Opinion Why more children are turning to private tuition

How do parents, concerned about their children’s education, respond to these challenges? Many turn to private tuition. Over the years, the prevalence of private tutoring has been increasing in India.

The “Comprehensive Modular Survey: Education, 2025 (CMS: E)”, conducted by the National Statistics Office between April and June 2025, sheds light on the extent and cost of private tuition across India. The survey gathered detailed education data from 57,742 students in both rural and urban areas.

Overall findings

Among the total children enrolled in school education (from pre-primary to higher secondary), 30.7 per cent of urban students and 25.5 per cent of rural students in India are receiving private tuition or coaching. The prevalence of private tutoring is nearly equal between male (26 per cent) and female (25 per cent) students in rural areas. However, a minor gender bias is evident in urban areas (32.4 per cent of males against 28.8 per cent of females)

Regarding expenditure on private tuition or coaching, a student in rural India spends an average of Rs 7,066 annually, while an urban student spends Rs 13,026, factoring in the cost of living in urban areas. In rural India, tuition cost is observed to be almost similar for both male (Rs 7,190) and female (Rs 6,924) students. In contrast, a noticeable gender difference exists in urban India: Male students spend Rs 13,564 on average, whereas female students spend Rs 12,339. This gender bias becomes more pronounced at higher school levels.

Interstate incidence on private tuition

There is a significant variation across states in terms of reliance on private coaching, ranging from 2.2 per cent to 73.9 per cent in rural areas and 11.8 per cent to 76.5 per cent in urban areas. In rural areas, eastern states show high reliance on private tuition. Notably, 73.9 per cent of students in West Bengal, 54.6 per cent in Odisha, and 52.1 per cent in Bihar received private tuition. In contrast, states with the lowest participation are Chhattisgarh and Telangana (less than 3 per cent), Rajasthan and Karnataka (around 5 per cent).

What might explain the high participation rates in eastern states? It could possibly be the quality of schools, parental education, parental income, or the cost of private tuition itself.

The survey also reveals that in every state, the prevalence of private tuition is higher in the urban sector than in the rural sector, with the degree of urban–rural differences varying widely.

In terms of expenditure on private tuition/coaching, urban students spend considerably more than rural students across all states, by 1.86 times. The higher cost in urban areas could be due to factors such as a higher cost of living, access to better-quality tutors, and greater parental income. However, states like Kerala (Rs 11,604 in rural and Rs 12,030 in urban areas) and Punjab (Rs 8,006 in rural, Rs 5,628 in urban) are exceptions, where rural students spend as much as or more than their urban counterparts.

The future ahead

While private tuition is likely to persist, its prevalence will depend on how various factors play out in the future. These include the quality of school education, the income levels of parents, the impact of AI on education, and the enrolment and labour force participation rates. The government can try to reduce the reliance on private tuition by focusing on improving school quality, minimising teacher absenteeism, and reducing the administrative burden on educators, such as managing government schemes and census-related duties. These are the low-hanging fruits.

Dash teaches at IRMA, Tribhuvan Sahkari University, and Shukla teaches at Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research