The Hindu : New Delhi News : School expenses forcing parents to have one child

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 03, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

School expenses forcing parents to have one child

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Multi-fold increase in the cost of education is leading to a situation where even rich parents are thinking twice about having a second child, reveals a new study by the industry body ASSOCHAM.

School expenses, excluding tuition fees, have gone up from Rs.25,000 to Rs.65,000 per year since 2000 on a single child. The rising cost of school expenses in most of the privately managed institutions have deterred even well-to-do young parents from having more than one child, says the study titled “Rising school expenses vis-a-vis Dilemma of young parents”. It notes that school costs have gone up at more than double the rate of the present inflation level, which is at a 13-year-high of over 11 per cent, prompting parents to plan early for their child’s education.

At the same time, the average annual income of parents has increased by a maximum of 30 per cent during the period. Education expenses include uniforms, books, stationery, transport, sports activities, school trips, contributions to upgrade schools and school aids. The total expense for learning would be many times higher than school fees, the study points out. What is significant is that about 65 per cent of the 2,000 parents interviewed in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Kolkata, Pune, Chennai and Bangalore said they spend more than half their take-home pay on their child’s education. Further, one in ten respondents indicated that the cost associated with schooling had actually affected even their choice of school.

Most parents felt that education was now being run like a commercial business enterprises. High tuition fees and erratic increases in fees by management no more justify the services offered at schools, they said. An estimated 30 million children are now educated in private schools, the study adds.

The education expenses are hitting the parents’ budget hard and it is having a direct impact on the ward’s schooling, it said, adding that the average cost of tuition fees in private school is Rs.35,000 per year.

Reacting to the survey, Amit Anand, a government employee, said: “Most young couples have to buy a house, work towards securing their future, keep some buffer money for diseases or tragedies and ensure a standard quality of life. To ensure that children get quality education, we have to cut down on other expenses and, of course, most salaried parents would like to have only one child to ensure that they are able to provide good education.”

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi