Parents seek regulation as private school fees rise 15–20% across Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: For thousands of parents in Andhra Pradesh, the new academic year has begun with a familiar concern — rising private school fees.Parents’ associations allege that many private schools have hiked fees by 15–20 percent this year while continuing to levy separate charges for books, uniforms, stationery, transport, and extracurricular activities.

The growing burden has revived demands for a proper fee regulation mechanism.The Parents Association of Andhra Pradesh (PAAP) said it has received complaints from multiple districts, including Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Chittoor, Kurnool, Kadapa, Parvathipuram Manyam and Vijayawada.“Every year, fees are increased abnormally. Apart from tuition, parents are forced to pay for books, uniforms and other requirements separately.

Many are taking loans to afford education,” said PAAP president Shikaram Narahari.The association urged the govt to implement high court directions on fee regulation, revive a monitoring framework, mandate display of approved fee structures and prevent schools from forcing purchases from specific vendors.The issue dates back to 2019 when the state set up APSERMC to regulate fees. Based on its recommendations, the govt issued GOs 53 and 54 in Aug 2021 fixing fee structures, but the AP high court later set them aside and called for a fresh exercise.

Officials say the issue remains tied to ongoing legal proceedings.The matter resurfaced after education minister Nara Lokesh recently stressed transparency and directed schools to display approved fee structures. However, parents argue that transparency alone is insufficient without a mechanism to control fee hikes.Many cite Tamil Nadu’s model, where schools must prominently display approved fees, as a possible solution for Andhra Pradesh.Parents say the burden is steep. A Tadepalli resident said his daughter’s education cost rose from Rs 70,000–80,000 in LKG to nearly Rs 1.5 lakh in Class I, including tuition, books and transport. A Visakhapatnam parent said she expects to spend over Rs 75,000 this year for her Class IX daughter.With around 13,400 private schools in the state, the issue is widespread. Parents say the problem is no longer just fee hikes, but lack of accountability and regulation, warning that private education is becoming unaffordable for many middle-class families.