Rising education costs in India may throw a spanner in the country’s quest to become a developed nation by 2050, for which inclusive education is one of the crucial preconditions. According to the National Sample Survey (NSS) report, the average expenditure on education has nearly doubled in the last decade. While the cost of primary education has increased by 30.7 per cent, the hike is 5.7 percent at the graduate level and 13.19 per cent at post-graduate level. In rural areas, cost of education per student has increased by more than INR 6000 and nearly INR 16,000 in urban areas, pushing education inflation to more than 11 per cent. Clearly, the galloping cost escalation in the education sector should be checked to safeguard the right to education, which has constitutional sanctity.
Privatisation of the education sector is the primary reason behind such a phenomenal rise in the cost of education. With both the central and state governments not spending much on education, the situation has become tailor-made for the private parties to foray into this very crucial sector. Forgetting the fact that education is the backbone of any nation, many private educational institutions give more importance to making profit. The private players argue that higher fees are required to maintain high standards in education, provide modern facilities and training, as well as invest in R&D. They are of the opinion that government educational institutions too have to hike the fees to improve education standard. However, the government in a catch-22 situation, as it can neither set up the requisite number of educational institutes to accommodate all the aspirants for higher studies, nor can hike the fees, as it will increase the burden of the people and such a move could even trigger protests.
On this, both the government and private players cannot afford to ignore the interest of students. The government should increase its spending on the education sector (India’s spending on education was 4.635% of GDP in 2021, as per the World Bank) in order to maintain education standard. The number of scholarships for students interested in higher studies should also be increased. On the other hand, a stringent law should be in place to restrict private educational institutions from collecting excessive fees from students, especially those pursuing professional courses. The government also can also look at the option of asking the corporate sector to invest a part of its social responsibility fund in the education sector. Such move can boost infrastructure and facilities, which are vital in enhancing learning.
