Govt to probe fee irregularities in 1,600+ pvt schools: Minister

The Delhi government will not allow the "commercialisation of education" or permit any "unethical" fee hikes in private schools, education minister Ashish Sood said on Monday, announcing a sweeping audit of all 1,677 private schools in the Capital.

- Varun Bhandari and Alok KN Mishra

NEW DELHI:

Sood said the government would soon deploy SDM-led teams — comprising tehsildars and accounts officers — to scrutinise the finances of every private school to determine if fee hikes were justified.

To assist with oversight, the education department has launched a dedicated email address — [e-mail] — where parents can send complaints regarding arbitrary or steep fee hikes. The email will be monitored directly by the deputy director of education, Sood said.

The announcement comes amid an escalating political row over school fee hikes. The opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leader Arvind Kejriwal have accused private schools of "looting" parents after the BJP took control of the Delhi government. They allege that private institutions are hiking fees indiscriminately, emboldened by the new administration.

Sood, however, turned the blame back on the previous government, accusing the AAP of collusion with private school managements and failing to regulate fee increases for the past 10 years.