The Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill 2025 introduced by Education Minister Ashish Sood was passed in the Vidhan Sabha on Friday to ‘bring about transparency in the matters of fixation, regulation and collection of fee’ applicable to all the 1798 recognised private schools in the state (Delhi’s which includes unaided schools, minority schools and schools on private land too). According to the state government, this law is in alignment with the National Policy on Education 2020 that seeks to curb commercialization of education and profiteering by educational institutions.
What are the key provisions of the Act?
One, a cap on the frequency of school fee fixation; Sec 5(6) of the Act states “the fee approved by the School Level Fee Regulation shall (italics added) be binding on the school for 3 academic years.” In other words, schools can determine fee schedules only once in 3 years. This would prohibit frequent revisions of school fees by private schools in Delhi and consequently, put an end to uncertainty and harassment of parents.
Two, it lays down clear markers or determinants for fee fixation by a school; Section 8(a) to (j) list the factors for fee determination such as the infrastructure made available to the students for qualitative education, the education standard of the school, the expenditure on administration and maintenance, availability of qualified teaching and non-teaching staff and their salaries, provision of reasonable amounts for yearly salary increments, proportion of school income incurred as expenditure on the students etc. This would remove arbitrariness in fee determination and instead base it on hard data and evidence.
Three, a three tier system or structure at the school, district and state level to fix and regulate fees in schools; while the “School level Fee Regulation Committees” would mainly look into matters of fee determination, the “District Fee Appellate Committees” and the “Revision Committee” would be the first and second appellate bodies to resolve any disputes related to fees.
At the lowest level, every school would have an 11 ‘persons’ fee regulation committee headed by a Chairperson who would represent the school management with the Principal of the school being its ex-officio Secretary. It would consist of 3 teachers, 5 parents and a nominee of the Director of Education. The Committee would consider the fee proposed by the management of the school for the next 3 years on the basis of the markers specified in the act to test whether the fees are fair or not; it can also veto it and propose a fresh fee schedule for the next 3 years.
The composition of the school level committees is broad based as it includes the representatives of the school management, the principal, the teachers, parents and the Education department. As it provides for selection of teachers and parents by lotteries, it indicates fairness as everyone has an equal chance to be a member of the Committee. Since it provides for representation to women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs, it is socially inclusive too.
At the District level, the Committees would be appointed by the Director of Education and would comprise of 6 ‘persons’ headed by the Chairperson who would be the Deputy Director of Education of the concerned district and its Member Secretary would be the Zonal Deputy Director of Education. The other 4 members would comprise of a Chartered Accountant, an accounts functionary of the region or district, 2 parents and 2 school representatives. The aforesaid Committee shall decide appeals made to it against the fee schedule proposed by the school level committees; the appellants could be ‘an aggrieved parents group’, the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) or the school management. It may be underscored that the District level committees have to resolve disputes within a period 30-45 days from the receipt of the appeal thus providing for a time bound disposal of cases.
The State level Revision Committee would comprise of 6 ‘persons’ appointed by the Delhi Government; headed by the Chairperson who would be an eminent educationist, the Additional Director of Education would be its Member Secretary; a Chartered Accountant, the Controller of Accounts/ Deputy Controller of Accounts, a parent and a school representative each as its other four members. The Revision Committee shall adjudicate on the appeals made to it against the orders of the District level Committees regarding school fee matters. The law also prescribes a maximum of 45 days for the Revision Committee to resolve disputes thus giving it a sense of urgency.
Four, Chapter III of the Act provides for stringent penalties in case of violation of the proposed law. Section 12(1) mandates the Director of Education to order a rollback and refund of excess fees to students within 20 working days in case of fees imposed in violation of the law. In addition to the rollback and refund, Section 12 (2)(a) provides for a monetary fine of anywhere between Rs 1 to Rs 5 lakhs for a ‘first time violation’ and Section 12(2)(b) provides for a monetary fine of anywhere between Rs 2 to Rs 10 lakhs for the ‘second or subsequent violation’. Section 12(3) goes a step further to deter infringement of the law. In case of repeated violations, the Director of Education can suspend the school’s recognition (Section 12(3)(c)), withdraw the school’s recognition (Section 12(3)(d)) and even takeover of the management of such a school (Section 12(3)(e)).
Are the “Penalties” stiff? Probably yes; however, without the fear of a legal disincentive, it would be extremely difficult to foster compliance and bring good governance in schools.
While Education Minister Ashish Sood’s legislation aims to usher transparency in school fee fixation and regulation, it also has a clear political message in it. The Minister has clearly conveyed that his party BJP would openly protect the interests of its core constituency; the lower middle classes and the middle classes who would be the greatest beneficiaries of the legislation.
While Sood has pioneered a law on a much awaited and critical issue related to school education in Delhi, its ultimate success would lie in its implementation.
The writer is a freelance commentator on socio-economic issues.
