AAP seeks amendments to Fee Bill

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday proposed several amendments to the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025, claiming the current draft favours private school managements over parents.

The party demanded tighter audits, greater parental representation on fee regulation committees and a simpler grievance redressal mechanism.

Addressing a press conference, Leader of Opposition Atishi accused the BJP-led Delhi government of deliberately delaying the bill to allow schools to collect unchecked, hiked fees.

“This bill was ready in April but was brought to the House only now, giving schools months to impose arbitrary hikes,” she said.

AAP outlined four key amendments. First, it proposed mandatory annual audits, with schools required to submit audited accounts to parents. Parents would then be given 15 days to review and raise objections before any fee decision is finalised.

Second, the party suggested expanding the fee committees to include 10 elected parents, as opposed to the five-member composition currently stated in the bill.

Third, it demanded a more accessible grievance system — arguing a single parent’s complaint should be enough to initiate action, instead of the current requirement of 15 per cent of parents to do so.

Lastly, AAP insisted that parents must retain the right to challenge fee committee decisions in court.

“At the time of voting, it will become clear whether BJP MLAs stand with parents or with private school profiteers,” Atishi said.

AAP Chief Sanjeev Jha described the bill as “a shield for the school mafia,” alleging it centralises power with the Education Minister and Director of Education, bypassing judicial scrutiny.