'Govt's bill is not meant to protect parents — it's to protect pvt schools'

Hours before the Delhi Assembly passed the new education bill on Friday, former chief minister and leader of opposition in Delhi Assembly Atishi discussed in an interview with Alok KN Mishra and Varun Bhandari the provisions in the bill that the Aam Aadmi Party is opposing, the “phansi ghar” row, among others. Edited excerpts:

- 

The Delhi government has come up with a bill to regulate arbitrary fee hikes by private schools. Why is AAP opposing the bill?

You're right that the current Delhi government has introduced abill, butit’snotto protect parents ~itis to protect private schools. If you look at the provisions of the bill and the larger issue, this is essentially a dispute between parents and school management. Whether a fee hike is justified can only be determined by auditing the school's accounts. Yet, there is no mention or provision for an audit in this bill. Without an audit, how can anyone assess finances?

Secondly, who decides the fee hike? A committee headed by a member of the school management, with just five parent representatives — that too chosen by draw of lots. Everyone in Delhi knows that draws of lots can be manipulated. In fact, there was a case of EWS lot manipulation 10-15 years ago, where a chit was put in the freezer and the cold one picked.