Rising Cost Hits Art Courses
The rising cost of living seems to have put at least a handful of institutions teaching fine arts in a spot. Some are experiencing a slump in the number of children joining them. Parents, especially in the middle class segment, are finding it difficult to send their children to expensive hobby classes. “Since the rise in prices, we have seen a slight decline in the number of students,” says Kavitha Jain, Chief Executive Officer of Attitude Academy for Excellence, a centre offering coaching in art, craft, dance, music and graphology. “People are trying to save as much as they can and they put academics first,” she observes. According to Ms. Jain, parents do not hesitate to send their children to ‘intellectual’ co-curricular activities such as abacus and chess rather than fine arts. “They have begun to prioritise. They feel the extra-curricular activity should indirectly help the children in performing better in school,” she says.
Unlike countries in the West where extra curricular activities are seen as an integral part of personality development process in students, parents in India do not consider it very important, says K.Suresh Kumar, Director of Kalamandir Art School. “For us, art is still only an option,” he says. Running the institution has become increasingly difficult with the increasing property taxes and rent, he says. However, a few parents have begun to understand the importance of extra-curricular activities, especially dance, says Roni Pinto, Director of Pinto’s Dance Academy. “Dance is very popular among children and parents. Especially, Latin American dance forms have a huge following among children,” he adds.
Starting from Rs. 600, the regular courses at the centre can cost up to Rs. 1,500. With dance also being seen as a stress buster and a form of fitness, people do not mind spending money on learning it, Mr. Pinto says. Maintaining the centre has become tough with the increase in rent, sourcing music, and updating the interior décor of the institute, he says. The centre is planning to increase the fees by 20 to 30 per cent in order to meet the rising expenses.
