Raising kids is hard. Paying school fees doesn’t have to be

Delhi-based Deepika Khosla, 38, a French teacher, and her husband, Mohit Khosla,40, a working professional in the telecom sector, are parents to twins Avighna and Itika, both eight years old and currently in grade 3. Education forms a central part of the family’s monthly budgeting.

On average, the couple spends around ₹40,000– ₹45,000 per month per child on education and related needs. “We plan for education-related expenses as a fixed, non-negotiable expense, similar to our home EMI or car EMI.

It has to be taken care of, so it has to be taken care of,” said Deepika.In India’s metros, educating a child has quietly become one of the biggest household expenses. Beyond headline tuition fees, parents must budget for coaching, transport, projects, uniforms, and frequent school-led activities that add up over the years.

As costs rise faster than general inflation, families are being pushed to plan education spending with the same seriousness as housing or retirement—locking it into monthly budgets and building buffers to manage inevitable surprises.Education inflation in India tends to run higher than the general CPI, often in the 8–12% range for private education, especially in metros. NSSO and other data show urban private school fees have risen over 150–170% in the last decade, meaning school costs can double roughly every 6–7 years,” said Madhupam Krishna, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)-registered investment advisor (RIA) and chief planner, WealthWisher Financial Planner and Advisors.Hidden costs (transport, books, uniforms, activities, coaching, and devices) also rise 5–10% annually and can nearly double the headline tuition burden.Parents face intense peer pressure to pick elite schools, often ignoring