A good education has become a luxury in todays times and it is becoming increasingly difficult for the middle class to afford it. Parents today are caught in the aspirational struggle of sending their child to a school which provides good education and modern amenities which often only private schools provide. But private schools high fees has become a crisis for many. As schools are bringing western models of Education like IB curriculum they are charging even more fees. To be very honest most of the parents do not understand these different curriculums at the grass root level. Everyone seems to be following each other in this rat race. These days monthly fees for a Kindergarten student is somewhere around 25k -30k excluding the transportation fees. There is a 7-10% increase in fees every year without any prior information or explanation as to why is this rise in fees for.
Most of the international and private schools have very high fee structure and parents are concerned and feel providing good education to their children is becoming a burden for many. Further the annual fee hikes is making it even more difficult. Parents are frustrated with the ever increasing cost of quality education.
Parents have the following arguments for the high fee structure of schools
Unrealistic High Fees
While parents agree that a good infrastructure and amenities do incur cost but schools have unreasonably high fees for junior classes as they are yet not using many of the facilities . The high fees shall make education inaccessible to many.
Profit making Institutions
Private schools and their management in current scenario have just become profit driven institutions. Fees high every year between 7-10% without any explanation is quite worrisome for the parents. the amenities and quality of education remains the same while the fees keeps on increasing. Is this even justified.
Vey Limited Accountability
There is lack of transparency from the school side in giving justification for the high fees. There are no regulatory bodies from the government side to check the ever increasing fees in the private schools. This way it becomes very difficult for the parents to challenge unfair practices.
Financial Burden for Parents
High school fees puts a financial burden on parents of lower and middle income group. Thus they look for other options thus compromising on their child s development.
Hidden Charges
Parents also feel school keep a lot of hidden charges like some schools made it mandatory to buy uniforms, shoes , books and bags exclusively from them incurring extra cost. Some schools also charge for issuing a new ID card every year.
While the schools have their justifications for the higher fee structure, lets break it down.
Infrastructure and Modern Amenities
As we know technology is revolutionising the industries across the globe and so it is transforming the education sector as well. While today Parents demand for Air conditioned classrooms, swimming pool in the school, AI labs and all other modern amenities. The schools invest in creating a world class infrastructure and put a lot of emphasis on technology. In order to maintain these amenities and provide it to the children there are high fees structure.
Extra Curricular Activities
Schools these days provide various Extra Curricular Activities. There is dance , music , various different types of sports available, yoga , theatre classes and much more. These activities require extra resources and staff and so the operational cost increases which adds up in the school fees.
Different Curriculum and Teaching methods
Many schools these days are providing not just CBSE but IB or Montessori curriculum. All these international curriculum have different teaching methods which often require more skilled and specialised teachers. As these curriculum are often more expensive thus adding up in the fees.
Brand Name
Prestigious schools which have a legacy and have been running for many years with some great alumnus will definitely have an edge over other schools. Their education record is well maintained over the years. Thus brand name plays a crucial role in the minds of the parents while deciding on the school for their children. This further adds up in the school fees.
Location
Schools which are generally located in the prime locations of cities will generally charge a higher fees.
Teaching Staff
When the schools follow international curriculum they have to hire well qualified and well trained teachers especially those who have experience in those curriculum. These teachers are paid higher salaries and it reflects in the fee structure.
Holistic Development
Providing so many facilities for extra curricular activities along with quality education gives an holistic development to the child. It helps in the over all development of the child.
Global Competitiveness
Schools having IB curriculum provide an edge to the students as they prepare a child with skills and knowledge to able to thrive in a global competitive environment. It prepared the child well and can be considered as a long term investment in the child s future.
Does a High Fees guarantees best Education for your child
Well this is a very debatable point because while a school which has a higher fees will provide great infrastructure with all modern amenities and teachers who are well qualified but that always doesn’t translate into good education. I feel for good education and over all learning for a child below are some points to be considered.
School Environment
The over all environment of the school matters the most for a child. How the teachers interact with the children, how are the fellow students in the class, how does the other staff treat the children matters the most. A child who feels safe and happy while going to school will definitely excel .
Teaching Style
Sometimes simple and practical methods of teaching help the child more . Using complicated gadgets in the name of modern amenities can sometimes make it more difficult for the child to understand and learn. This is where the teachers need to create a balance in their teaching style
Parent Teacher Involvement
Schools which have a proper parent teacher interaction system often do well. It is very important for the parents to be aware as to what all is happening in the school . Transparency between the school authorities and parents should always be there and the schools which do so always have better results.
Conclusion
Whether the high fees is justified depend on the depends on the value the parents place on the education their child is receiving. In the early years it is very important to have a well trained and qualified teacher to take care of your child and help in building the psychological base of the child as the child is most vulnerable and delicate at this age. So when you are paying the high fees the school must ensure to deliver excellent level of care. Once the child goes to higher classes then how well are the teachers teaching, how well the current technology is being used in the teaching methods, and how much exposure a child is getting in terms of studies and extra curricular activities matters the most. If the school is providing all of this in a good way then the high fees can be justified otherwise it becomes a case of exploiting the parents. As a process there needs to be more efforts from the government to bring regulations in the fees structure of the private schools. This way these private school management will also be aware that the regulatory bodies are watching them .