29 June:Multifold increase in cost of education is leading to a situation wherein even rich parents are thinking twice on having a second child, a study by industry chamber Assocham has said.
"School expenses, excluding tuition fees, have gone up from Rs 25,000 to Rs 65,000 per annum since 2000 on a single child. Rising costs of school expenses in most of the privately managed schools have deterred even well-to-do young parents from having more than one child," said the Assocham study ‘Rising School Expenses vis-a vis Dilemma Of Young Parents’.
The survey further said that school costs have gone up at more than double the rate of present inflation level, which is at a 13-year high of over 11 percent, prompting parents to plan early for their child’s education.
At the same time the average annual income of parents has increase by a maximum of 30 percent during the period, Assocham General Secretary DS Rawat said.
Education expenses include uniforms, books, stationery, transport, sports activities, school trips, contributions to upgrade schools, school aids etc.
The total expenses for learning would be many times higher than school fees, the study said.
About 65 percent of 2,000 parents interviewed in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai said that they spend more than half their take-home pay on their child’s education.
Nearly 1 in 10 respondents indicated that the cost associated with schooling has actually affected even their choice of school, it said.
Most of the parents responded said education is now being run like a commercial business enterprises.
High tuition fees and erratic hike in fee by management no more justify the services offered at schools, they said.
An estimated over 30 million children are now educated in private schools, the study added.
The education expenses are hitting parents’ budget hard and it is having a direct impact on ward’s schooling, it said.
Transport is one of the most expensive components of a child’s schooling.
It costs parents an average of 12,000 per child per year, while they spend Rs 9,600 per child per year on lunches.
The average cost of tuition fees in private school is Rs 35,000 per year, it added.
On an average, parents, whose kids are in private schools spend an additional Rs 30,000-Rs 35,000 per year on uniforms, extra curricular activities, textbooks, stationery, school fund, trips, the study said.