Delhi schools face de-recognition as govt cracks down on fee hikes

The announcement came as hundreds of parents protested outside the DoE office, demanding immediate rollback of recent fee hikes

The Delhi government’s Directorate of Education (DoE) on Wednesday said it has initiated action against unaided private schools found to be illegally hiking fees, including proceedings for de-recognition and possible takeover of school managements.

Parents protest outside the DoE office at Delhi Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday. (Arvind Yadav/HT photo)

The announcement came as hundreds of parents protested outside the DoE office, demanding immediate rollback of recent fee hikes.

Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood, told HT, “In the last seven days alone, the Delhi government has collected details and data from 600 schools and sent notices to 10 schools already. The collected data and audit reports will help us to compare records next year as well.”

Responding to mounting complaints from parents and students, the government said it had launched a widespread crackdown on schools accused of imposing arbitrary and exorbitant fee hikes, which have placed a heavy burden on families and often violated regulatory norms.

Protesters carried placards reading “Stop fee hike, parents are not ATMs” and “Education is the right of every child,” while alleging irregular and sudden hikes. Parents said DoE officials met them and assured strict action.

Vineet Gupta, a parent from Maharaja Agrasen School, Pitampura, said schools were using coercive tactics like withholding admit cards or threatening to remove students’ names from rolls if families failed to pay “unauthorised charges.”

DoE said it had formed district-level inspection committees led by sub-divisional magistrates, with members including education officials, accounts officers, and government school principals. These teams have already inspected over 600 schools, with the rest expected to be covered soon.

“Twenty schools have already been identified and action under DSEAR 1973 has been initiated,” DoE said.

Officials confirmed that action has already been taken against institutions like Queen Mary’s School in Model Town and Srijan School, with more under scrutiny. “Show cause notices are being issued to schools found guilty of non-compliance and further punitive measures including withdrawal of recognition and take-over of school management is being taken up on a case-to-case basis,” the statement read.

The inspections are also checking compliance with the Right to Education Act. Schools are mandated to provide free books, uniforms, and writing materials to students admitted under the EWS/DG/CWSN categories, DoE said, adding that many schools are flouting these norms.

Several parents said private education was becoming increasingly commercialised, with little oversight and rising financial pressure on middle-class households.