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For the first time, the State Fee Regulatory Authority (FRA) has decided to conduct surprise inspections of professional colleges in Maharashtra from October. The move comes after an unexpected surge in complaints received by students and parents about overcharging fees by colleges and providing misleading information in their proposals.

The FRA supervises the fee structure of more than 4,000 professional colleges in the state, from engineering, medical, and pharmacy to management courses, which range in price several lakhs of rupees. Colleges are forced to submit detailed proposals with information regarding their infrastructure, staff, education facilities, and financial records in order to justify their fee structure. However, FRA officials have found that institutions can exaggerate facilities and give misleading values in regard to faculty figures and salaries, making decision-making regarding fees uncertain.

As there was no stipulation for the FRA to verify the colleges' assertions personally, the authority had to rely on the records submitted by the colleges. However, with frequent complaints from students and multiple reports highlighting fee anomalies, the FRA has now made a decision to carry out college inspections in addition to subject experts to verify by cross-checking the proposals with what exactly exists on the ground.

Inspections will begin in October, beginning with colleges which have been cited in complaints, FRA secretary Arjun Chikhale stated. "If students feel that they are being overcharged fees, they should approach the FRA so that those colleges will be inspected first," he said. While inspecting technical colleges, the FRA will also utilize the Directorate of Technical Education.

Officials are confident that the surprise visits will reveal discrepancies and govern unwarranted fee hikes. Institutions found to be overcharging beyond the proposed fees or charging for facilities that have not been established could face being dealt with severely by action. Students have long complained of being overcharged, but lacking sufficient verifications, the FRA could not seek action.

The commission has also been asked to examine fee proposals because it lacks subject matter experts and resources. Fees were decided only on the basis of documents earlier. Now, with physical inspections, the FRA will ensure that it is transparent and protects students from unnecessary charges.

Yuva Sena's state joint secretary Kalpesh Yadav welcomed the move, saying that it had the potential to bring much-needed relief to thousands of students. But he lamented that there were no experts on the panel of FRA to cross-check the facts. Yadav also raised questions about the entire fee approval process. "The FRA gave a nod to more than 912 colleges between October 31 and August 15, which we are seeking to be withdrawn as it is contrary to the rules," he alleged. He also stated that the plan would not succeed because the same occurred previously when such measures were taken but they failed because of the FRA's insufficiency in man-power.

Parents in Haryana are spending the most on their children’s schooling, while families in Bihar are shelling out the least, according to the Central government’s latest Comprehensive Modular Survey (CMS) on school education. Manipur and Punjab follow Haryana on the list of states where parents bear the heaviest financial burden, the report noted.

As per Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI)80th round of the National Sample Survey —52,085 households, including 28,401 rural and 23,684 urban homes, tracking the schooling expenses of nearly 57,742 children.

On average, Indian parents are spending ₹12,616 per child annually on education, which includes tuition fees, transport, stationery, uniforms and other essentials. Unsurprisingly, tuition fees make up the largest chunk of this cost.

The study reveals a stark disparity between states and UTs.  At ₹25,720 per child per year, Haryana parents spend the highest, followed by those from Manipur (₹23,502), Punjab (₹22,692), Tamil Nadu (₹21,526), and Delhi (₹19,951). With parents spending about ₹49,711 per child, Chandigarh leads among Union Territories. Spending high in Puducherry, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu all have high spending rates (₹18,194).

Bihar (₹5,656), Chhattisgarh (₹5,844), Jharkhand (₹7,333), and Odisha (₹7,479) havde the lowest spending. With parents spending just ₹1,801 per child each year, Lakshadweep is the most affordable of all UTs.

Private school costs are a whole different story. In Arunachal Pradesh, parents pay the highest—₹63,197 per student per year. Delhi (₹46,716), Tamil Nadu (₹44,150) and Sikkim (₹41,493) also record steep private schooling expenses. Chandigarh tops the UT chart with a staggering ₹79,006 per child annually.

Interestingly, Haryana’s private school fee burden (₹16,405) exceeds that of Telangana (₹14,026), Tamil Nadu (₹13,422) and even Delhi (₹12,672).

Urban-rural & gender gaps remain stark. Urban households spend nearly three times more than rural families—₹23,470 vs ₹8,382 per child. Urban tuition fees alone average ₹15,143, compared to just ₹3,979 in rural India.

The survey also points to a gender divide. Annual spending on boys averages ₹13,470, while girls receive ₹11,666. A major reason: boys are more often sent to private schools, while girls are enrolled in government institutions where education is subsidized or free.

Government school enrolments reflect this pattern—50.95% girls vs 49.05% boys, as per the latest UDISE Plus report for 2023–24.

Kochi mourns the loss of an education icon, Kamakshi Balakrishnan, who passed away recently at the age of 99. Kamakshi Ma'am widely is considered as one of the most important pioneers to introduce and develop the concept of CBSE education in the state of Kerala, and her legacy stretches well beyond the four walls of the classroom she taught in.

As the daughter of the intellectual and cultural family, Kamakshi ji was passionate and disciplined throughout her education, with a strong desire to work with young talents. Together with her sisters she was one of the pioneers in introducing the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum in Kerala in the late 1970s. Her vision made thousands of students exposed to a more nationally-focused academic system, at a time when the state was largely based on state-board education.

As the founder-principal of Chinmaya Vidyalaya and Chinmaya College in Ernakulam, Kamakshi Balakrishnan combined academic excellence with cultural enrichment. She was a lover of the arts (music, dance, and theatre) and an environment where students were encouraged to excel in both academics and arts was nurtured. She was an outstanding leader in Chinmaya institutions and through her leadership, they were ranked among the best learning institutions in Kerala.

Kamakshi also had an impact outside the administration. She was known affectionately as the ‘iron lady’ of education, who was strict about discipline yet was deeply caring. She is remembered by many students as a strict and nurturing teacher who would challenge them to achieve the best of their potential.

Her fascination with arts was driven by the fact that she was trained as a music student by one of the most well known scholars, Sambamoorthy in Chennai. In addition, she was the vice-president of Kerala Fine Arts and a pioneer patron of cultural organizations like SPIC MACAY, where she urged young minds to appreciate the rich heritage of India.

Although in old age, Kamakshi was still busy in the field of education by sponsoring the Tattwa Centre of Learning, she still provided inspiration to both young learners and teachers.

She leaves behind a family , including her daughters Maya Mohan and Rema Jayaram, that is  dedicated to education and culture. Her earthly ashes shall be kept in her home, Kochi, where her students, friends and well-wishers can pay their respects.

The passing of Kamakshi Balakrishnan marks the end of a remarkable era in Kerala’s education history, a life that profoundly shaped academic excellence and cultural richness for generations. She will remain an inspiration to both teachers and learners. 

Edinbox honors her extraordinary legacy; may her soul rest in peace.

One evening in December 2024 in the UK, a mother was keeping her children in bed to sleep. Then she received a call to spin a time-travel yarn. In the yarn, her little listeners travelled back centuries and materialized in the same era of the Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar to learn a roll call of life lessons from his timeless Tamil classic, Thirukkural.

Her mother was Rushani Mahendran (@iamrushani on Instagram), an educator, author, and entrepreneur. She did not realize that this new bedtime story routine would become the inspiration for her next book writing project. "I'm born and brought up in the UK, and studying Tamil literature here is very tough. We don't have so many resources or even teachers. But I was fortunate.". I had a good teacher with in-depth knowledge," says the Sri Lankan Tamil. The problem, though, was to share that knowledge with her second generation. That is when she discovered the common denominator that binds her children to her — time travel. Rushani says, "For bedtime, I used to create a story of time travel where they encounter Thiruvalluvar, and he sends them on a challenge.". When they finish it, he presents them with the kural and its moral. They then make sense of it because they have already experienced the journey.

In a month she wrote her stories on paper, printed and published them for others to feel a new world of Thiruvalluvar. What had started as an exercise in the family is now a ten-book published series, Kural Inspired Stories, and the eleventh one is on the anvil. These books have now attracted the attention of Tamil-speaking families in Chennai as well.

Each book takes a kural and interprets it for children, with the central theme being time travel and adventure. The readers — from age four (with parents’ support), and targeted ages between eight and 13, to as old as 25-29 — explore the text that is a guide to morals. “At the end of every book, I give reflection exercises. I ask, what is your one big goal? What are the five stages to do it? So the kids learn how to relate the story to their lives," she says.

Rushani draws inspiration and ideas from her kids. When her daughter said that Thiruvalluvar's teachings were so complicated they would have to go back in time to decipher them, the book series was born. "My son always asks, " What if this happened next in the story? " So I incorporate those concepts, and they [her children] always read ahead of publication to provide feedback," she says. Apart from this, Rushani also talks to her teacher "on what a mural could have meant? How do I perceive this? How do I use it in my life? 

When I was young, I used to understand it in a different way.". Now I view it differently. Some of it will be dated — some of the attitudes toward women and some of the ways about your role in your family — but you can extract what pertains to you from this text, and that is useful to understand how our culture changed. 

Not confined to a place, a culture, or a tongue, Rushani's vision is larger than Tamil-speaking households. "Even kids who are not part of this culture should be able to comprehend it better. Nobody really knows the distinction between Indian and Tamil, and I wanted to make that clearer," she says. I’ve included a few Tamil words with their meanings so all kids can appreciate and bond with the culture.”  She wants also people to realize the love for such books and stories. "Only then "they will also be encouraged, if they have something in mind they want to bring, to create new stories based on their culture," she adds.

Since the launch of the first book in January of 2025, the grind for Rushani has been constant. She now has a podcast. "The first five have already dropped, approximately 40-45 minutes each. We also have to meet them [kids] where they are," she mentions.

Even today, most evenings, the ritual persists. A mother, book in her lap, welcomes her children into realms of knowledge and magic. When she closes the pages, they are already dreaming of Thiruvalluvar, tales lurking in the margins, and lessons that will whisper themselves into tomorrow.

Approximately one-third of students in schools from all over the country are receiving private coaching, on which city-based families are spending several times more than in villages. Government schools continue to impart education to the most number of students, as per the CMS education survey.

More than every third school-going child in the country is undergoing private coaching, and this phenomenon is more prominently observed in urban India. This fact has emerged from the Comprehensive Modular Survey (CMS) of the Central Government. The survey also disclosed that government schools continue to be a part of the educational landscape in India, where they hold 55.9 percent of the total enrollment.

Condition of government and private schools

Of these children, approximately two-thirds (66 percent) from rural areas are attending government schools, while in urban areas it is merely 30.1 percent. While 31.9 percent of the children nationwide attend private unaided (recognized) schools.

This survey is under the 80th round of National Sample Survey (NSS), where information has been collected separately regarding the spending on school education. For this, data was drawn from 52,085 households and 57,742 students across the nation.

Growing trend of coaching

The survey has come up with the fact that 27 percent of students have taken or are taking private coaching during this academic year. The ratio is 30.7 percent in urban and 25.5 percent in rural areas.

Discussing expenses, urban households spent Rs 3,988 on average for each student per year for coaching, whereas rural households spent Rs 1,793 on average.

Expenditure rising with rising level of education

Costs on coaching are also growing very fast with rising level of education.

Average cost on primary level: Rs 525.

Average cost on higher secondary level: Rs 6,384.

Cost on coaching at higher secondary level in metropolitan areas: Rs 9,950.

In rural towns: Rs 4,548

It is obvious that cost on coaching in cities is several times higher than in rural towns.

Who pays the cost of studies?

As per the survey, 95% of the students who spend on education in school indicated that their family members are the first major source of education. This is the case in both rural (95.3%) and urban (94.4%) areas. However, 1.2% of the students indicated that the major source of their education is government scholarship.

Changes from previous survey

Earlier during the year 2017-18, the 75th round of NSS was undertaken on education, but as per officials of the Ministry of Education, its findings cannot be compared directly with the survey being done now because at that time Anganwadi centers were not being counted under the pre-primary education and the coaching expenditure was also being included in the education expenditure, while CMS survey had put Anganwadi in pre-primary education and counted school education and the coaching expense in different categories.

Total expenditure on education

The survey also showed that across all the school types, the most expenditure per student during this academic year was on average spent on course fees (Rs 7,111), and then Rs 2,002 was spent on stationery and books.

Expenditure is significantly different between rural and urban areas.

Average course fees in urban areas: Rs 15,143.

Average course fees in rural areas: Rs 3,979.

The National Education Policy (NEP), which was unveiled in 2020, essentially changed the landscape of higher education in the country by establishing for the first time as online and hybrid learning will be seen as being on par with traditional classroom instruction. By doing this, the policy sought to dismantle socioeconomic and geographic barriers to access, stating unequivocally that technology should be used in a way that makes high-quality education accessible to all people, irrespective of their circumstances or place of residence.

Keeping with the NEP's thrust to advance online delivery as a credible and effective medium of learning, the University Grants Commission (UGC) initially permitted 20% of a degree programme to be imparted online; this has since been doubled to 40%. At present, 116 institutions of higher learning offer over 1,100 Open & Distance Learning programmes and 102 institutions offer 544 fully online programmes collectively reaching over 19 lakh students.

Building on the NEP's expressed vision of greater flexibility, modularity and multiple entry/exit points, mechanisms like the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) now make it possible for students to save and carry forward credits between institutions. Mass-scale platforms like SWAYAM, foreseen in the NEP to universalize access to high-quality courses, permit a maximum of 40% of total credits to be obtained through recognized MOOCs.

In the same vein, the new National Digital University (NDU) realizes the policy's vision of a digital infrastructure that shall provide equal access to learning regardless of geographical location.

Tangible progress aside, gaps between planning and implementation remain. NEP acknowledges the "digital divide" between students as a fundamental challenge, a fact that can still be observed in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities wherein students rely on unreliable networks and shared computers. In such situations, the NEP's offer of flexibility can soon become frustration.

Faculty preparedness is also a bottleneck that remains an issue. It does not take much to record lectures and post them online; good online teaching demands considered instructional design, interactive presentation formats, and timely feedback. Without dedicated investment in faculty training, course quality will continue to be uneven across institutions.

Additionally credit mobility, while promising, is still difficult for students to navigate. Without academic counselling, the very freedom it offers can become overwhelming, leading learners to accumulate credits without a clear plan toward a degree or career goal.

While the NEP created equivalency in regulation between the two types of degrees to promote greater acceptability, business opinion tends to rely on the prestige of the institution and not tangible skills, limiting the complete fulfilment of the policy's purpose.

The first five years of the NEP provided online education with regulatory room to expand; the second five must demonstrate it can make a difference. This demands a clear transition from increasing capacity to measuring impact, a conviction well-stated in the policy's plea for 'quality, equity, efficiency, and empirical outcome-based monitoring.'

It begins with filling the last-mile gap. Public–private partnerships can extend stable broadband and low-cost devices to every district, not just the urban centers. Technology might be the delivery vehicle, but without the road, it doesn't go anywhere.

Faculty will need to go beyond delivery of content and transform into digital learning designers who can develop customized, interactive experiences that engage learners and sustain them. This will involve steady investment in training and instructional design support, reflecting the NEP's emphasis on "rigorous training in learner-centric pedagogy…using online teaching platforms".

We also need to measure what counts. Enrolment is simple to track; completion rates, skill acquisition, and employability are more challenging but significantly more valuable. Today, merely around 4% of students who sign up for MOOCs or SWAYAM courses complete them. That's a reminder that success is still being measured more in terms of sign-ups than the skills or opportunities learners actually achieve.

Obviously, outcome-based measurement will create accountability and make trust more robust, both from employers and from students, choosing where to spend their time and money.

Lastly, hybrid and online programs need to be viewed as equal, not second-best. The NEP calls for online learning to be marketed as a "choice for excellence," not an option of last resort. When students choose a blended route because it provides the highest quality of learning experience, not merely because that's what's on offer, attitudes will change. And that's when online learning will have finally arrived.

The merger of industry, academia, and regulators will be necessary for real transformation. Regulators' frameworks need to be adaptable enough to take into account new developments. Universities will need to develop strong online learning environments that offer mentoring, assessment, and interaction. Online learning can become not only similar to old methods but, in many cases, superior to them thanks to new technologies like immersive simulation and AI-based adaptive learning. When used properly, these technologies may personalize education at a level of scale that traditional classrooms just cannot match.

If we provide consistent quality, strong support, and transparent career prospects, online learning will not only level the playing field but will open it wider. A student in Buxar ought to have an equal chance at a world-class degree as a student in Bengaluru. That is the promise of NEP and one that needs to be kept.