Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday said the government’s Bill to regulate private school fees reminds schools that they are institutions of service, not machines of profit.

Speaking in the Assembly on the Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees Bill, 2025, she said it will give justice to parents and end their exile.

She stated emphatically that the bill “is a guardian of the rights of parents across the capital”.

She said that this Bill would bring transparency to the education system and restore public trust. Describing the Bill as a realistic and decisive law that will safeguard the rights of millions of parents in Delhi, she said it will not only curb the arbitrary actions of private schools but also lay a new foundation of transparency, fairness, and accountability in the education system. The Bill was passed in the Assembly by a majority vote later.

She said that while Delhi may be the capital of India, its soul resides in the middle class lanes, cramped flats, and the dreams of parents who sacrifice their own aspirations for the future of their children.

“Education cannot be allowed to become a means of profiteering,” she said.

The chief minister criticised the “hollow slogans of an education revolution” under the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, stating that the truth had now been “exposed”. She accused the previous AAP regime of leaving school buildings incomplete, failing to appoint teachers, and plunging the education system into corruption. She said that while courts today question the classroom scam, the former AAP government has nothing to offer but “silence and pretence”.

The Bill empowers parents instead of instilling fear, she said.

“This Bill makes it clear that education will now be based on children’s future, not on balance sheets,” she asserted. She added that while a minimum of 15 per cent parental support is required for lodging complaints, this is to ensure organised resistance rather than allowing misuse by individuals with vested interests.

The chief minister called this Bill a strong blow to corruption in education and a warning to those who treat education as a profit-making enterprise.

“Either serve, or face punishment,” she said.

Gupta alleged the AAP government’s education policy had failed Delhi’s students. “Arvind Kejriwal, once hailed as the poster boy of good governance, oversaw an era where school buildings crumbled, teacher recruitments stalled, and children were left learning on the streets,” she said. She further alleged that building costs increased tenfold in schools lacking basic amenities. “In response, the AAP leadership hides behind its usual line: “Don’t question us, we’re honest.”

The chief minister emphasised that for years, education in Delhi existed only in books and slogans, while the reality was that 1,677 unaided private schools kept increasing fees arbitrarily – and the governments either slept or were complicit. “Parents cried, children feared, while schools raked in crores under the pretext of fees. This Bill doesn’t just change systems – it changes mindsets,” she asserted.

CM Rekha Gupta rejected the AAP’s claim that the Bill is a ploy to benefit certain private school owners. “If you and the Congress were so pro-education in the last 27 years, why didn’t you create a legal framework to regulate fees?” she asked.

“This Bill is the dream of a Delhi that is tired of empty promises and demands real change. It is a response to public outrage, and a document of accountability,” she said.

Following the passage of The Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, several parents and guardians from various parts of the capital reached the Delhi Assembly to meet Gupta.

“The ‘vanvaas’ of the parents of Delhi has finally ended after 52 years.

Previous governments, which ruled for 15 years and 11 years, used to mislead parents with their corruption. This is the first time the government has taken such a historic decision and provided relief to the parents,” she said. PTI