After two years of the pandemic, when classes were mostly held online and government regulated school fee by announcing rebates, the academic year of 2022-23 has hit the parents hard. While schools across the board have hiked their fees in the range of 10%-15%, school van fee and private tuition fees have also shot up. Parents are also burdened with the rising costs of uniforms, shoes, bags, notebooks and other associated items. From Lower Kindergarten (LKG) to second PUC or twelfth grade, fees hike at private institutions has not spared any parents.
This has translated into a 20%-40% drop in admission rates in private schools this academic year in urban areas. “At a private school in the city, ₹74,800 is being demanded for admission to LKG. What kind of special training is required at that level? Schools say that they have to hike fees as maintenance costs have gone up drastically. But parents especially in the lower middle class, are finding it really hard to pay such huge amounts,” said Mullahalli Suri, President Parent’s Association. Another parent mentioned that with no regulatory guidelines, a private PU College have also indiscriminately hiked their fees, by over 50%.
Government public schools have reported an increase in admissions in the last three years. Both school managements and parents’ association agree that many parents opted to take their kids out of private schools as they could not afford the fee structure. “Leave aside donation, parents could not even afford the tuition fees at these schools. This is why many of us shifted our children to neighbourhood government schools this time,” said Nirmala, a resident of Banashankari.
