As part of the new initiative, the government will publish school-wise data on fee increases over the past few years on the Directorate of Education’s (DoE) website within 10 days
The Delhi government will not allow the “commercialisation of education” or permit any “unethical” fee hikes in private schools, education minister Ashish Sood said on Monday, announcing a sweeping audit of all 1,677 private schools in the Capital.
Sood said the government would soon deploy SDM-led teams — comprising tehsildars and accounts officers — to scrutinise the finances of every private school to determine if fee hikes were justified.
To assist with oversight, the education department has launched a dedicated email address — ddeact1@gmail.com — where parents can send complaints regarding arbitrary or steep fee hikes. The email will be monitored directly by the deputy director of education, Sood said.
The announcement comes amid an escalating political row over school fee hikes. The opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leader Arvind Kejriwal have accused private schools of “looting” parents after the BJP took control of the Delhi government. They allege that private institutions are hiking fees indiscriminately, emboldened by the new administration.
Sood, however, turned the blame back on the previous government, accusing the AAP of collusion with private school managements and failing to regulate fee increases for the past 10 years.
“Though the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 requires every private school to submit its audit reports annually by March 31, only 75 schools were being audited each year during the AAP’s tenure,” Sood said. “There has been no proper inspection or audit of most schools for a decade. That stops now.”
As part of the new initiative, the government will publish school-wise data on fee increases over the past few years on the Directorate of Education’s (DoE) website within 10 days, Sood said. “This will ensure transparency and allow parents to see for themselves whether a fee hike was justified,” he added.
He cited several schools as examples of what he called “rampant profiteering.” DPS Dwarka, he said, had increased its fees by 20% in 2020, 13% in 2021, 9% in 2022, 8% in 2023, and 7% in 2024. Srijan School raised fees by 35% during the AAP regime, and hiked them again by 36% for 2024–25. Ahlcon International School, he said, was allowed to raise fees by 15% in 2022–23 despite having been flagged for financial irregularities amounting to ₹15 crore. It went on to raise fees by another 13% this year.
Other examples cited by the minister include Lancer’s Convent, which allegedly hiked fees by 34% in 2024–25, Rukmini Devi Public School (11% in the same year), and Salwan Public School, which allegedly raised fees by nearly 24% in 2023–24 and another 15% in 2024–25 while under scrutiny for fund misappropriation worth ₹1.68 crore.
HT’s repeated calls and messages to all school mentioned by the minister did not elicit any response till the time of going to print.
Sood said the current government had, for the first time, launched a probe into these increases. “The commercialisation of education will not be tolerated. We are committed to protecting parents from unjustified financial burdens,” he said.
He accused the AAP of looking the other way while schools raised fees year after year.
AAP leader and former chief minister Atishi hit back even before Sood’s press conference began. She challenged the BJP to impose an immediate freeze on fee hikes and have all schools audited by CAG-empanelled auditors. “If the BJP is not hand-in-glove with private schools, why is it allowing this daylight robbery?” she said. “For the last 10 years, we kept school fees under control, ordered audits, and ensured that parents were refunded any unjustified increase—even after students had graduated.”
Sood dismissed her claims and accused Atishi of presiding over a system that allowed irregularities to flourish.
Referring to a 2004 Supreme Court judgment that barred fee hikes without DoE approval, Sood noted that this requirement had been weakened by a Delhi high court ruling in 2024, which he claimed occurred during the AAP’s watch. “That judgment dismissed the need for schools to seek the director’s permission before raising fees. We have filed an appeal and are working to expedite the hearings,” he said.
The government’s audit teams, Sood added, will examine 18 key financial parameters and school records to ensure accountability. “We’re working in the interest of parents and students. Education is not a business, and we won’t allow it to become one,” he said.