Cost of school education has doubled since 2005: Assocham

With the rise in private school fees by nearly 200 per cent in the last five-six years, children in one-parent working families now cost 30 per cent more than children in both-parent working families, a study by The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) suggests.

Due to steep rise in school fees, working mothers prefer to work full-time or part-time to support the ward's schoolings. Educational expenses in schools have grown disproportionately as against their annual income in the last five years. The numbers of working mothers have also increased in the last four-five years, the study said.

Majority of parents spend, on an average, Rs 20-25 lakh raising a child by the time the teen passes out of the high school.

Parents invest an average 60 per cent of their income on their children's education.

Seventy-eight per cent parents in one-member earning families often find it impossible to pay even for one child's education. So, the demand of dual income is very common to fulfil the education cost.

The Assocham survey on the “Steep Rise in Education Fees” highlighted that school expenses, including tuition fees, have doubled to Rs 1.20 lakh a year between 2005-11 on a single child. In the random survey, nearly 500 working mothers and 500 non-working mothers were interviewed in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Dehradun, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Chandigarh in May-July 2011.

School-related expenses include uniforms, books, stationery, transport, sports activities, school trips, contributions to schools funds, school aids, tuitions, and extra-curricular activities.

According to the survey, 85 per cent of parents spend more than half of their take-home pay on their children's education, extra coaching and extra-curricular activities, placing significant burden on their family budget.

Private schools

An estimated six crore children in India are now educated in private schools, with fees usually rising well above inflation, said Ms Bhagyesh Soneji, Chairperson, Assocham Gujarat Council.

The average fees of private day schools is Rs 80,000 a year, which is much higher in metropolitan cities. Private preparatory schools for kids aged three-five years cost Rs 50,000-70,000 a year.

Transport costs an average of Rs 15,000-25,000 per child per year. Parents spend Rs 12,000 per child on lunches. Packed lunches cost more than school lunches.

Uniforms and shoes cost Rs 10,000-15,000 per child while footwear works out as being more expensive than textbooks. In the absence of competition, schools often force the parents to buy uniform, text book, stationery, shoes etc. from school shops only which is five times higher than the normal price.

Private tuitions have also witnessed an increase of about 45-60 per cent in the last six years.

Parents spend Rs 2,000-5,000 a month on private tuition for each primary-level child. Secondary-level tuition set parents back by about Rs.6,000-12,000 monthly.

Many schools, lacking competent teachers, conveniently push the ball back to parents, telling them to engage private tutors for their kids.

Even poor families spend 40 per cent of disposable income on private schools and universities, rather than expose their children to government schools.

These fees pose a very real barrier for the children of poor families. About 75 per cent of parents are concerned about their child's education and 50 per cent of them said they were more concerned over the expenses incurred on the child's education than the quality, admission, performance or marks.

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