Wow, do Delhi schools really beat New York in terms of having the highest fees worldwide?
Kind of got you with the title, but while it might not be technically true, as according to data, individuals in New York do spend comparatively more than Delhi individuals on school fees, however, the issue comes from how much individuals are earning and how much they are spending on school fees.
Let’s take into account the average annual household income of a family in Delhi and how much they spend on school fees. It is extremely high compared to the same parameters put against a family in New York.
Recent reports have shed light on how Indians are paying extremely high fees for private schools that reach a global standard while not earning nearly as much as those from other countries. So even if families from other countries might be paying more school fees, the difference is made up with a higher average household income.
So what does this even mean? And can anything be done to improve this?
How Much Are Indian School Fees?
A recent report by India Today featuring data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Bank, and national statistics, pointed out how much different cities in India and globally are spending on school fees for private and international schools as compared to their average annual household income.
The results from this were troubling, as Delhi seems to be spending the most on school fees in comparison to the income of the residents.
Delhi, according to the report, spends Rs 12 to 20 lakh per year as school fees at a private/international school. However, the average annual income of those in the state is only Rs 12 to 15 lakh.
This, when calculated, means that those in Delhi are spending almost 80-130% of their household income on just school fees.
This is much higher when compared to a city like New York in the US, which spends around Rs 37 lakh ($45,000) yearly on school fees, but the average household income of people there is Rs 75 lakh ($90,000), meaning they spend just 50% their household income on fees.
Singapore and Dubai (UAE) have even more affordable education, while household incomes are high.
Singapore individuals spend Rs 24 lakh (SGD 40,000) on fees while earning Rs 72 lakh (SGD 120,000), while those in Dubai earn Rs 67 lakh (AED 300,000) but spend only Rs 20 lakh (AED 90,000) on school fees.
Thus, Singapore and Dubai, respectively, have individuals spending just 33% or 30% of their household income in this sector.
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This is not the first time that the rising cost of education, especially related to private or international schools, has been spoken about. In 2024, a BankBazaar report revealed that education costs escalated at a rate of 8-10%, with expenses in this area doubling every six to seven years.
Praneet Mungali, Trustee and Secretary of the Sanskriti Group Schools, as per a 2024 Business Standard report, talked about the divide in educational costs between rural and urban areas, where the former spends around 3.3% of its income, while the latter spends 5.78%.
Fee revisions have also come under heavy backlash, with a viral X/Twitter post by Jagdish Chaturvedi, an ENT surgeon and entrepreneur, exclaiming, “Rs 8,400 parent orientation fee! No parent will ever agree to pay even 20 per cent of this for a doctor’s consultation… I am planning to open a school now.”
As per the report, Aviral Bhatnagar, a Bengaluru-based investor, in August 2024 raised concern in an X/Twitter post over the fees for lower kindergarten (LKG) in Hyderabad being increased from Rs 2.3 lakh to Rs 3.7 lakh. He wrote, “Inflation-adjusted, school fees are up 9x and college fees are up 20x in the last 30 years. Education is no more affordable.”
Several agreed with him and shared their own experiences. One user wrote, “Board Councils are also charging fees for conducting exams. Recently, I came to know that a prominent school in Mumbai is taking Rs 4500 from students for conducting 10th board exams, and it was said that all of this is given to the ICSE Council.”
Another commented, “So true. Just visited a school today and I was told that the average fee hike is 10-12% pa, which basically means every – 7 years the fees will double. The current fees with transport and food are around 3.5 lac pa for LKG.”
One user also brought up the extra expenses these schools place on students, writing, “Apart from the fees (20% increase compared to last year), schools are collecting hefty amounts for their in-house school dresses (with little changes on dress codes) and books.”
So, just in case it is still not clear, while in absolute numbers, Indian school fees might be lower than those in London or New York, however, the problem is that Indian incomes are not keeping pace with the global standards.
Which means that where a family in New York is spending only half its income on education, a family in Delhi is spending a full 100% or in some cases almost twice its income, to fund the education of their kids in a private or international school.
The question has to be asked about whether the burden of debt many of these families are choosing to go through just for the sake of their child’s education is even worth it or not. Does the quality of these so-called private schools match the price?
A 2021 National Council of Applied Economic Research survey also shed light on this, where parents are growing concerned about the affordability of education, even as they understand the importance of good education.
Around 60% of those surveyed reported frustration not just with the rising costs but also with private schools often demanding fees that they feel are not justified by the standard of education they offer.
Experts do suggest that existing regulations should be enforced strongly and that fee structures should be made transparent. Unregulated extra expenses that many of these schools add as development fees or bus fees, thus hiking up the total school fees, also need to be monitored. Also, a centralised regulation for private schools should be considered.
Furthermore, public schools need to be paid attention to, where just because it is affordable doesn’t mean that the bare minimum, or in some cases, not even that, is met.
A revamp of public schools should be done, so that parents feel confident sending their children there, and also do not have to be burdened by crushing financial issues.
The Delhi government has introduced a bill, the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025, to curb arbitrary and excessive fee hikes in private schools. It was approved in June by the state cabinet, but awaits the approval of the Lieutenant Governor before it can become law.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: India Today, The Hindu, BBC
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Delhi School, Delhi School fees, indian School, indian school fees, indian education, global education, new york fee, new york school fees, indian average income, indian school fees rise,
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