AAP launches campaign against Delhi's school fee legislation; BJP says law to empower parents

New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) The opposition Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday launched a campaign against the new school fee law in Delhi, alleging it empowers private schools to increase fees arbitrarily while curbing parents' participation in decision-making.

Countering the allegations, the ruling BJP said the law will curb arbitrary fee hikes and empower parents.

The Delhi government on Monday said Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena had given his assent to the Delhi School Education (Fee Determination and Transparency Regulation) Act, 2025, following which the law was officially notified.

Launching the campaign a day later, AAP's Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday distributed pamphlets outside a private school in Sheikh Sarai, while MLA Jarnail Singh led a similar drive in Tilak Nagar.

AAP's student wing, the Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), will spearhead the initiative by holding awareness drives outside schools across the city.

The pamphlets, printed in Hindi and English, claim the law benefits private school owners at the expense of parents and contains no provision to roll back fee hikes introduced in April this year.

"This law has been imposed on Delhiites in secret, without any discussion. Parents will be reduced to mute spectators while private schools will enjoy unchecked powers to raise fees," Bharadwaj alleged.

The BJP, however, rejected the charge with its Delhi unit president Virendra Sachdeva saying the Rekha Gupta government enacted the law after taking suggestions from citizens and education experts to check arbitrary fee hikes.

"Contrary to AAP leaders' claims, private school fees in Delhi rose by up to 500 per cent between 2013 and 2025 when AAP was in power. Instead of preventing hikes, they issued circulars that were easily challenged in court. The new law empowers parents and brings accountability," he said in a statement.

Sachdeva further accused the AAP of running a "misinformation campaign" to divert people's attention from questions being raised by parent and teacher Associations, who, he claimed, have welcomed the legislation.

AAP said the campaign will be carried out daily, targeting different schools in each assembly constituency. "This drive will go on until parents are fully aware of the BJP government's collusion with private schools," Bharadwaj added. PTI MHS NSD NSD