Supreme Court issues notice to Delhi's Directorate of Education over fee hike in private schools

The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Directorate of Education, the Delhi government, and the Action Committee for Unaided Recognised Private Schools regarding a plea challenging the order of the Delhi High Court. This order permitted private schools situated on government land to increase tuition fees without prior approval from the DOE, reported ANI.

The plea, filed by the Naya Samaj Parents Association, claims that private unaided schools in Delhi have now raised their fees significantly, often by as much as 100 per cent, and are imposing punitive measures against students.

The Delhi High Court had halted a circular issued by the Delhi government. The circular required private unaided schools, which were granted land by government entities, to obtain prior approval from the Directorate of Education (DoE) before raising their fees for the 2024-25 academic year, according to a report by the Indian Express.

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta on fee hike

Last month, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta assured to take action against private schools that have allegedly increased fees arbitrarily, according to a PTI report.

While expressing a “zero tolerance” policy for private schools that “threaten” parents with arbitrary fee hikes, the Delhi CM said that the government would take action and send notices to the institutions.

CM Rekha Gupta informed the reporters that she has met parents who shared their grievances, adding that rules regarding school fees must be followed.

“Parents have been meeting me with their grievances... that is for sure... no school has any right to harass parents and children. They have no right to threaten children and hike fees abnormally. There are rules and regulations (for fee hikes) which must be followed,” she said.

“If any school is found indulging in all these, then they will have to suffer. We will be issuing notices today to all those schools regarding which we have received complaints," she added.