are protesting outside the schools. They are not allowed to go to school. After the BJP government came to power in Delhi, private schools have started looting fees," she said.

शिक्षा माफिया और BJP की सांठ-गांठ फिर हुई Expose‼️

♦️ रविवार 6 April को दिल्ली के निजी स्कूलों के मालिकों और मंत्री आशीष सूद की मीटिंग हुई है

♦️ इसमें स्कूल मालिकों को भरोसा दिया गया है कि स्कूलों के ख़िलाफ़ कोई एक्शन नहीं लिया जाएगा

♦️ कुछ समय बाद दिल्ली सरकार एक आदेश जारी... pic.twitter.com/6HbWsXmS6L

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) April 9, 2025

Atishi said parents of children attending private schools are protesting outside these institutions, as they are not being allowed to send their children to school due to the increased fees. She alleged that since the BJP government took charge in Delhi, private schools have started imposing unreasonable fee hikes.

"There was a check on school fees during the AAP government. If the audit revealed wrong fees, the schools would refund the fees even to the students who passed out. During the 10 years of our government, schools had to get audited before increasing the fees. But after the BJP government came to power, every day there is news of a fee hike in some school or the other... Every day, people are tagging us on social media, writing to us and saying that they should somehow stop this fee hike, even though we are in the opposition. They do not trust the government," she added.

Atishi pointed out that strict measures were in place to control school fees during the AAP government's tenure. She said if an audit revealed that schools had charged excessive fees, they were required to refund the extra amount, even to former students.

With inputs from PTI