Was Delhi’s “Education Revolution” Just a Lie? Truth Behind AAP’s Failure in Private School Regulation Revealed

In a major action after years of complaints, the Delhi Government has finally started inspecting private schools for serious violations, including dummy schooling and illegal fee hikes. But many believe this action is too little, too late. The truth behind the much-hyped “Delhi education model” under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is now coming to light, and it’s not what was promised. You’ll want to read this till the end to understand how deep the negligence actually went.

The new inspection drive is being carried out under the supervision of the District Magistrate (DM), with support from senior academicians and education officials. Already, 10 private schools have been issued notices, and some may even lose their recognition. This action follows rising anger among parents, especially over dummy schools,  a practice where students are only enrolled on paper but don’t attend real classes. These schools help students focus only on coaching centres while skipping proper schooling. Officials have found at least 20 such schools operating in Delhi.

This comes a day after Delhi’s current Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta, took strong notice of parents’ complaints during her Jan Samvaad. She immediately ordered strict action against private schools that were harassing parents and increasing fees without any proper procedure. One such complaint was against Queen Mary School in Model Town. Gupta made it clear that any school misbehaving with parents or ignoring rules will face consequences.

But this is not just one incident, the rot runs deeper. During AAP’s time in power, Delhi schools faced many serious issues that were either ignored or brushed under the carpet. For years, private schools kept hiking fees at will, and parents kept protesting with no real support from the government. Salwan Public School, for example, increased fees by nearly 24% in 2023–24 and again by over 14% in 2024–25. But the AAP government did nothing to stop this.

Even the courts had to step in. The Delhi High Court recently called out the practice of dummy schools, terming it a “fraud” and directed CBSE and the Education Department to take strong action. The question many are now asking: why didn’t the AAP government act earlier?

Records show that between 2013 and 2023, only 75 out of 1,677 private schools were audited each year, even though Delhi’s education law makes it mandatory to audit all schools every year. This clearly shows how little attention the AAP gave to proper monitoring. Despite all the tall claims about education reforms, the government failed to check how private schools were functioning.

AAP always claimed that 25% of its budget was spent on education. But where did that money go? Reports revealed big gaps; schools meant for children from poor families under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota were not properly monitored. Many students were denied admission, and the promised facilities never reached them.

Now, with CM Rekha Gupta in charge, strict steps are being taken to fix the mess. But the scars of AAP’s failure in school governance are deep. For thousands of students and their parents, those were wasted years filled with false promises and zero accountability.

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