Prices of primary textbooks, stationery, and uniforms have soared, making it challenging for families with multiple children
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – As the new academic year begins, parents in the national capital have to cope with a significant increase in education-related expenses. Several parents are seeking stricter regulation of private school fees and government intervention to provide free textbooks to children in private schools.
Primary education has been declared a fundamental right by the government, ensuring that no child should be deprived of knowledge. Various schemes by the central and state governments aim to support this mandate, including initiatives to enroll out-of-school children up to the age of 14. Despite these efforts, parents of children in private schools are feeling the financial strain more than ever.
Parents argue that while the government spends crores of rupees annually on surveys and schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which provides free textbooks and uniforms to students in zila parishad, municipal, and aided schools, students in private schools are not receiving the same support. “The academic year 2024-25 is proving to be very expensive for private school students and their parents,” said one concerned parent.
Prices of primary textbooks, stationery, and uniforms have soared, making it challenging for families with multiple children. “If there are two to four brothers and sisters in a house, how can parents bear the burden of their expensive education? This problem has become very serious,” another parent said.
With the cost of living already high, middle-class and poor families are finding it increasingly difficult to manage their daily expenses. The price of a Bal Bharati textbook for Grades 1 to 4 now ranges from Rs 200 to Rs 400, with the entire curriculum costing approximately Rs 2,500 per child. The situation is even worse for CBSE students, where primary syllabus costs have reached Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000.
“Private educational institutes are exploiting students by significantly increasing admission and annual education fees every year,” a local activist commented. “In this era of inflation, education has become so expensive that shaping the future of students has become difficult.”
Activists are urging the central and state governments to establish a code of conduct for private educational institutions. “A fee cap should be introduced, and a law enacted to make textbooks more affordable,” they demanded.
The rising costs are pushing parents to their limits, and many are hoping for swift action from the government to alleviate the financial burden and ensure that every child has access to affordable education.
