"For ten yrs AAP was sitting in AC rooms": Delhi Education Minister as bill to regulate private school fees introduced

New Delhi [India], August 5 (ANI): Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood lashed out at the previous Aam Aadmi Party government, saying that parents were going to court with their children over fees. Earlier on Monday, Ashish Sood tabled the "Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees), Bill, 2025" in the Delhi Assembly, stating that the legislation seeks to end commercialisation of education and take action against those exploiting it for profit.
Ashish Sood told reporters, "... For ten years, Aam Aadmi Party was sitting in its air-conditioned rooms, and parents were going to court with their children for fees. We have entered the parents in the process of determining fees... It is mandatory to have the principal or head of the school or one person from the management, three teachers and five parents, including SC/ST, OBC, and women, who will together look at 18 parameters, records of the school and decide whether the school needs money or not. Everyone will have to be unanimous about the uniformity; only then can the fees be increased for three years..."
The proposed law aims to regulate the arbitrary fee hikes by private schools in the national capital, providing relief to lakhs of students and their families.
"Education is not a thing to be sold. This bill aims to halt the commercialisation of education. We are bringing the bill to take action against those mafias who are selling education..." Sood said while tabling the bill.
The Bill was tabled on the first day of the Monsoon session of the Eighth Legislative Assembly, which commenced on Monday and will continue until August 8. However, the session may be extended depending on the exigencies of legislative business.
In a separate statement, the Delhi Education Minister said, "Today, I have come here with a permanent solution to the problems faced by millions of parents and children in Delhi, and to a legacy issue that has been ignored for decades."
Sood stated that education is "a sacred duty -- a duty we must fulfil for the progress and prosperity of our motherland."
He emphasised that the aim of education should not be 'earning', but rather 'learning' and nation-building.
"This bill is a small effort on our part to honour Dr. Mukherjee's vision and to ensure that education does not become a burden on the people of India, but instead becomes a path leading them to a better future," he said.
Giving historical references, he discussed how the central government has resolved long-standing legacy issues over the decades, such as the Ram Mandir, Chenab Bridge, Article 370, and the electrification of every village.
He stated that the Delhi government is now also "focused on resolving the capital's old and complex issues, one of the most important legacy issues being the continuously rising fees of private schools."
"This is not a recent problem, but a question that has troubled Delhi's parents for many decades," he clarified. (ANI)