Protest in Delhi over fee hike as students await CBSE roll numbers

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday staged a protest against an alleged fee hike by a private school in Saket, even as parents voiced concerns over delays in the issuance of roll numbers to students scheduled to appear for the upcoming CBSE board examinations.

The protest was led by AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, who alleged that private schools in Delhi increased fees by 50 to 80 per cent from April 1 last year and claimed that the BJP-led government had promised to bring a new law to ensure refunds of the increased fees, but no school had returned any amount so far.

According to a senior police officer, 15 protesters, including Bharadwaj, were detained. Adequate police force was deployed to maintain law and order during the protest, the officer added. The BJP said the Rekha Gupta dispensation has resolved the matter regarding fee hikes in private schools through its intervention, and a law which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) failed to do in 2020.

Bharadwaj said councillors from all zones gathered as Class 10 board examinations are set to begin on Tuesday, while some students were made to wait outside their schools for hours to receive their roll numbers. He alleged that one of the affected students was a national-level sportsperson. He further claimed that schools were threatening parents that their children would not be allowed to appear for examinations if the increased fees were not paid. Protesters carried placards with "stop blackmail" written on them and raised slogans "Band karo, Band karo- Shiksha se Khilwaad band karo".

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Ajeet Awasthi, a parent of a Class 10 student and among the protesters, said his child is scheduled to appear for the mathematics examination on Tuesday, but still has not received the admit card. "We are ready to pay the fee approved by the education department, but not the increased fee demanded by the school. We want our child to receive the admit card before the examination," he said. Responding to the allegations, BJP MLA Harish Khurana said at a press conference that since the AAP was voted out of power in Delhi, its leaders had been unable to accept the public mandate.

He said the city had been witnessing a "transparent and accountable" administration under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta since 2025. Khurana further said that the matter regarding fee hikes in private schools has been pending since 2020, when the AAP was in power, but it took no action. Similar issues had arisen earlier as well and had been resolved through the BJP government's intervention, he said, adding that the Delhi government has also enacted a law to provide a permanent solution to this issue.

He said that the new law clearly bars schools from collecting unauthorised fees or exerting pressure on parents while stating that no student's roll number can be withheld. The law also provides for fee regulation committees at the school level and an appellate mechanism, he added. The Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025, has mandated that private schools cannot increase fees for the 2025–26 academic year, freezing them at April 1, 2025, levels.

Khurana said Education Minister Ashish Sood has directed that no student's future will be jeopardised and that all eligible students will receive their roll numbers. The objective of the legislation is to regulate fee hikes, ensure transparency and protect parents' rights, he said, assuring that the government would soon place all facts before the public.