As education becomes dearer, weary parents dig deeper still

Updated on: Friday, February 03, 2012

Affording the best in education for their children has burnt a hole in the pockets of many parents in the country.

“This year, parents will keep aside an average budget of over Rs.2- 4 lakh before the primary school session begins due to the heavy fee charged by private schools,” says a survey conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

Parents applying to primary schools have increased their budget from Rs.2 lakh in 2009 to Rs.4 lakh this year on items and activities integral to the school curriculum such as fees, transport, books, uniforms, stationery, building funds, educational trips, tuition, extra-curricular activities and the heavy amount spent on prospectuses, indicated the survey.

In a country-wide survey, about 2,000 parents, with a minimum salary of Rs.3 to Rs.9 lakh annually, were interviewed in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Dehra Dun, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Chandigarh. The findings suggest that parents find it difficult to meet their wards' education cost and plan to break the funds for the admission process.

“The cost of education is increasing every year, parallel with inflation. The parents' annual income on an average has risen by 40 per cent over the past six years, but on the other hand the cost of education has increased by over 200 per cent over the same period,” says the survey.

The majority of parents believe it is difficult for a single parent to fund a child's education. Over 88 per cent of 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 these days.

The survey points out that school expenses including tuition fees for a single child have also doubled during 2010 to 2012. The school-related expenses have also increased in the last five years. The average fees of private day schools are Rs.50,000 to Rs.3 lakh per annum, and is much higher in metropolitan cities. Transport costs are an average of Rs.10,000-25,000 per child per year. Parents nearly spend Rs. 4,000 to Rs.10,000 per child on school uniforms.

School bags and shoes cost Rs.8,000-12,000 per child while footwear works out as being more expensive than textbooks. Moreover, several schools often force the parents to buy uniforms, text books, stationery, shoes, etc, from their own stores which charge almost three times more than the market price.

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. “The survey shows that parents invest on average 40 per cent of their income on their children's education. The cost of education is increasing every year,” said ASSOCHAM secretary-general D. S. Rawat.

While 56 per cent of the parents complain they are forced to make their children quit extra-curricular activities such as dancing, music or art lessons, sports or foreign language tutoring due to high costs and time constraints, 65 per cent felt that they spend more than half their take-home pay on their children's education, co-curricular activities and insurance policy also placing a significant burden on their family budget.

Expenses shoot up further by 30 per cent if there is only one earning member in the family, the study revealed.

As education becomes dearer, weary parents dig deeper still

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