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India’s schools over the last three years have nearly doubled their fees in some cases, a new report said on Friday.According to a report by LocalCircles, 8 per cent parents surveyed across India have said that the schools where their children study have shot their fees up by over 80 per cent, highlighting the increasing cost of education in the country.The report claims that parents are now concerned how they are going to cope with the “burden of further hike in fees across all classes in most private schools.”The LocalCircles survey received over 31,000 responses from parents of school going children located in 309 districts of India.School fees up by 50-80%, say parentsThe survey asked parents/ guardians of school going children, “How much has the school your children/ grandchildren go to increase the total fee in percentage terms in the last 3 years, i.e. between 2022 and 2025?”Out of the 15,461 who responded to the question, 8 per cent flagged over an 80 per cent hike in the school fees. Meanwhile, 36 per cent of respondents stated between 50-80% per cent school fee hike; 8 per cent of respondents stated 30-50 per cent hike; and 27 per cent of respondents stated 10-30% per cent hike. However, 8 per cent of respondents however stated there has been “no change in fee during this period”.Overall, 44 per cent parents surveyed say the school their children go to have increased fees by 50-80 per over the last three years.State governments of no helpNearly all parents, 93 per cent to be precise, have said that their state governments have not been effective in capping school fee hikes.Out of the 16,018 who responded to the question if state governments have been effective in limiting the school fees, only 7 per cent of respondents stated “yes, they have been”.On the other hand, 46 per cent of respondents stated “no, they talk but they fail to make any impact” and 47 per cent of respondents stated “no, they have not even taken up the issue”. Overall, 93 per cent of parents surveyed say that their state government has not been effective in capping or limiting excessive fee increases by schools.Interestingly, the Supreme Court had ruled in 2021 that states cannot interfere with the autonomy of private unaided schools to set and collect fees.Schools justify fee hikeThe Association of Primary and Secondary Schools of Karnataka has defended the hike arguing that institutions need to revise teachers’ pay annually if they don’t want competitors to poach them. Additionally, there is an increase in associated teaching costs, as per the report.
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