Families with children are experiencing concern due to recent price increases for milk, water, and other necessities, as private schools are reportedly considering raising their tuition by as much as 20%. Parents now have to worry about growing bus fares in addition to school expenses.
"A parent of a primary class student at a CBSE school has sent a complaint about book, tuition and transport fees going up. They demanded the fee before books were given. Now a private school management association is saying it will increase the fee by up to 20%. Even parents have costs to bear with. There should be a scientific reason for the hike," BN Yoganand, state president of Karnataka Private School and College Parents Association's coordination committee.
"A 10-15% fee hike is the annual standard and we advise schools to not go beyond that unless there is a need," reported quoting Shashi Kumar, Convener of Karnataka Private Schools Management Teacher and Non-Teaching Coordination Committee.
A representative of the association of ICSE and CBSE schools in Karnataka said, "Each year, the story of exorbitant school fee increase comes up, but it's not true. There is permission with a ceiling of not more than 12-15%, and schools across boards are doing it. Schools, finding it difficult to manage the increased rates of variable overheads, are supposed to negotiate with the education department, although I do not believe this conversation has taken place yet this year."
Educationist Sripad Bhat said, "There is no fee regulation in Karnataka. There is DERA (District Education Regulatory Authority), but it does not function at all. There is no govt mechanism to regulate the fee structure of private schools. The RTE Act says the fee structure should be on the notice board and (schools should) not take money in development fees, but this is not followed, and the govt is not punishing the management."
