July 3, 2025
NEW DELHI – In today’s India, education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity ~ it is an increasingly unaffordable commodity. Across cities, a groundswell of parental discontent has emerged, driven by steep and seemingly arbitrary hikes in private school fees. What was once an aspirational choice for families ~ particularly those from modest means seeking better futures for their children ~ has become an unsustainable financial burden. The social contract between private educational institutions and the public they serve appears dangerously frayed. For many households, school fees now rival or exceed monthly rent, forcing difficult choices between education and basic living needs. At the heart of the unrest is a fundamental question: who is education meant to ser ve, and at what cost?
For many parents, the answer gro ws murkier each year. Fee increases upwards of 30 per cent have been reported, often with minimal advance no tice or adequate justification. In numerous cases, schools have reportedly denied entry to students whose fa milies could not keep pace with these hikes. These ac ions ~ whe ther framed as administrative policy or fin ancial necessity ~ represent more than just institutio n al over- reach. They strike at a child’s right to continuity, safety, and dignity in education. The situation is espe cia lly grave in cities where private schools operate on government- leased land. These institutions are bound by regulatory conditions, including limits on fee increases and the in – clusion of disadvantaged students. Yet the lack of enforcement and the slow pace of redress thro ugh legal channels have left parents with little recourse.
The power imbalance is stark: institutions can act with impunity, while families must navigate opaque systems, bureaucratic delays, and the constant fear of academic disruption. Schools argue that they are under financial pressure too ~ citing inflation, staff salaries, infrastructure needs, and delayed reimbursements for government-mandated admissions. These concerns are not unfounded. But financial hardship cannot become a justification for non-compliance with regulation, or an excuse for penalising children. The absence of transparent, third-party audits allows fee structures to become instruments of exclusion rather than inclusion. If unchecked, this drift toward commercialisation risks un dermining the very purpose of schooling in a democratic society. Education must remain a public good ~ ac cessible, predictable, and shielded from profit-maximising tendencies.
The current model is creating a dangerous precedent where parents must pay more each year for the same education, with no clear rationale and no guarantee of stability. The recent steps by some state governments to introduce ordinances on fee regulation are welcome, but long overdue. What is needed now is a national framework that prioritises transparency, accountability, and fairness. Regulatory clarity and timely audits must be made non-negotiable. Above all, education policy must realign with its core mission: to serve children, not balance sheets. Until then, the classroom will remain a place of uncertainty for too many students ~ an arena where learning competes with anxiety, and dreams are deferred by the rising price of hope.