In Delhi, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s recent move to introduce a strong law to regulate private school fees is a timely and courageous step. It aims to break the long-standing dominance of private institutions that have been arbitrarily hiking fees under various pretexts. This development should serve as a wake-up call for Jammu & Kashmir, where the situation remains deeply problematic, and parents are still at the mercy of private school managements and an ineffective Fee Fixation Committee.
In J&K, what is officially called the Fee Fixation Committee has long functioned more like a fee endorsement body. Instead of protecting the interests of parents and students, it has often been seen leaning in favour of private schools—endorsing unjustified charges and arbitrary hikes without meaningful scrutiny. A glaring example of this failure is the routine collection of bus fees even during long winter vacations when no transport services are provided. Rather than questioning or curbing such practices, the committee continues to approve them, further burdening already stretched parents.
Now that Jammu & Kashmir has an elected government and a designated education minister, this is the right moment to reform the existing structure. The current Fee Fixation Committee was established under the LG Administration, but it has proven to be neither accountable nor effective. It is time for the elected government to take ownership and make this body truly responsive to the needs of ordinary families.
What Delhi is doing today—empowering parents, enforcing transparency, and introducing strict penalties for violations—is what J&K should have done long ago. The model proposed in Delhi includes school-level committees with parental representation, clear timelines for fee disclosures, and strong deterrents against arbitrary hikes. J&K must follow suit and enact a law that genuinely regulates school fees, not one that only pretends to do so.
Private education has a place in society, but not without checks and balances. When parents are forced to pay for services they never receive, or are left out of critical financial decisions, the system becomes exploitative. The people of Jammu & Kashmir deserve better—an education ecosystem that is transparent, participatory, and fair.
This is not just about regulating money. It is about restoring trust in institutions and ensuring that education remains a right, not a business trap. The time to act is now. Let us push for a law that puts parents first and ends unchecked fee exploitation once and for all.
