Over two months have passed since the Delhi Assembly passed a Bill, following protests by parents of private school students against arbitrary fee hikes, and it became an Act after Raj Niwas’s clearance on August 14. But the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act is yet to become fully operational, as the government has not yet notified the rules. This means that while the law is in place, its provisions — such as levying penalties on private unaided schools for hiking fees illegally — cannot yet be enforced.
A senior official said the rules are “in the pipeline” and will be issued in the coming days. However, parents, who were at the forefront of the agitation earlier this year, feel they are in a state of “limbo” as, in the absence of the government notification, schools continue to charge fees that the Department of Education (DoE) has not approved.
When reached for comment, the DoE did not respond.
‘Define PTAs’
Aprajita Gautam, president of the Delhi Parents’ Association, said the government must clearly define all the rules at the earliest, including terms such as Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) that are key to the proper implementation of the law.
