Bengaluru: As another academic year looms, there's another round of battle over annual fee hike. With private schools in Karnataka planning 5% to 8% annual revision in tuition fees, parents — already laid low by deepening inflationary trend and increasingly less-benign job market — are urging Karnataka govt to bring in a law to regulate arbitrary, frequent and unscientific fee hikes.
For tuition fee revision, Delhi govt has proposed a structured approach: A committee will propose hikes and school will ratify it. Parents, too, have an equal say in this exercise.
Shocked by up to 15% fee increases annually, many parents fear a similar revision in associated charges: Transport, extra-curricular and school development. Parents alleged schools are openly exploiting the regulatory vacuum.
Household budgets stretched thin, parent groups — and also activists — are urging the Karnataka govt to introduce a transparent and enforceable fee regulation framework on the lines of Delhi's School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025 to bring accountability and relief to parents.
Karnataka has 19,000 private schools. While the school education department remained non-committal over regulating fees, many senior officials refused to comment on the issue.
Private schools are not in favour of giving voice to parents in what they call their discretionary exercise. "This year may see 5%-8% fee revision, a decision that schools make individually. We condemn schools if they take the hike beyond the normal 15%," said D Shashi Kumar, Secretary, Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools of Karnataka.
He attributed the revision to new levies — like fresh water tariff slabs for private unaided schools and new labour laws — amid drop in admissions.
Sijo Sebastian, secretary, Voice of Parents, said school managements collect exorbitant and unjustified fees which have no correlation to actual expenditures. "Despite the Right to Education Act providing scope for transparency and rational fee fixation, the state govt showed no willingness to enforce it effectively. Schools generate revenue almost entirely from fees, which should be strictly proportional to their expenditure. Yet, we saw cases where schools increased fees blatantly," he added.
Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have also similar regulations, which give an opportunity for the school management as well as the parents to together decide fee revisions. "It is a democratic process. It is a good idea for Karnataka too, as it is one of the pioneers in privatisation," said Niranjanaradhya VP, educationist. But he cautioned: "Karnataka has the problem of conflict of interest as many politicians themselves run schools. That could be one of the strong reasons why Karnataka was not able to come up with legislation."
KAMS said such a committee is against the TMA Pai judgement. "Delhi's plan is challenged in court. We are against such a system. Who are parents to decide on a fee hike? It's our discretion," said Shashi Kumar.
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What does Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025 say:
* Each school must form panel every academic year, comprising management representative, principal, 3 teachers and 5 parents, and education director as observer
* Management must propose fee for next 3 years; if committee fails to decide on fee by Sept 15, proposal goes to an appellate comprising deputy director of education, CA, 2 school representatives, parents
* Fee to be decided on: location, infrastructure, expenditure on administration and maintenance, teachers' salary, salary increments, reasonable revenue surplus
* Up to Rs 10 lakh penalty if school does not follow the fee thus calculated
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