NEW DELHI: At the 26th edition of the Delhi Dialogues event organised by this newspaper on Wednesday, Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood announced a unique public outreach campaign — ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ sessions with parents — to explain the recently passed Delhi School Education Transparency and Regulation of Fee Act, 2025.
The initiative aims to break down the law’s provisions for citizens and rally public support for what Sood described as a “historic step to end arbitrary fee hikes by private schools.”
In addition to ‘Chai Pe Charcha’, the government plans to hold town hall meetings, engage Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), and conduct grassroots-level discussions across Delhi. These efforts will begin shortly after the Independence Day celebrations, as part of a broader campaign to inform and involve stakeholders.
Calling the bill a “milestone in Delhi’s education history,” Sood said the new law introduces a three-tiered regulatory mechanism to vet and approve any school fee hikes.
“A proposed hike must first go before a School Level Committee, comprising both school management and parents. Unanimous agreement is required. If consensus isn’t reached, the matter escalates to the District Level Committee and, if needed, the Appellate Committee,” he added.
Talking about penalties for schools, he said, “The law strictly penalises schools that impose unapproved fees during this review process. If a child is charged fees not cleared by the committees, the school will face a fine of Rs 50,000 per child. Repeat or large-scale violations can attract penalties from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.”
He underscored the law’s intent to restore democratic control to parents, stating, “This is not a majority vote matter. Unanimity is a must — parents effectively have veto power.”
Sood emphasised that Delhi’s private school sector has remained largely unregulated for decades. “This is the first major reform since the 1973 Act — back when exam results were still written on blackboards. Delhi has changed, and so must our laws,” he said. Despite pushback from entrenched interest groups, NGOs, and parts of the bureaucracy, Sood said the government pushed through. “Earlier attempts by past governments failed. We were told not to touch this space. But we decided to change the status quo — and in just five months, we delivered.”
With over 18 lakh students in private schools across the national capital, the new law promises to provide long-overdue protection to families from unregulated fee hikes. As the minister concluded, “This isn’t just about policy — it’s about trust, transparency, and putting parents back in charge.”