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Over two months have passed since the Delhi Assembly passed a Bill, following protests by parents of private school students against arbitrary fee hikes, and it became an Act after Raj Niwas’s clearance on August 14. But the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act is yet to become fully operational, as the government has not yet notified the rules. This means that while the law is in place, its provisions — such as levying penalties on private unaided schools for hiking fees illegally — cannot yet be enforced. A senior official said the rules are “in the pipeline” and will be issued in the coming days. However, parents, who were at the forefront of the agitation earlier this year, feel they are in a state of “limbo” as, in the absence of the government notification, schools continue to charge fees that the Department of Education (DoE) has not approved. When reached for comment, the DoE did not respond. ‘Define PTAs’ Aprajita Gautam, president of the Delhi Parents’ Association, said the government must clearly define all the rules at the earliest, including terms such as Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) that are key to the proper implementation of the law. “The biggest problem that arises due to the delay is that the PTAs themselves are not clearly defined, and most schools pick parents on their own without notifying the elections. There is no transparency in the process. The first step is to clearly define PTAs, which should have been done by now,” she said. The Act establishes a three-level committee structure — at the school, district, and State levels. At the school level, the law mandates the creation of an 11-member committee structure that includes five parent representatives from the PTA, who are selected through a draw of lots. Ms. Gautam added, “Private schools continue to harass children, and it will only increase during the examination months, when parents are forced to pay unapproved fees.” Divya Mattey, father of a student at Delhi Public School, Dwarka, said, “The current academic session is almost at its halfway mark, but rules are yet to be notified. It is unlikely that this will happen within this term. Schools are meanwhile continuing to charge unapproved fees, and in the future, this will lead to more tussles between schools, parents and the Education Department.” “Until the rules are notified, parents like me continue to remain in a state of limbo,” he added. Suggestions to DoE The affected parents have, in the meantime, been submitting suggestions to the DoE regarding the rules. One delegation, comprising parents’ representatives from seven schools, suggested that PTA elections should be held every other year at the beginning of the academic session in April. They also proposed that schools should notify parents about the elections via e-mail, WhatsApp, and hard copies. The Act has outlined 10 factors that schools must consider when determining fees. These include the school’s location, its infrastructure, and the “education standard” that the parents claim are “subjective”. Parents have suggested that fees be determined based on “objective” factors, such as the salaries of teaching and non-teaching employees and operational expenses.
