New Delhi [India], April 9— Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia has strongly criticized the recent fee hike in private schools across Delhi, alleging that innocent students are being punished for their parents’ inability to pay. He accused school managements of resorting to “torturous” methods like forcing children to sit outside classrooms or in libraries.
Taking to social media platform X, Sisodia wrote, “Look at this… the education mafia in Delhi has become so daring that small innocent children are being tortured by making them sit outside the classroom.”
Sisodia, who served as Delhi’s Education Minister during Arvind Kejriwal’s tenure as Chief Minister, said that such incidents were unthinkable under the previous government. “If the Kejriwal government was in power today, such school managers who torture innocent children in this manner would have been sent to jail within 24 hours,” he added.
The remarks come amid growing protests by parents against the fee hike in prominent private schools. Outside Delhi Public School (DPS) in Dwarka, parents staged demonstrations holding placards, demanding government action.
A protestor named Saurabh said, “My child studies in Class 11. He is made to sit in the library. For the last 21 days, several students are made to sit in the library when they reach school because the demanded fees have not been paid. Our demand is that the government should take over this school.”
According to reports, several private institutions have been penalizing students whose parents have not paid the newly hiked fees, by denying them access to regular classes. Many children are reportedly being made to sit in libraries or isolated spaces within school premises.
Earlier, AAP leader and Leader of Opposition Atishi also addressed the issue by writing to Delhi’s current Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. In her letter, she urged the government to issue immediate orders preventing private schools from collecting increased fees until their financial accounts are properly audited.
The situation continues to draw public outrage, with demands growing for urgent government intervention to regulate private school operations and protect students from punitive measures.