The Stark Reality of Educational Costs in India

Syllabus: GS2/Education

Context

• The NSS 80th Round (2025) findings highlight a troubling trend in India’s basic schooling landscape: despite constitutional guarantees the Right to Free and Compulsory Education for all children aged 6 to 14 years under Article 21A and policy ambitions (National Education Policy 2020), household expenditure on education is rising, and access is becoming increasingly unequal due to growing reliance on private schools and coaching .

Key Findings from the NSS 80th Round Survey

• Enrolment Trends (Public vs. Private Education): At the national level, enrolment remains divided between government and private schools:
  • 55.9% in government schools;
  • 11.3% in private aided schools;
  • 31.9% in private unaided schools;
• Urban–Rural Divide:
  • Urban areas: 51.4% of students attend private schools.
  • Rural areas: Only 24.3% attend private schools.
    • The gender gap in private school enrolment is modest, 34% of boys versus 29.5% of girls.
• Rising Private Enrolment Over Time: Private enrolment has increased at all education levels, both in rural and urban areas, compared with the 75th NSS Round (2017–18).
  • It underscores a growing preference for private education — often associated with better perceived quality but higher costs.
• Cost of Education:
  • Rural government schools: 25.3% of students pay fees.
  • Urban government schools: 34.7% pay fees.
    • In contrast, 98% of private school students, rural or urban, pay course fees.
• In comparison with Household Consumption Expenditure (HCES 2023–24):
  • Pre-primary private school costs equal the monthly income of the poorest 5% of households.
  • Higher secondary private school costs match the income of households in the third income decile.
    • It clearly demonstrates that education has become a heavy financial burden, even at the basic level.
• Private Coaching: Hidden Cost of Learning:
  • Incidence of Private Tutoring: Private tuition, now a parallel education system, is widely prevalent:
    • Rural areas: 25.5% of children take private coaching.
    • Urban areas: 30.7% of children do so.
  • Participation increases with grade level, from around 10–13% at pre-primary to over 40% at higher secondary.
• Expenditure on Private Coaching: The average annual cost of private coaching is ₹7,066 in rural and ₹13,026 in urban areas, which add significantly to the already high cost of schooling.

Socio-Economic Correlates of Private Tutoring

• Cost Burden and Inequality: 80th Round of NSS shows that private school students pay up to 9 times more than those in government schools.
  • Urban households, especially in states like Telangana and Delhi, spend significantly more on education, including tuition, transport, and digital devices.
  • The financial burden is disproportionately high for lower-income families, who often cut back on essentials to afford private schooling or coaching.
• Policy Blind Spots: There is limited regulation or oversight of the coaching industry, while the NEP (2020) acknowledges the issue of private tutoring.
  • The lack of affordable, high-quality public education options pushes families toward private alternatives, reinforcing socio-economic divides.
• Parental Aspirations and Social Mobility: Families with higher household income, parental education, and urban residence view coaching as an investment in academic success and social prestige.
• Many private school teachers are underpaid and underqualified despite high private school fees, compelling parents to spend even more on private tutoring. 
• Inequality and the Decline of Public Schooling: Free education is a constitutional right. But, costly private education is increasingly the norm, perpetuating inequality.
  • Affluent families can afford private schools and coaching, poorer families rely on underfunded public schools, leading to divergent learning outcomes.

Ongoing Efforts to Improve Public Schooling in India

• Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (2018): Integrates three earlier schemes: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), and Teacher Education (TE).
  • It aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education from pre-primary to Class XII.
• PM SHRI Schools (2022): To develop over 14,500 model schools across India. It focuses on:
  • Modern infrastructure with smart classrooms;
  • Holistic, inquiry-based pedagogy aligned with NEP 2020;
  • Emphasis on environmental sustainability and experiential learning;
• National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR): It aims to create a unified digital infrastructure for education. It includes:
  • DIKSHA platform for e-content and teacher training;
  • UDISE+ for real-time school data;
  • Digital learning resources in regional languages;
• Mid-Day Meal Scheme (PM POSHAN): It aims to improve nutritional status and school attendance.
  • Over 11 crore children in government and government-aided schools.
  • Inclusion of pre-primary children and fortified food in some states.
• Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme (Union Budget 2025–26): It aims to provide digital-format textbooks in Indian languages to enhance comprehension and accessibility.

Way Forward: Strengthening Publicly Funded Schools

• Addressing inequities requires urgent systemic reforms. Strengthening public education is crucial to ensure that education remains a right, not a privilege.
  • The Journal of Development Studies (2024) finds that private tuition is negatively associated with school quality, students in better schools depend less on tutoring.
• Improving teaching standards, infrastructure, and accountability in government schools can reduce dependence on private tuition and restore public confidence in free education.

Conclusion

• India’s constitutional vision of free and universal education remains far from reality.
  • Education is becoming one of the largest household expenditures for many Indian families with rising private school enrolment, high tuition costs, and increasing reliance on private coaching.
• India needs to urgently revitalize public schooling, ensure equitable funding, and uphold the constitutional promise of ‘education for all’ to realize the NEP 2020 goal of universal education by 2030.

Source: TH