Schools in Delhi have been demanding an increase in their fees by a whopping 50 per cent. Also, the Sixth Pay Commission has ruled that teachers should get a 60 per cent raise. So, the schools say that to implement the raise, they need to charge parents more.
A committee will decide whether fee hike is ok by the end of November.
But the proposal for this dramatic hike couldn't come at a worse time -- middle class Delhi is already hit by volatile markets.
Lunch conversation at the Bagga house is now usually restricted to one topic -- the expected hike in school fees. Both children are in Modern School, one of Delhi's most expensive schools and the family is already stretched thin financially.
"It is going to be difficult. We have to see from where exactly the money would come. It's so much a burden for a single earner in the family. I can't even get a job at the age of 40. So, we have to cut down vacation and outings in the weekend. At a time when the economy is going down this is burden. My kids have stopped their extra curricular activities. Even for Diwali, we will not buy any gifts as the next fee we have to pay just after Diwali," said Pranjali Bagga, a worried parent.
Schools have already asked the government for permission to increase their fees by 50 per cent. And if that is sanctioned, Pranjali will spend an extra Rs 12,000 per month on her children's education.
So the family has started cutting corners.
"I wanted to do medical coaching but I have opted for a correspondence coaching since the former would charge more than a lakh which is not possible to pay after the fee hike," said Prajvi Bagga who studies in class XI in Modern School, Barakhamba.
Her 13-year-old brother Karmaditya offers some sacrifices too.
"I wanted my braces, but its not happening now. We haven't visited a theatre for ages. We bring DVDs on rent," said Karmaditya.
A committee consisting of parents, teachers and government officials will take a month to decide on how much schools can charge. The new fee will apply from December.
Parents and students can tell this committee what they think through a website -- edudel.nic.in.
Pranjali already knows what she's going to say in her email.
"Schools should rent out their halls or pull out money in some other way to pay teachers instead of taxing parents," she said.
It's a wishful thinking at a time when the entire city is re-doing its math to cope with the economic slowdown.