Plan for Education like any other financial goal in life
A good education is an asset that can never be taken away, an investment that can never depreciate. Hence, when a survey tells us that young parents in India believe that education determines a child’s future and if they are able to give the right input to the child in terms of a good education, they have done their job, it echoes the sentiments of many parents we meet. However, with the rising cost of education, parents have to save and bear the burden of rapidly-increasing fees right from preschool, school to college.
The rise is certainly alarming for the large section of middle-class parents in India, who will not be able to afford the cost unless they do early financial planning. Considering the most common career aspirations a parent may have for a child? An MBA, an engineering degree or medicine. Let’s take an example of doing an MBA from a premier management institute. The cost of doing an MBA from IIM-A has increased from. 3.16 lakh in 2003 to. 12.5 lakh in 2009, an eduflation of nearly 22%. Even if we take a moderate inflation rate of 11%, an MBA could cost over. 22 lakh in the next 10 years.
In the research Education Insights with IMRB International, we found out that the majority of parents in the country? Nearly 81%? Are concerned about the rising cost of their children’s education even more than their health, lifestyle or marriage. Around 30% of the parents are concerned more about the educational expenses than performance in school or marks. A large section of parents, 57% in metros and a whopping 71% in non-metros want to send their children to play school which increases the education expense early. For 69% of the parents, school fee is one of the top concerns while selecting a playschool.