Inflation throws education budget out of gear

The re-opening of schools has not been good news for many middle-class
parents. For, they see a daunting task ahead to bear the additional
expenses for their wards in the face of rising costs of everything.

Be it school fees, books and notebooks, uniforms or conveyance - the
costs have gone up by an average 12% this year. Parents say this rise
is over what the costs were during the last academic session.

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This year, the price of digest has risen by 12 to 13% compared to last
year's, while in case of notebooks the rise is more than 10%. In
school uniforms, the rise has been anywhere between Rs 50 and Rs 100.
To add to the woes of the parents, the rise in coaching class fees has
been very frequent.

The hike in petrol prices has affected the costs of conveyance, too.
Autorickshaw drivers are charging Rs 100 to Rs 150 more than what they
charged last year.

Milan Patel, a shop-owner in Usmanpura, had to break his year-long
savings to bear the educational expenses of his two daughters.
"Bearing the educational expenses of my daughters, Simoli (class 7th)
and Trisha (class 5th), has become a daunting task for me and my wife.
The school has already taken an undertaking from us to the effect that
we don't have any objection with increase in fees. Due to hike in
prices of study material, uniform and school fees, I am finding myself
helpless in setting a normal household budget," he said.

Avani Bhatt, a homemaker living at CG Road, says it is very difficult
to meet the rising expenses. "My son Ayush is studying in class 8th
and with the re-opening of his school, the tuition fee has increased
by Rs 2,000 a year. Earlier, I used to pay Rs 12,000 a year as tuition
fee but now I will have to pay Rs 14,000. The school also charges
extra fees on different heads like computer, activity and project. It
is really difficult to meet the expenses," she said.

In addition to these expenses, there is also another hurdle. Coaching
classes have become sort of compulsory. And the fees in case of
coaching classes have also gone up.

According to Kaushik Patel, a businessman living in Vadodara,
education these days has become a business. "The fees of my children
Varun (class10th) and Dhruti (class 8th) include coaching class fees
Rs 26,000 a year and school fees Rs 12,000 a year. Apart from fees,
one has to bear the costs of books, digests, uniforms, conveyance,
etc," he said.

Another thing that troubles many parents is that the earnings are not
increasing in proportion to the rising expenses. Ravji Chauhan, an
employee in a private firm in Rajkot, said: "I don't have that much
earning which can bear my children's educational expenses and that is
why my son works part-time to support his educational expenses. This
year due to rise in prices of study material and coaching fees, we are
finding it difficult to cope up with educational expenses of our
children."