Survey shows up to 20% hike in school fees; parents protest

New Delhi: More than 50% parents, after being surveyed, all across the country, opined that the school fees of their children have witnessed a hike of nearly 20% in 2017. 

And, this led to protests and sending memorandums to state governments seeking immediate help against the fee hike.

According to a study, done in September 2016 by localcircles.com, 15% of parents reported a hike of more than 20-30%. 

As reported by the Hindustan Times quoting localcircles.com, the more the schools become privatised and government institutes fall behind, affording quality education for the middle-class families faces a tough challenge.

“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 the government schools are not up to the mark,” HT quoted Ajay Rai, president, Jharkhand State Parents Association, as saying.

Regional variations were also observed from the study. According to localcircles.com as quoted by HT, 75% of the parents from Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and West Bengal said that they have come across a hike of more than 10%. 

While from Delhi, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh 50-75% of the parents reported a fee increase of more than 10%, barring parents from Bihar and Gujarat who said that the schools' fee has increased by less than 10%.

The Uttarakhand government came up with a decision of acting on the complaints lodged by the parents. “We will regulate the fee hike by public schools and fix a cap for the same to provide relief to parents,” HT quoted state education minister Arvind Pandey, as saying.

Reportedly, almost all schools based out of Madhya Pradesh had increased fees citing improvement in facilities. 

“The types of facilities provided, maintenance of infrastructure and high salary of teachers make it necessary to hike fee,” HT quoted Prem Kashyap, president of Principals Progressive School Association, as saying.

School education minister for state Deepak Josh assured the parents by saying that the cabinet will soon give consent to a bill in order to regulate the fees.

HT quoted an organisation of parents ‘Jago Abhibhavak Jago’, Amit Taksali, as saying, “The schools are increasing fees every year without consulting the parents. I have read the bylaws of CBSE and it clearly states that the schools' administration should consult the parents before taking a decision on fees hike.”

“Some parents have admitted their students in low profile schools due to the fees hike. The high profile schools are behaving autocratically and creating trouble for middle-class families,” HT quoted him as saying.