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India’s growing dependence on private tutoring reflects defensive household spending, underscoring the need to strengthen in-school learning and public skilling pathways
India’s education economy tells a paradox—families spend more than ever, yet improvements in learning outcomes have been slow. Private tutoring sits at the heart of this tension. Once a supplementary learning support, it has now evolved into a default component of education. However, the returns to this rising expenditure remain limited, suggesting that households are spending defensively rather than building capability. At the same time, government skilling programmes are expanding to bridge the education-to-employment gap. This juncture calls for a closer examination of the hidden household exchequer and a reassessment of the utility of private tutoring in the evolving education and skilling landscape of the country.
Recent household-level expenditure data underscores the scale of private tutoring as a routine component of education spending. The Comprehensive Modular Survey (NSS 80th Round) shows that nearly one in four students in India receives private coaching, and for many households, spending on tutoring is comparable to or even exceeds formal education-related fees. This pattern holds across institution types and income groups, suggesting that private tutoring has become a structurally embedded cost in the education portfolio of families rather than a discretionary add-on.
Nearly 27 percent of students across India are enrolled in private coaching — 30.7 percent in urban areas and 25.5 percent in rural ones. For students in government schools, annual spending on coaching often equals or exceeds school fees. For those in private schools, it adds a substantial parallel burden.
The key findings, summarised in Table 1, reveal nearly 27 percent of students across India are enrolled in private coaching — 30.7 percent in urban areas and 25.5 percent in rural ones. For students in government schools, annual spending on coaching often equals or exceeds school fees. For those in private schools, it adds a substantial parallel burden. Evidently, tutoring is used not only to support classroom learning but also to navigate academic pressure and credential values. This reflects a signalling logic where families are found to invest in academic scores that project competence more than building it.
Table 1: Household Education Expenditure: Comparing School and Coaching Costs in India
Source: Comprehensive Modular Survey (NSS 80th Round)
Despite the widespread reliance on private tutoring, there is little evidence of a consistent link between participation in such coaching and learning outcomes. Figures 1 and 2, for instance, illustrate this for Grade 8 students across reading and arithmetic levels, as measured by the Annual Status of Education Report 2024 (ASER 2024). States with high participation in paid tutoring, such as West Bengal and Tripura, do not necessarily record stronger learning performance. Conversely, states like Haryana, Kerala, and Maharashtra, with only moderate participation levels, show comparatively higher proficiency. Overall, the near-flat regression lines indicate that private tutoring intensity does not systematically correspond with improvements in learning achievement.
Figure 1: Private Tuition Levels vs Arithmetic Learning Outcomes Among Grade 8 Students
Source: Compiled by Author using ASER(2024)
Figure 2: Private Tuition vs Reading Learning Outcomes Among Grade 8 Students
Source: Compiled by Author using ASER (2024)
Moreover, India’s tutoring industry, valued at around INR50,000–60,000 crore and projected to triple in five years, has emerged as a source of employment in teaching, content production, and digital education services. Among students receiving private tutoring, the cost of coaching accounts for about 43 percent of total private expenditure on education and nearly 16.5 percent of household per capita spending. These are pre-COVID estimates, and the surge in online tutoring platforms during and after the pandemic suggests that actual spending levels are likely much higher. Funds that could otherwise support areas such as nutrition, digital access, or household savings are increasingly directed toward coaching and test preparation.
Despite the widespread reliance on private tutoring, there is little evidence of a consistent link between participation in such coaching and learning outcomes.
In response, the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) proposes an overhaul of the board examination system, which drives much of the dependence on coaching, and simultaneously emphasises in-school alternatives such as peer tutoring. With a minimum outlay of 6 percent of GDP, it envisages a shift from input-based to outcome-based frameworks. The next step will require a clear roadmap for operationalising this shift within school systems.
This can be helmed through NIPUN Bharat (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy) that strengthens foundational literacy and numeracy through teacher training, structured pedagogy, learning recovery, and school-based assessment reforms. One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) complements this by making standardised, high-quality learning materials accessible across states. Integrating them into classroom practice can create credible in-school learning pathways that replace the dependence on private coaching. Over time, this can translate into measurable, system-wide improvements in learning outcomes.
The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) proposes an overhaul of the board examination system, which drives much of the dependence on coaching, and simultaneously emphasises in-school alternatives such as peer tutoring.
The biggest structural hurdle remains the embedded information asymmetry in the schooling system. Parents often lack reliable indicators to judge school quality, learning progress, or teaching standards—fueling the perception that paid tutoring is essential for academic success. Here, institutional tools like the NITI Aayog’s School Education Quality Index (SEQI) offer a strong policy model by tracking state performance on learning outcomes, equity, access, and governance. Building on SEQI, a national, publicly accessible School Quality and Learning Outcomes Index, updated annually at district and school levels, would provide transparent benchmarks.
Policy should realign education with employability. By reducing dependence on exam-focused tutoring and strengthening in-school learning pathways, the broader disconnect between what students learn and the skills required in the workplace can be addressed. Further, India’s pressing challenge is not only unemployment but also unemployability, calling for greater investment in soft skills, vocational training, and innovation.
The creation of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in 2014, followed by the National Skill Development Mission, marks a shift toward publicly supported employability pathways. Schools are now being positioned as skill hubs under programmes such as PMKVY and the Skill India Mission. These hubs should offer modular vocational courses and apprenticeship-linked training after school hours. Building on this model can create more accessible, school-based avenues for skill development. Digital platforms like the Skill India Digital Hub and PM e-Vidya can serve as structured, low-cost academic support systems, reducing reliance on private tutoring. Together, these measures would shift the system toward competency-based learning and reduce the need for tutoring as a compensatory mechanism.
Schools are now being positioned as skill hubs under programmes such as PMKVY and the Skill India Mission. These hubs should offer modular vocational courses and apprenticeship-linked training after school hours.
India’s education landscape stands at an inflexion point. The structural reliance on private tutoring, once seen as integral to academic and occupational mobility, is gradually being re-evaluated as public skilling pathways expand. With the growth of capability-building platforms, household spending patterns in education are also shifting, indicating a potential transition from tutoring-oriented expenditure to skill-oriented investment. This evolving alignment reflects India’s broader effort to translate its demographic potential into a more inclusive and sustainable human capital base.
Kumkum Mohata is a Research Intern at the Observer Research Foundation.
The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.
Kumkum Mohata is a Research Assistant with ORF’s Centre for New Economic Diplomacy. Her research interests lie in development economics, international trade, and macroeconomics, with ...
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