81% parents of children going to private schools says fees for academic session 2025-26 has increased by 10% or more

May 3, 2025, New Delhi: The start of the new academic session has brought bad news for thousands of parents in many cities like Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad as many schools have revised their fee structures resulting in annual hike of anywhere between 10% to 50%.

In the national capital, hundreds of parents have been staging protests over the last month. For instance, at Delhi Public School (DPS) Dwarka, parents have been staging repeated protests outside both the school and the Directorate of Education, upset over the yearly fees touching Rs 1.4 lakh, following consecutive hikes in tuition fee since 2020 by 8% to 20%.

This is not an isolated case, parents are reported to be protesting in front of many private unaided schools in Delhi NCR which have hiked their fees, cutting deep into the pockets of parents. So far even intervention by the Directorate of Education (DoE) has not proved a deterrent for many schools, many of who tend to increase the fees under various heads. Last year in April, the Delhi High Court in an interim order allowed schools to hike fees after submitting only a fee statement under Section 17(3) of the Delhi School Education Act and Rules (DSEAR), 1973, thereby limiting the DoE’s role to checking for profiteering or capitation fees.

A repeat scenario can be seen in many other major cities where the much in demand, private school education is getting out of reach for many parents, leading to some having to take loans to cope with the additional expenses. Responding to the citizens demands, Department of School Education in Karnataka has issued a circular mandating that all schools must issue clear admission notification displaying details of the reservation policies and fee structures. The schools have been asked to put in place a complaint redressal system while field education officers have been asked to provide prompt review and resolution of complaints.

A recent nationwide LocalCircles survey revealed that 44% of parents surveyed say schools have increased fees by 50-80% or more over the last 3 years. For parents of children in the high school, who feel need for private tuition in preparation for competition exams, the combined fees is a back breaker. In a follow up survey, LocalCircles has strived to find out how much has the increase in fees by private schools been for the current academic year 2025-26. The survey received over 18,000 responses from parents of school going children located in 301 districts of India. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 45% of respondents were from tier 1, 28% from tier 2 and 27% respondents were from tier 3 and 4 districts.

The increase in fees varies from school to school and depends also on the class and curriculum (CBSE, ICSE, IGCSE, IB, etc.) the student is studying. The survey asked parents of school going children, “How much has the school your children/ grandchildren go to increase the total fee in percentage terms for FY 2025-26 as compared to 2024-25?” Out of 18,902 respondents to the question 22% stated the hike is “over 30%”; 28% of respondents stated the hike is “20-30%”; 31% of respondents indicated the hike is “10-20%”; 3% of respondents indicated”5-10%”; 3% of respondents indicated the “fee increase has not been announced yet”; 5% of respondents stated that there has been “no change in fee during this period” and 8% of respondents did not give a clear answer. To sum up, 81% of parents surveyed, who have children going to private schools, say the school their children go to has increased fees by over 10%

81% parents surveyed who have children going to private schools say the school their children go to has increased fees by over 10%

In summary, 81% of parents surveyed who have children studying in private schools say the school their children go to has increased 2025-26 fee by over 10%, The data shows that in 50% of parents’ cases the jump in school fees has been over 20%. For parents already grappling with multitude of pressures on their income besides school and afterschool education of their children/ wards, the situation is bound to be worrisome. The Central Government via CBSE and State Governments via their Department of Education must intervene to ensure that school fee increases are capped and the same is being enforced on the ground. Extensive parent surveys must be conducted by every district administration to understand the situation and act.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 18,000 responses from parents of school going children located in 301 districts of India. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 45% of respondents were from tier 1, 28% from tier 2 and 27% respondents were from tier 3 and 4 districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform, and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.