As schools continue to hike fees by 5-7% year-on-year, does the quality of education improve?

Despite education holding a key position with government spending at 8.3% of the gross domestic product, as mentioned in the Economic Survey FY23, school fees have continued to increase. The social sector expenditure outlay of the Centre and State governments has increased steadily to stand at Rs 21.3 lakh crore in FY23 (BE), the survey mentioned. Interestingly experts opine that while the cost of education continues to rise, the quality does not. “While there is a common belief that higher fees equate to better education, exceptions exist on both ends. Some institutes charging lower fees maintain high quality, while others with high fees may not provide a commensurate level of education. This dynamic is particularly true in the realm of education. This issue appears to be complex, with debates ranging from leaving it to institutions, parents, and societal capability to regulate fees, to the government intervening to prevent undue financial burden on certain segments of the population. The committee structure, where schools must justify fee increases, seems to be a stable mechanism in many places. However, in areas where this structure doesn’t exist, subjective decisions by schools or governments might come into play,” Kamlesh Vyas, partner, financial advisory, Deloitte India told FE Education.

The education sector in India is estimated to be worth $117 billion and is expected to reach $313 billion by FY30, according to data by InvestIndia. The report further stated that India’s education and skills market will grow double this decade, from $180 billion in 2020 to $313 billion in 2030, while creating 5 million incremental jobs and impacting 429 million learners.

The state of schools’ affairs

The number of private schools in the country has increased from 325,760 in 2018-19 to 335,844 in 2021-22, as per data by InvestIndia. With 25 million children born every year, India’s pre-school market is expected to grow by $7.35 billion by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 11.2% during 2023-2028, while at a K-12 level, India has about 1.46 million schools and 230 million students. In total, India has one of the largest education systems with about 1.49 million schools, 9.5 million teachers, and nearly 265 million students. For an ecosystem as large as this, the cost of education varies from one school to the other, whether it is a government or private school. On a usual basis, in tier 1 and tier 2 cities, the tuition fees of private schools are somewhere around Rs 2,500 to Rs 8,000 every month, as per data by EduFund. Moreover, the total cost is not restricted to the tuition fees with parents paying other charges including maintenance fees, lab and technology fees, fees for books and stationery, transportation fees, and so on. As a result, the amount almost doubles up. “The annual increase in private school fees is directly associated with an improvement in educational quality, for the most part. While inflation is an important factor, no doubt, schools set aside money to upgrade facilities, purchase cutting-edge equipment, offer more extracurricular activities, and fulfil other such necessities. Furthermore, increasing operating costs, such as those associated with maintenance, administration, and faculty salaries, can occasionally be the cause of fee increases. Additionally, by providing competitive pay packages, schools may hope to draw in and keep top-notch teachers,” Ajay Gupta, founder of Bachpan Play Schools, Academic Heights Public School (AHPS), and co-founder of Rishihood University, explained.

However, for parents meeting the steep rise in fees year-on-year is a challenging task, especially, when the quality of education improves marginally. Many parents opine that all schools follow boards which could CBSE, ICSE and IB (International Baccalaureate). While ICSE and CBSE have a fixed course structure, in case of IB that differs a bit as it adopts an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to learning, promoting a holistic understanding of various subjects. What is important to note is that many international universities recognise IB, and as a result, the process of admission becomes easier. This is also why the cost of IB course is higher than the rest of the two. Moreover, Edufund’s data reveal that the fees also differ from class to class. If your child is in primary, you will have to pay comparatively less considering a high school student. On average, parents have to pay Rs 6,000 for their child in primary school. When the child goes to secondary or senior secondary, this amount rises to Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000. As a result, families with an income of Rs 3 lakh or less in a year prefer to send their children to government schools because they cannot afford a private one. A government school requires Rs 20,000 or less per annum for a child to get a school education. “While schools need funds for maintenance and to create a better pay scale for teachers, there is little or no impact on improvement in the quality of education. In today’s expensive world, finding the right balance between what we can afford and supporting schools is a challenge we all face,” Mohammed Rashad, a parent from NOIDA, said.

Creating opportunities for all

As per a study by UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), fees are one part of creating an inclusive education system, the other aspects include an end to discrimination, an end to excluding children with disabilities, access to primary and secondary education – with sufficient numbers of accessible and inclusive schools, including for children with disabilities caught in crisis and emergencies, Practical support or adaptations for students to enable them to learn – this is called ‘reasonable accommodation’ besides individual education plans for children with disabilities setting out what accommodations and support they need. While the government’s National Education Policy has created grounds for these to be factored in, at school levels much work needs to be done. “To provide equal opportunities for both boys and girls, multiple schemes and programmes are currently in operation under various government schemes. However, to improve the quality of education there is a need to increase the number of teachers and volunteers to keep an eye on rural areas and ensure that more female students are present in class or go to school regularly. Teacher training is the need of the hour,” Amandeep Singh, a parent from West Delhi, said.

Interestingly, schools too believe that the implementation of inclusive measures perhaps can help in reducing school fees. “To address this issue comprehensively and reduce costs, there is a need to explore inclusive measures. One viable solution involves allowing schools to serve multiple purposes and functions beyond the exclusive use by students during regular school hours. Unless boards permit such flexibility, the costs are likely to escalate,” Madhuri Parti, strategic director, Cyboard School, said.