BackEmbrace private schools
Embrace private schools
PremiumIllustration by Jayachandran/Mint
Most news reports on the latest report on Indian education focused on its evidence about how poorly educated Indian schoolchildren are. The starkest indications are the fact that half of children in class V cannot even read the class II textbook or that 40% of class V students cannot deal with a simple two-digit subtraction that involves carrying over.
Independent researchers, such as James Tooley of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, have already documented the rise of private education in even the poorest communities in India, such as the slums of Hyderabad. Others such as Geeta Kingdon of Oxford University have noted in their research work that students from private schools do better than their peers in government schools, controlling for other factors such as family background.
It is not hard to guess why Indian parents are increasingly choosing to send their children to education providers in the private sector, even in the case of those families that have a meagre income. There is growing recognition of the high returns on human capital in a country such as India, and at least part of the readiness to send children to paying schools in the private sector rather than free or cheap public schools can be explained by the drive to acquire skills that could help children move up the income ladder.
The government response to this trend has been predictable. The Right to Education Act aims for the praiseworthy goal to make education a constitutional right. But the government has then gone ahead with rules on teacher-student ratios, classroom size and school facilities that will make it difficult for budget private schools that serve poor communities to remain open. In fact, activists have already pointed out to threat of widespread closures of private schools in slums and villages. The ability of the government to replace them is in doubt.
A better solution is to recognize that parents want to send their children to private schools. A system of school vouchers could help school choice, and also put pressure on government schools to shape up if they want money to come their way. For the record: the average government spending per child is more than Rs6,000 a year.
Government schools: more a problem than a solution? Tell us at views@livemint.com
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