Delhi Schools Fees Hike: Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has accused the BJP-led Delhi government of letting an "education mafia" flourish, alleging that school officials have become so brazen as to compel young children to sit outside classrooms over unpaid fees. Sisodia claimed such events never happened under Arvind Kejriwal's Chief Minister period. “If Kejriwal government was in power today, such school managers who torture innocent children in this manner would have been sent to jail within 24 hours.,” he said on X.
"During the ten years that @ArvindKejriwal was the Chief Minister, no one had the courage to do such a daring act," he added.
ANI reports that parents congregated outside major New Delhi schools including Indraprastha International School and Delhi Public School in Dwarka as a wave of protests swept the city. They expressed outrage over the claimed mistreatment of their children and recent fee increases.
Saurabh, one parent, said his Class 11 kid had been forced to sit in the school library for 21 straight days because of unpaid fees. He wants the government to step in and take over private schools violating families.
One more parent exposed a concerning disparity: "I have two kids in the same school. Since March 21, my son has been forced to sit in the library while my daughter is permitted in the classroom. I am paying the authorised fees, not the unlawful ones being requested," as reported by news agency ANI
Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood said in response to the public indignation that steps would be taken against schools collecting unauthorised fees. He said the Delhi High Court in 2024 had overturned the Supreme Court's 2004 order mandating schools to ask permission before raising fees, supposedly because of AAP government errors. Now looking into anomalies and reviewing all schools concerned is a special committee headed by CM Rekha Gupta.
