Delhi to Table Bill on Private School Fee Hikes
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Seeking to control tuition increases in private schools, the Delhi government will submit new legislation during the Delhi Legislative Assembly’s Monsoon Session, which starts on August 4 under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. According to legislation passed on April 29 of this year, the bill aims to improve openness and responsibility in the fees independent private schools charge. Any school that goes against the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill will face harsh penalties. For the first offense, a fine of between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh could be assessed; successive offenses could carry fines of up to Rs 10 lakh. The penalties for a school will slowly grow every 20 days if it doesn’t handle overcharges within the assigned time. Ongoing disobedience may also stop the group from seeking more charges or helping with bureaucratic decisions. Starting at the school level with a committee made of instructors, parents, school headmasters, and a delegate from the Directorate of Education, the law establishes a multi-tiered fee management system. Should the issue not be fixed at the school level, it will be presented before the District Fee Regulatory Committee, and, if necessary, a review committee chosen by the government. Although the government asserts this is in the best interests of school officials and suppresses parental viewpoints, detractors and educators have denounced the law for making it tougher for parents to challenge excessive price hikes and for not having enough accounting policies. Some academics contend the regulation demanding a minimum of 15% of a school’s parents to agree before a complaint is submitted is an unreasonable obstacle that could discourage justified claims. Furthermore, some experts have claimed that schools might classify legal fees and capital improvements as operational expenditures given the ambiguity of the law. During a noteworthy paperless session, the Delhi Assembly will vote on the measure, therefore marking the move toward a solar-powered legislature and a fully digital Secretariat. According to the government, this decision will promote more openness and fairness in the classroom. Still, different groups disagree on whether the strategies suggested would genuinely protect parents from unjust tuition rate rises in Delhi’s fast expanding private schooling sector.
