Education Minister Pledges to Crack Whip on Private Schools Over Fee Hike

Inspections planned for schools that increased fees without government consent.

- TIKAM SHARMA

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 7 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.