Send School Fee Bill to Select Committee for Public Feedback – Atishi

• Until public opinion is sought, fees should be kept at the 2024–25 level and the increased fees should be cancelled – Atishi
• BJP government is standing in favour of private schools, hence avoiding debate on the bill in the House – Anil Jha
• Education has been commercialised; from shoes to books, everything is forced to be bought from schools – Anil Jha

New Delhi, Aug 2025 –The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has once again demanded that the BJP government send the School Fee Bill to a Select Committee. Leader of Opposition Atishi said that no public consultation has yet been conducted on this bill, so it should be referred to the Select Committee. The committee should include legislators from both AAP and BJP, and should gather feedback from the public on the bill. Until such consultation is completed, she said, schools should be required to charge the same fees as in 2024–25, and the current year’s increased fees should be scrapped.

Meanwhile, Anil Jha said that the government’s focus on education revolves entirely around public (private) schools. He criticised the timing of the bill’s introduction in August, arguing that if it had been introduced in March or April, private schools would not have been able to sharply increase fees. Parents, he said, were left crying at school gates and pleading for government help, but the bill was deliberately delayed.

Jha also said that one BJP legislator even admitted that this bill effectively grants schools the right to hike fees. According to him, the bill promotes the commercialisation of education and caters to capitalists. He alleged that some schools have fixed deposits worth ₹50 crore each, use the interest to cover expenses, and still raise fees. He further criticised the fact that parents are forced to buy shoes, uniforms, and even pay extra for sports and various school events directly from the school, which heavily burdens the middle class.

Jha added that even schools operating on government-allotted land are charging parents exorbitantly. He called such practices anti-people and demanded broader debate on key issues—whether GST, fee hikes in schools, or the proposed transparency bill in education. He accused the government of refusing to listen on any matter and warned that AAP would continue its agitation from “the streets to the assembly.” He also complained that whenever AAP tries to speak in the House, they are marshalled out.