Extracurricular activities: value for money or a waste?

A music therapy course might sound useless to a parent, but may actually be extremely beneficial for increasing the concentration of a restless child.

Every parent likes to weigh the value of learning against it costs. While some parents' prioritise school trips and extracurricular activities over their personal expenses, there are others who see no value in spending on trips and things that can be bought at a much cheaper cost.
While it is important to choose from the plethora of school activities based on your affordability and pocket size, parents should understand the value that their children receive from doing something in the company of his/her friends and under the guidance of an expert teacher.  Parents should also fully comprehend the value that the product/service/activity that the school is providing the children and suggests they don't compromise on the child's quality of upbringing.
For example, a music therapy course might sound useless to a parent, but may actually be extremely beneficial for increasing the concentration of a restless child. Or, a parent might feel that a trip to Italy can be bought at a cheaper price than what the school is charging but that wouldn't be able to buy the companionship and personal development the child will gain when exploring a new place with friends.
Weighing the opportunity from all angles is crucial before complaining about extra expenses incurred at the school. While having said this, I am also aware how education has now become a business. A few years back, learning was merely a classroom with a teacher and a white board. Today, it's about choosing the right qualified teacher, the right quality of classroom (with lockers, tabs, laboratories and state-of-the-art equipment) and the right kind of teaching methodology (interactive white board, constructive play-way method, educational trips) and a lot more.The field of education has diversified and a need has risen to have more specifications and choices in tailor-making the education according to the needs of the child (and parent). This diversification and specialisation has been achieved only due to the primary source of income for schools - the parent's ability to pay.
However, this paying ability is also attracting entrepreneurs to wrap up basic simple educational tools in fancy words and jargon and sell them at a much higher cost to the parents. For example, one very reputable Indian school charged its parents a heavy price for a basic model of tablet that was available for a much cheaper price outside. Some schools organise special book fares and carnivals and charge the exhibitors a fee to be able to reach out to their customers - the students. All that money goes in paying for the rent of the building, paying salaries to highly qualified teachers, buying extra resources for the school and in some cases, the profits earned from a school helps in running other business tangents of the school owner.
If charging a fee beyond the tui-tion fee is providing the students a more enriching school experience then one should look at such "extra expenses" as investments. It is important that parents understand what other schools are offering and then weigh the deals that they are being pulled into by their children's education providers.
Any product/service that has been introduced in order to exploit the parent-body's paying ability should be strictly criticised and every expense that can be justified by the school should be indulged into.
No school would ever introduce anything that will harm your child or you in any way. Please be in close touch with the teachers and education managers and openly discuss and comprehend the value of educational tools provided to your child. A strong teacher-parent bond is the only way to overcome the seemingly unbearable burden of school expenses.
Krithika Mathur Ghosh is Counsellor, Career Advisor, The Sheffield Private School