New Delhi: Indian parents spend an average Rs 32,000 annually on their children’s education, a study by edtech firm Schoolnet and PGA labs recently found.
Titled ‘Understanding Indian School Education Spends Landscape’, the survey looked at Indian families’ financial resources vis-à-vis costs of education in private and government schools, and putting context to the huge gap of resources impacts children’s study.
The study has classified parents’ spending on children’s education under two heads — amount spent on school education and amount spent for tuition and personal coaching classes.
Following are annual figures spent by parents on school education in different cities:
Tier I — Rs 43,000
Tier II — Rs 33,000
Tier III — Rs 34,000
Tier IV — Rs 29,000
The wide gap reveals difference in educational infrastructure and awareness of parents in different places. It sheds light on unequal distribution of educational opportunity.
The study also found that nearly 7% of parents in Tier-1 cities spend under Rs 10,000 annually for their child’s education in comparison to the 18% of parents in Tier-4 places.
Post-pandemic, there has been a significant increase in children’s dependency on online studies leading to an increased dependency of parents on laptops, subscription to online courses, etc.
Following are annual figures spent by parents on extra classes, tuitions and personal coaching:
Tier I — Rs 19,000
Tier II — Rs 18,000
Tier III — Rs 14,000
Tier IV — Rs 14,000
An Indian family spends on an average around Rs 16,000 annually on children’s extra classes and tuitions. Compared to school education, figures on extra classes show a narrower gap, which indicates that coaching classes are being prioritized equally in all regions.
Schoolnet’s survey assessed that 32% of Indian parents in Tier-1 cities spend less than Rs 10,000 on extra classes compared to 41% in Tier-4.