Cap on School Fees a Step to Equity

Delhi Government’s latest decision to put a cap on fee hikes by unaided private schools is not only a historic one, but this step will also be emulated in other states of the country to firmly establish the concept that education is a right, not a privilege for wealthy children. It must be mentioned here that for decades, raising fees arbitrarily has become a common practice of private schools, making education more elusive for students coming from poor families. Apart from the fees, these schools have developed many other charges like admission fees, development fees, etc., to make a hole in the guardian’s pocket.

Abnormal and unusual hikes in fees have forced many students to leave education midway. This is not a state-specific phenomenon, as the disease of making money in the name of education has spread throughout the nation, and the entry of poor students into private schools has become almost impossible, although most private schools have been allotted land in prime locations at concessional rates by the government after making a promise to reserve 10 to 15 per cent of seats for the economically weaker section. Protests from guardians from time to time did not yield desired results, as the business lobby has always managed to prevail over the government by preventing it from taking action against the erring schools.

In such a scenario, kudos to the Delhi government for showing the courage to bell the cat by passing the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025, which has barred schools from arbitrarily hiking fees. Before increasing fees, schools will have to submit a proposal on the fee structure to the government for three years. During that period, schools can increase fees only once, that too after satisfying the government about their expenses on infrastructure, staff salaries, and operational costs. Undoubtedly, this is a great step considering the fact that schools in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, or Kolkata have become costly over the years, making a mockery of the Right to Education Act.

But the job of the Delhi government doesn’t end with making a law against schools known for high fees. The government should also oversee proper implementation of the law by always remaining vigilant, as more often than not we have found in our country that laws made with good intentions have failed to deliver the goods due to lack of proper vigilance. Thus, it becomes the government’s duty to ensure that the said law does not meet the same fate after promising a new dawn in school education in the country. At the same time, other state governments should also come out of their slumber to emulate the Act to prevent education in India from turning into a lucrative business. To make a nation wealthy, education is the first and foremost precondition. Limiting education only to rich and wealthy students will virtually make our country poorer.