The Hindu : School reopening, a burden on parents

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 07, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

School reopening, a burden on parents

Bangalore June 6. Children going back to school after the summer vacation is not such a relief for parents, as you may think. Beginning of the school year also means a big drain on the household budget.

School fees, cost of transport, books, uniform, shoes, and accessories such as bags and water bottles are the main items on which parents of schoolchildren have to spend. According to some parents, the cost of readymade uniforms and material increases just before the reopening of schools. There are also schools which insist that parents buy uniforms and accessories such as neckties and badges from them and not anywhere else. Shubha, mother of two children in kindergarten classes, says she is already spending close to Rs. 30,000 each school year. Her daughter studies in Tiny Twinklers where the fee is Rs. 10,000 a year and her son is in Bishop Cotton's which charges Rs. 18,000. "Add the cost of books and uniforms and charges for the school bus, and you can imagine how much we have to spend. To get kids into a good school in Bangalore, a parent has to be prepared to shell out a lot of money,'' she says. Kiran spends Rs. 22,000 a year on his son studying in the third standard at Bishop Cotton's. The charges include those for all extracurricular and academic facilities provided in the school. Things are no different in other schools. Ashok Kumar, parent of a first standard student in St. Paul's, says that he spends Rs. 460 on school fees every month. Another Rs. 860 go each academic year towards uniforms and at least Rs. 3,000 towards books. Besides these, he spends Rs. 350 each month for the van which picks up his son and brings him back from school. "For a middleclass salaried parent, schooling expenses have to be carefully budgeted for and saved over the year,'' he says.

The cost of schooling has tripled over the past 10 years, according to George, a parent of three children."Schools have started asking for special fees for computer education, and this has added to the burden on parents,'' he points out.

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