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Calling the school fee regulation bill "anti-parent" and "pro-management", the Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday demanded amendments to the proposed legislation recently introduced by the BJP government in Delhi Assembly.

The party has demanded audit of schools, elected parent representation in fee committees, easier complaint redressal mechanism, and the right to challenge fee committee decision in court.

Addressing a press conference, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly, Atishi, said, “We shared the draft bill with several parents. Even before the bill was tabled in the assembly, we had held discussions with many parents and sought their views. Based on their feedback, the Aam Aadmi Party legislative group has proposed several amendments to ensure the bill serves the interests of parents — not school owners.” AAP’s chief whip in Delhi Assembly and Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha has demanded that the bill be sent to a Select Committee of the House.

Atishi said Delhi Assembly has a Select Committee provision, which can ensure public consultation.

On Tuesday, Education Minister Ashish Sood said the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025, aims to set up a robust institutional mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability in the regulation of private school fees. He had tabled the bill in the assembly on Monday.

Alleging a major loophole in the bill, Atishi explained, “One of the most dangerous provisions is about the fee-fixation committee. As per the current draft, the committee is to be chaired by a member of the school management. Of the total members, only five will be parents — selected by lottery." "So we have submitted an amendment to Section 4 — that instead of five, there should be 10 parent representatives. This would make the total committee members to 15, with a clear majority of elected parents — chosen through a General Body election, not lottery,” she said.

Another amendment pertains to Section 5, the former chief minister said.

Citing Section 5, Subsection 1, Proviso 2 of the draft bill, she said it states that for the academic year 2025–26, the fees being charged by schools shall be deemed to be the proposed fee.

“Our amendment clearly states: no school can charge more than the 2024–25 fees, unless all its accounts are audited,” the LoP said. Highlighting the audit issue, she said that the AAP has proposed another amendment to Section 4 — requiring that before the fee regulation committee convenes, the previous year’s audited accounts of the school must be submitted.

"These audited financial records must also be shared with every parent whose child is enrolled in that school,” she said.

"But if you look at the BJP’s bill — there is not a single mention of the word ‘audit’. Why? Because they do not want the private schools’ accounts to be audited," she claimed.

Proposing an amendment to Section 2, she suggested that instead of requiring 15 per cent of parents, if even just 15 parents file a complaint, it should be mandatory to hear their grievance.

Besides, parents must have the right to challenge the committee’s decisions in court, she said.

Emphasising the importance of transparency, Atishi appealed, “We want the telecast of vote on these proposed amendments in Delhi Assembly to be seen by every parent. That will make it crystal clear whether BJP MLAs are voting for parents’ rights or siding with private school owners.” 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)