'Are we preparing parents for bankruptcy?': Financial advisor slams ₹4 lakh LKG school fees

A school in Hyderabad is charging ₹4 lakh for LKG. And that’s not even the most outrageous part, many want the full year’s fee upfront.

“I won’t send my child to an expensive private school,” financial advisor Neha Nagar wrote in a LinkedIn post. “At this rate, are we preparing kids for school… or preparing parents for bankruptcy?”

Her words hit where it hurts — in the wallets of millions of anxious parents.

Fee hikes are spiralling across cities. In Hyderabad alone, some schools have raised fees by 30% this year. In Bengaluru, parents are protesting increases of up to 30% for 2025–26. In Delhi and Mumbai, similar complaints are pouring in.

The numbers tell the larger story. Average annual fees in private schools now range from ₹60,000 to ₹2 lakh. Education inflation, currently at 11–12%, is more than double India’s general inflation rate — and rising. According to LocalCircles, 44% of parents have seen school fees rise 50–80% in just three years. A staggering 8% reported hikes beyond 80%.

Government data backs the trend. Between 2014 and 2018, primary school costs rose 30.7%. In rural areas, average annual spending per student jumped from ₹5,856 to ₹12,345 in a decade; in urban zones, it more than doubled from ₹12,000 to ₹28,000.

And tuition is only part of the load. Parents must also cover uniforms, books, gadgets, transport, extracurriculars — all billed separately. Many schools now charge ₹25,000 a year just for buses. Book sets can cost ₹7,000 or more.

Elite schools charge eye-watering sums. A top school in Gurgaon demands ₹3.46 lakh annually for Classes 11–12, plus a ₹2 lakh admission fee.

Mid-tier schools like 21K School charge over ₹60,000 even for lower grades — excluding books and assessments.

The financial squeeze is showing. Enrolments dropped by over 1 crore between 2018–19 and 2023–24, as families either delayed admissions or opted for cheaper alternatives.

As Neha Nagar put it bluntly, private schools today “look more like startups than institutions.”