An MP has cited an official survey’s finding that 27 per cent of the students enrolled in government schools are paying admission, tuition, examination and development fees, questioning the Centre on the steps being taken to ensure free education for all.
The Right To Education (RTE) Act, 2009, mandates free and compulsory education for children in the age group of 6 to 14 years. The law lays down parameters such as teacher training and pupil-teacher ratio to ensure children get quality education.
In a written question on Wednesday, YSRCP MP S. Niranjan Reddy cited in the Rajya Sabha the findings of the Comprehensive Modular Survey: Education (CMS: E), 2025, of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), which found that 26.7 per cent of students in government schools reported paying course fees.
The survey was conducted during April-June 2025, covering 52,085 households, including 28,401 in rural areas and 23,684 in urban areas.
The survey collected information on “expenditure incurred” and also “expenditure to be incurred” by the households.
Expenditures associated with school education were collected under the components of course fees, including admission fee, tuition fee, examination fee, development fee and other compulsory payments such as those on transport, uniforms, textbooks
and stationery.
The survey found that 26.7 per cent of students enrolled in government schools and 95.7 per cent of students in non-government schools reported paying course fees. It found that the percentages for government schools in rural and urban areas were 25.3 and 34.7, respectively.
In rural India, the average expenditure per student on school education during the 2025-26 academic year was estimated at ₹2,639 in government schools and
₹19,554 in non-government schools. In urban India, this was estimated at ₹4,128 for government schools and ₹31,782 for non-government schools.
In a written reply, minister of state for education Jayant Chaudhary evaded a direct answer, saying education is a subject under the Concurrent List of the Constitution and states directly manage government schools.
“Schools, other than those owned/ funded by the central government, are under the jurisdiction of the respective state governments. Therefore, matters related to the management of schools, including fee structure, are regulated in accordance with the rules and instructions of the respective state government concerned,” Chaudhary said.
A school teacher from Odisha, however, said that the government schools sometimes charge fees for some events such as Ganesh festival or the annual function. But they do not charge any tuition fees, the teacher added.
“The survey may have mixed up various fees as a course fee. The government schools do not charge tuition fees or admission fees. Occasionally, they collect some nominal fees for some specific functions,” the teacher said.