In early May this year, a 14-year-old boy in Delhi turned up for his exams only to be turned away. His private school had struck his name off the rolls after his parents refused to pay a sudden fee hike they called “arbitrary and unauthorised.” That single moment — a child denied his right to learn — mirrors a growing anxiety among millions of Indian families. From Delhi to Pune to Hyderabad, protests have erupted against unchecked private school fees. What was once a choice is now an economic burden.
As public schools struggle and private ones expand, a second, shadow education system — the coaching industry — has flourished. Together, they are reshaping the landscape of urban education, turning learning from a public good into a private transaction.
The Public Promise, Frayed
Government schools were meant to be the great leveller — offering free, quality education that could lift entire generations. But over the years, chronic underfunding, teacher absenteeism and crumbling infrastructure have worn away that promise. There is a huge hidden price of learning now. While some cities like Delhi have tried to reimagine their public school systems, these remain rare islands of reform.
Most government and semi-private schools continue to rely on rote learning and overcrowded classrooms, producing students unequipped for the demands of the modern job market. Even working-class families, already stretched thin, now see private schools not as a privilege but as a necessity.
Private schools have become the de facto safety net for those who can pay. They offer smaller classes, more extracurricular activities and — perhaps most importantly — the perception of a better future. But this promise comes with a price tag that grows heavier each year.
The Coaching Economy: A Second Education
If private school fees weren’t enough, urban families now face a second drain — the sprawling network of coaching centres and private tutors. Once seen as supplements to schooling, these institutions have become the main act.
From board exams to JEE and NEET to the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), every milestone now comes with its own price. Coaching classes promise competitive advantage, but what they’ve really done is create a parallel education system that runs on anxiety and aspiration. Even students from elite schools now enrol in them, fearing that school alone isn’t enough.
This culture has made after-school learning less of an option and more of a survival tactic. Childhoods are shrinking under the weight of test prep and parents are paying for both the system and its failure.
Education as Privilege
India has long imagined education as the ladder out of poverty. But in today’s urban India, that ladder has too few rungs for too many people.
For the wealthy, education is abundant — digital devices, specialised tutors, extracurricular exposure and elite institutions. For the rest, education is a series of compromises: cheaper private schools with overstretched teachers, erratic internet for online classes or the constant risk of dropping out.
Even digital learning — hailed as a great equaliser — has deepened the divide. Smartphones, tablets and reliable internet are not tools of inclusion for many families but they are luxuries. When connectivity dictates opportunity, inequality hardens.
Hidden Price of Learning
Much of this inequity persists because policy has not kept pace with the problem. Fee regulation in private schools remains inconsistent, often toothless. Coaching centres — some of which make millions annually — exist in a regulatory grey zone. In January 2024, the Ministry of Education released new guidelines for the “Regulation of Coaching Centres,” effectively acknowledging their permanence.
Meanwhile, public school funding struggles to match the rising cost of private education. Without stronger oversight, transparency and investment, the system risks widening a class divide that education was meant to erase.
Rethinking the Future of Learning
The solution doesn’t lie in choosing between public and private education but in reimagining how they can coexist with accountability and purpose.
Public education must be restored as the default choice. That means investing in teacher training, modernising classrooms and integrating technology meaningfully. Regulation should ensure that private schools and coaching centres remain accessible, transparent and accountable.
Equally important are community-based alternatives — local learning hubs, after-school support programmes and hybrid education models that blend digital and in-person learning. Such approaches can help bridge gaps without turning learning into a privilege.
If India’s economic ambitions rest on its human capital, then education cannot remain an auction. A nation where learning depends on one’s wallet cannot truly call itself equitable.
Reclaiming Education as a Right
At Smile Foundation, we see this reality every day, and the possibility of something better. Through our education programme, we work to restore what education was always meant to be: a bridge to opportunity, not a barrier.
From school interventions that strengthen classroom learning to scholarships that keep promising students in education, our work ensures that children from underserved communities don’t have to pay the hidden price of learning. We support over 2,000 students through six active scholarship projects, in collaboration with partners such as Deutsche Bank, Quantiphi, Quest Global and Siemens.
More than numbers, these efforts represent a belief — that every child deserves a fair chance to learn, regardless of income, postcode or circumstance.
When access to education becomes unequal, the future itself becomes unequal. To fix education, India must first remember what it was meant to do: open minds, not widen divides.
