Delhi HC directs DoE to ensure PTAs in unrecognised private schools

The court noted that despite DoE guidelines issued in 2010, around 170 schools remain non-compliant, and directed the DoE to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken to ensure compliance.

The Delhi high court on Wednesday directed the Directorate of Education (DoE) to take necessary steps to ensure the formation of parent–teacher associations (PTAs) in unrecognised unaided private schools across the capital.

In its order, the court said the affidavit must place on record the steps taken to ensure that every school has a PTA, and added that all necessary action must be taken in the meantime to ensure their formation and functioning. (Representational image)

A bench of chief justice D K Upadhyaya and justice Tejas Karia issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by NGO Justice for All, which said several such schools had failed to constitute PTAs.

The court noted that despite DoE guidelines issued in 2010, around 170 schools remain non-compliant, and directed the DoE to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken to ensure compliance.

“What have you done to ensure that every school has a parent-teacher association? The Act provides for this now. Guidelines were issued in 2010, yet 170 schools still do not have PTAs,” the bench told DoE counsel Zoheb Hossain.

In its order, the court said the affidavit must place on record the steps taken to ensure that every school has a PTA, and added that all necessary action must be taken in the meantime to ensure their formation and functioning.

In its petition, argued by advocates Khagesh B Jha and Shikha Sharma Bagga, the NGO said PTAs are meant to foster cooperation between parents and teachers and serve as a key accountability mechanism. However, it alleged that a majority of private schools had violated the law by either not constituting PTAs or forming sham bodies with handpicked members.

The petition said this allowed schools to function with impunity, undermining the rule of law and affecting the rights of thousands of students and parents.

It added that parents are left without a legitimate forum to raise concerns and are deprived of their statutory right to challenge exorbitant fee hikes.

The petition also noted that the PTA’s role has been strengthened under the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025, which empowers PTAs to appeal against arbitrary fee increases.

The matter will be heard next on April 29.