Hyderabad: Even as Telangana awaits a fresh legislation for school fee regulation, many schools in Hyderabad have already hiked their fees by 30% for the 2025-26 academic session.
If that’s not all, some schools have also demanded that parents, who are seeking fresh admissions, fork out the entire fee at one go — a deviation from the usual term fee payment cycle — say parents.
According to them, about 70 schools in the city offering CBSE, ICSE, IB and other syllabi, along with some missionary schools, have brought in these norms. The average fee in these schools ranges anywhere between Rs 60,000 and Rs 2 lakh.
“I wanted to put my child in a school in Abids. But when I approached the management they asked me to pay the entire year’s fee of about Rs 70,000 in a single instalment,” said a parent seeking admission in LKG for his second child. In 2024, when he moved his older daughter to the same school in Abids he was given the option to pay Rs 20,000 (approx.) in three instalments. “Apart from the fee, the school is charging an exorbitant amount in the name of activities, transportation, and books which is another Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 that I need to arrange for. I am now forced to rethink my decision,” the parent added.
Another parent looking for admission in class 1 for his six-year-old son narrated a similar experience. “This school in Uppal asked for the annual fee in bulk along with a donation amount. Paying Rs 2 lakh at go is not easy; changing schools is proving to be a tremendous burden for us,” he said.
Members of Telangana Recognised Schools Management Association (TRSMA) confirmed many schools have shifted to this new fee payment mode.
“This is needed for survival. Even if budget schools need to seek yearly permission for hikes (as is being proposed by the state), we won’t be able to operate. I see nothing wrong in managements asking parents to pay full fee at the time of admission as this will help schools create a corpus to sustain themselves in the face of a new regulation,” said S Srinivas Reddy from TRSMA.
Many parents TOI spoke to rued the sharp hike in annual fee. “It looks like managements are trying to rake in as much money as they can before fee regulation comes into force,” said the parent of a class 5 student enrolled in a CBSE school in Secunderabad. “While I have been paying about Rs one lakh till now, it is been increased to around Rs 1.3 lakh for the new academic year,” she added.
Members of the Hyderabad Schools Parents’ Association (HSPA) said they have received several complaints from parents on this issue over the last couple of months. “There is no uniform rule when it comes to timelines for collection of fees, admissions, or even when the academic year should start. Managements are using this to their advantage,” said K Venkat Sainath from HSPA, emphasising the need for immediate regulation.
Managements admit that these changes are being brought in to “escape the new regulations” but justify the move citing the ‘monetary challenges’ that schools are facing. “Also, a city like Hyderabad cannot have a cap on school fee. This regulation will compromise the quality of education as they will neither be able to pay teachers nor provide proper facilities,” said a member of Independent Schools Managements Association that covers several top schools in the city.
………….
UNREGULATED HIKE
Number of CBSE, ICSE, IB & other board schools in Hyd: About 400
Fee in these schools: Rs 1L & upwards per yr
Many top schools charge over Rs 5L per annum
Maximum fee collected by a school: About Rs 22L per annum
Fee in SSC schools: Between Rs 25k and Rs 60k per annum
If that’s not all, some schools have also demanded that parents, who are seeking fresh admissions, fork out the entire fee at one go — a deviation from the usual term fee payment cycle — say parents.
According to them, about 70 schools in the city offering CBSE, ICSE, IB and other syllabi, along with some missionary schools, have brought in these norms. The average fee in these schools ranges anywhere between Rs 60,000 and Rs 2 lakh.
“I wanted to put my child in a school in Abids. But when I approached the management they asked me to pay the entire year’s fee of about Rs 70,000 in a single instalment,” said a parent seeking admission in LKG for his second child. In 2024, when he moved his older daughter to the same school in Abids he was given the option to pay Rs 20,000 (approx.) in three instalments. “Apart from the fee, the school is charging an exorbitant amount in the name of activities, transportation, and books which is another Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 that I need to arrange for. I am now forced to rethink my decision,” the parent added.
Another parent looking for admission in class 1 for his six-year-old son narrated a similar experience. “This school in Uppal asked for the annual fee in bulk along with a donation amount. Paying Rs 2 lakh at go is not easy; changing schools is proving to be a tremendous burden for us,” he said.
Members of Telangana Recognised Schools Management Association (TRSMA) confirmed many schools have shifted to this new fee payment mode.
“This is needed for survival. Even if budget schools need to seek yearly permission for hikes (as is being proposed by the state), we won’t be able to operate. I see nothing wrong in managements asking parents to pay full fee at the time of admission as this will help schools create a corpus to sustain themselves in the face of a new regulation,” said S Srinivas Reddy from TRSMA.
Many parents TOI spoke to rued the sharp hike in annual fee. “It looks like managements are trying to rake in as much money as they can before fee regulation comes into force,” said the parent of a class 5 student enrolled in a CBSE school in Secunderabad. “While I have been paying about Rs one lakh till now, it is been increased to around Rs 1.3 lakh for the new academic year,” she added.
Members of the Hyderabad Schools Parents’ Association (HSPA) said they have received several complaints from parents on this issue over the last couple of months. “There is no uniform rule when it comes to timelines for collection of fees, admissions, or even when the academic year should start. Managements are using this to their advantage,” said K Venkat Sainath from HSPA, emphasising the need for immediate regulation.
Managements admit that these changes are being brought in to “escape the new regulations” but justify the move citing the ‘monetary challenges’ that schools are facing. “Also, a city like Hyderabad cannot have a cap on school fee. This regulation will compromise the quality of education as they will neither be able to pay teachers nor provide proper facilities,” said a member of Independent Schools Managements Association that covers several top schools in the city.
………….
UNREGULATED HIKE
Number of CBSE, ICSE, IB & other board schools in Hyd: About 400
Fee in these schools: Rs 1L & upwards per yr
Many top schools charge over Rs 5L per annum
Maximum fee collected by a school: About Rs 22L per annum
Fee in SSC schools: Between Rs 25k and Rs 60k per annum
