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Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday said that the state cabinet has passed a draft bill that will set clear guidelines on school fees for all 1,677 schools in the city. The move comes after complaints from parents about alleged harassment and arbitrary fee hikes by some schools.
"I feel overjoyed to tell you that the Delhi Government has made a historic and brave decision, and the draft Bill has been passed by the Cabinet today. A complete guideline, procedure for fees will be decided for all 1,677 schools (aided, non-aided, private) in Delhi, whether that is aided, non-aided, private and all kinds of schools," CM Gupta said. "For the first time in history such a Bill is being drafted by the Delhi Government which is foolproof. The roles and authority of parents, school, management, directorate and the government is well defined in it," she added. The Chief Minister also pointed out that earlier governments had not made such provisions to regulate school fees. "There was just Delhi Schools Act 1973 in which there was one section on fee in which there was no guideline so that the fee hike in private schools could be checked," she said. On April 15, the CM had warned of strict action against schools found violating regulations. "Parents from various schools have been meeting me, sharing their grievances. No school has the authority to harass parents or children, threaten expulsion, or arbitrarily hike fees. There are strict rules and laws in place, and compliance is mandatory," she had said, speaking to ANI. "We have issued notices to all schools against which complaints have been received," she added. During a recent public dialogue programme, CM Gupta also responded to complaints against Queen Mary School in Model Town. Parents had alleged that the school collected extra fees and expelled children. "Today, during the public dialogue programme, a case related to Queen Mary School, Model Town came up, in which parents of children lodged a complaint regarding wrong collection of fees and expulsion of children from the school. Taking immediate cognizance of this matter, the concerned officials have been instructed to conduct an immediate investigation and take strict and necessary action," she wrote on X. She added, "The Delhi Government is fully committed to transparency, equal opportunity and the protection of children's rights in the field of education. A zero-tolerance policy has been adopted towards any kind of injustice, exploitation or irregularity, no laxity will be tolerated in this. Our resolve is clear, every child should have access to justice, respect and quality education." (ANI)
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