Rising Education Costs: A CA’s Insight into the Burden on Middle-Class Families

₹22 lakh. That’s what it now costs to put your child through school in India, and parents are starting to walk away. A LinkedIn post by chartered accountant and educator Meenal Goel has reignited the debate on whether middle-class families can still afford private education.

Goel shared a sharply detailed cost analysis of educating a child from Class 1 to 12 in 2025. Her post quotes a couple who made the painful decision to not send their child to school, not due to a lack of belief in education, but because they simply couldn’t pay for it.

Her breakdown is blunt:

• Primary school (Classes 1–5): ₹5.75 lakh
• Middle school (Classes 6–8): ₹5.9 lakh
• High school (Classes 9–12): ₹9.2 lakh
• Total: ₹20–22 lakh—and that’s for a “decent” private school, not a premium one.

Books, uniforms, tuition, transport, gadgets, and exam coaching all add up, Goel wrote, with premium schools often charging double that figure. “The real cost of schooling in India in 2025 is shocking,” she posted, sparking wide discussion among parents, educators, and professionals.

The data backs her up. A 2024 National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report found that urban private unaided school fees have surged over 169% in the past decade, far outpacing both inflation and salary growth. Middle-class families in metros now spend ₹1.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh per child annually, just to keep them enrolled.

In Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, monthly tuition fees range from ₹2,500 to ₹8,000, with yearly totals climbing to ₹1.5 lakh or more when adding books, uniforms, and transport. Meanwhile, a LocalCircles survey in early 2025 reported that 81% of parents faced fee hikes of 10% or more for the academic year 2025–26, and 22% saw hikes above 30%.

Cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad have seen some of the steepest revisions. Despite fee regulation attempts, Delhi schools reported hikes ranging from 11% to 35% last year, with several institutions bypassing rules by relabeling miscellaneous charges. Enforcement remains weak.

With costs nearing those of developed countries, without the consistent quality to match, many Indian families are taking loans or cutting essential expenses just to keep up.