Mr Singhal urged fintech companies and policymakers to find ways to support middle-class families struggling with rising school fees.
Ashish Singhal, co-founder of CoinSwitch and Lemonn, weighed in on the major issue of rising school fees for primary classes as he highlighted a report which stated that the fees are increasing by 10-30% every year, outpacing middle-class income growth.
In a LinkedIn post, Mr Singhal claimed that school expenses now consume nearly 19% of household income, and parents are even taking EMIs for kindergarten fees.
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"Started having conversations about school for my daughter. Shocked to hear what's going on. In Bangalore, parents are now paying Rs 2.1 lakh for 3rd standard. That's not an international school. That's regular CBSE," he further wrote. "Class 4 fees in Ahmedabad are around Rs 1.8 lakh annually."
"One parent called out the Rs 2L fee for Class 3, saying even an engineering degree costs less," Singhal argued.
Middle-class incomes have grown only 0.4% per year over the past decade, widening the gap between school costs and family incomes.
Parents are juggling rent, transport, books and uniforms while trying to give their children the best future, leading to erosion of savings, sanity and family dreams.
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