School fee hiked between 11% and 20% this year, reveals countrywide survey

More than half of all parents surveyed in a countrywide study have said the school fees of their children was hiked between 11% and 20% this year, highlighting the mounting cost of quality education in the country.

A study by localcircles.com (an online neighbourhood network ) comprising 9,000 parents and grandparents reported 54% people as saying that school increased fees between 11% and 20%. Fifteen per cent said the hike was more than 20% and 31% said the jump was between 0 and 10%. The survey was done in September 2016. The findings confirm a common grouse of parents: As schools become more privatised and government institutes fall behind, affording quality education for most middle-class families is becoming a stiff challenge.

Some governments — such as that in Delhi — have tried to rein in fees but with varying degrees of success. “Private schools have been hiking their fee without stating any genuine reason for it. We are fighting for fee regulation, but private schools are running a monopoly since government schools are not up to the mark,” said Ajay Rai, president, Jharkhand State Parents Association.

There was regional variation captured in the survey as well. More than 75% parents from Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Goa said school has increased the fee by more than 10%. HTC