School fee hikes make parents think twice about more children

Study said parents prefer to have dual income as education expenditure has increased sharply.

An industry body study has said that a multi-fold increase in the fees of private schools,especially in metropolitan cities,has led to a scenario wherein even well-to-do parents prefer to have a single child.

School expenses on a single child have gone up to Rs 1.2 lakh per annum in 2011 from Rs 60,000 in 2005. Rising fees in most of the private schools have deterred even rich parents from having more than one child, said Assocham study.

The chamber has surveyed about 1,000 mothers (both working and non-working) in major cities like Delhi,Mumbai,Kolkata,Chennai and Pune.

The study said that parents prefer to have dual income as their kids’ education expenditure has increased sharply.

Education expenses include uniforms,books,stationery,transport,sports activities,school trips,contributions to upgrade schools and school aid.

An estimated over 60 million children are now educated in private schools and their fees are increasing day-by-day.It is hitting parents’ budget hard and potentially having a direct impact on children’s schooling, said Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat.

The survey further said the majority of parents on an average spend up to Rs 25 lakh on their child’s education by the time he or she graduates from high school.

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The study also said private tuition fees have witnessed an increase of up to 60 per cent in the last six years.

Many schools conveniently tell parents to engage private tutors for their kids in order to score higher marks, said study.

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