‘A luxury they must buy’: CA calls school fees the silent killer of India’s middle class

A chartered accountant has sparked a debate online by calling education the “silent middle-class killer,” highlighting how schooling has turned into a luxury that families are now forced to buy—often through loans.

In a viral LinkedIn post, CA Meenal Goel detailed how education costs have spiraled to the point where fintech startups are now offering EMIs for school fees.

"Stop sending your kids to private school. Probably, this is what you’ll say after reading the statistics," Goel wrote.


Breaking down the numbers, she explained:

• Admission charges: ₹35,000
  
  
• Tuition fees: ₹1.4 lakh
  
  
• Annual charges: ₹38,000
  
  
• Transport: ₹44,000–₹73,000
  
  
• Books & uniforms: ₹20,000–₹30,000
  
  

This totals ₹2.5–₹3.5 lakh per year per child in many private schools. For mid-tier schools, she said the cost may range from ₹1–1.5 lakh, while elite institutions can charge up to ₹4 lakh annually.

“School fees have officially entered the loan-worthy expense category,” she noted, adding that fintech companies have stepped in with education EMIs to cater to struggling parents.

Comparing the annual income with the school fees, she wrote while the average income of Indian middle class families is Rs 4.4 lakh/year, private school fee is about Rs 2–4 lakh/year.

“That’s 40–80% of one parent’s income—just for school. Not even college yet,” she emphasized.

“We talk about healthcare inflation, but education inflation is the silent middle-class killer. Families quietly adjust, take loans, or downgrade lifestyle, because school is now a luxury they must buy,” she wrote.

Earlier this year, a similar post by entrepreneur Rishabh Jain also went viral. Jain shared how he was asked to pay ₹4.27 lakh for his daughter’s admission into Grade 1 at a private school. The breakup included:

• ₹2,000 registration
  
  
• ₹40,000 admission charges
  
  
• ₹5,000 refundable caution money
  
  
• ₹2.52 lakh annual tuition
  
  
• ₹1.08 lakh transport
  
  
• ₹20,000 for books and uniforms
  
  

A 2022 ET Online report estimated that the total cost of schooling a child in a private school in India from age 3 to 17 could amount to ₹30 lakh.