This is purely background for those who are not familiar with the education scene in India. Skip it if you live here. You could, of course, read it to know what my take is J
Right to Education Act
In the two decades since endorsing World Declaration on the Education for All at Jomtien in 1990 and committing to it at the Dakar summit in 2000, the India government has made modest efforts to universalize elementary education. India passed the Right to Education Act in August 2009, guaranteeing education to all children ages 6 to 14. In what has been characterized as the largest unintended national school voucher program, among other provisions, the Act mandates that all private schools, to the extent of 25% of their enrolment, enroll students from EWSD sections of society in the neighborhood by simple random selection, beginning in 2011 at the entry level of Grade 1. The government will reimburse the private schools equal to the government’s official per child spending or by the school’s fee scale, whichever is less. Finally, schools are prohibited from demanding a capitation fee, and from interviewing prospective students and parents as part of the admission process.
Private Schools in India
Historically, with public education not meeting the needs in terms of both access and quality, fee-driven private English-medium institutions have stepped into the breach, accounting for about 20 to 40% - of the school students in metropolitan areas and about 20% in rural areas. Traditionally, private schools in India have primarily catered to the middle- and upper-classes of society, whose students are typically academically high-achieving and socially sophisticated with teachers from the same socio-economic class who share cultural values, academic expectations and social aspirations. None of these advantages are enjoyed by EWSD students who, in the context of these schools, are held to be either non-existent or ineducable.
Implications of RtE for Private Schools
Involving private schools in the delivery of education for all addresses issues of both access to and quality of education. However, critics challenge this provision on several points. The first is the government’s assumption that it can pass on the onus of public education to private institutions. The government rests its claim on the fact that since it grants land rights to schools in prime locations, often in the city centre, it can assert certain rights in exchange.
A question of more immediate relevance to school-based educators is the assimilation of EWSD students into the culture of schools that cater to a different social and economic class of students. RtE specifically states that EWSD children “will be treated on par with all the other children in the school,” making it imperative for several psycho-social and pedagogic issues to be addressed in order to integrate students from low-income families. In the current exam-driven, competitive ethos that characterize most private schools in India, EWSD students are likely to be first- or second-generation learners, probably lacking academic support from their families, and may remain low performing. They may suffer by comparison in social markers such as dress and possessions that could set them apart. For instance, one of the most successful programs in raising attendance is the mid-day meal scheme in which EWSD students are provided a meal organized by the school. Apart from the practical difficulty of incorporating it into the infrastructure of the school, such a program will highlight the distinction between students in terms of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots,’ just as free lunch vouchers do in U.S. schools. Practices and expectations like these could acutely affect the self-esteem of underprivileged students. Many private schools may not be inclined or equipped to respond to such specific needs.
Three Overwhelming Issues
A year after the act was promulgated, only five states have defined rules and procedures for administering and monitoring the provisions of the act. Thus, compliance with the 25% admission provision is yet to be widely implemented. Further, many of the provisions of the Act have been challenged legally, and courts around the country are hearing related cases.
In my conversations and readings so far, three issues appear to be most worrisome to educators. The primary concern is financial, relating to compensation and reimbursement to schools. School fees in high-end private schools range from Rs. 15,000 to 25,0000 a year while the reimbursement offered per pupil ranges from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 13,000. Schools are concerned about how they can make up the short-fall. To make matters worse, I was told that actual per-pupil-spending is about Rs 25,000 and the government is scaling that down with deductions for capital costs and teacher salaries.
Secondly, without rules to guide their planning in all but five states, rumours have fed schools fears of what may be bogeymen as regards the admission process. For instance, school administrators cite the ability of education officers whose duty it may be to identify and apportion EWSD students for admission to be misused by forcing schools to admit students to all grades, not only the entry level grade as defined by the Act.
The final issue relates to a more philosophical question of whether private institutions should share the responsibility of educating all students. This is the crux of the argument in funding for public (government) schools being diverted to charter schools or voucher programs in the US, though in the reverse. One educator I talked to was very clear that if students could not pay fees, they should not expect to avail of the advantages of a fee-paying institution. Her argument was that EWSD students should gradually progress over a generation or two gaining excellence in a regional-medium government school before acceding to the greater demands of English-medium private schools. Is this a minority opinion or an honest rendition of a widely-held view?
Right to Education Act
In the two decades since endorsing World Declaration on the Education for All at Jomtien in 1990 and committing to it at the Dakar summit in 2000, the India government has made modest efforts to universalize elementary education. India passed the Right to Education Act in August 2009, guaranteeing education to all children ages 6 to 14. In what has been characterized as the largest unintended national school voucher program, among other provisions, the Act mandates that all private schools, to the extent of 25% of their enrolment, enroll students from EWSD sections of society in the neighborhood by simple random selection, beginning in 2011 at the entry level of Grade 1. The government will reimburse the private schools equal to the government’s official per child spending or by the school’s fee scale, whichever is less. Finally, schools are prohibited from demanding a capitation fee, and from interviewing prospective students and parents as part of the admission process.
Private Schools in India
Historically, with public education not meeting the needs in terms of both access and quality, fee-driven private English-medium institutions have stepped into the breach, accounting for about 20 to 40% - of the school students in metropolitan areas and about 20% in rural areas. Traditionally, private schools in India have primarily catered to the middle- and upper-classes of society, whose students are typically academically high-achieving and socially sophisticated with teachers from the same socio-economic class who share cultural values, academic expectations and social aspirations. None of these advantages are enjoyed by EWSD students who, in the context of these schools, are held to be either non-existent or ineducable.
Implications of RtE for Private Schools
Involving private schools in the delivery of education for all addresses issues of both access to and quality of education. However, critics challenge this provision on several points. The first is the government’s assumption that it can pass on the onus of public education to private institutions. The government rests its claim on the fact that since it grants land rights to schools in prime locations, often in the city centre, it can assert certain rights in exchange.
A question of more immediate relevance to school-based educators is the assimilation of EWSD students into the culture of schools that cater to a different social and economic class of students. RtE specifically states that EWSD children “will be treated on par with all the other children in the school,” making it imperative for several psycho-social and pedagogic issues to be addressed in order to integrate students from low-income families. In the current exam-driven, competitive ethos that characterize most private schools in India, EWSD students are likely to be first- or second-generation learners, probably lacking academic support from their families, and may remain low performing. They may suffer by comparison in social markers such as dress and possessions that could set them apart. For instance, one of the most successful programs in raising attendance is the mid-day meal scheme in which EWSD students are provided a meal organized by the school. Apart from the practical difficulty of incorporating it into the infrastructure of the school, such a program will highlight the distinction between students in terms of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots,’ just as free lunch vouchers do in U.S. schools. Practices and expectations like these could acutely affect the self-esteem of underprivileged students. Many private schools may not be inclined or equipped to respond to such specific needs.
Three Overwhelming Issues
A year after the act was promulgated, only five states have defined rules and procedures for administering and monitoring the provisions of the act. Thus, compliance with the 25% admission provision is yet to be widely implemented. Further, many of the provisions of the Act have been challenged legally, and courts around the country are hearing related cases.
In my conversations and readings so far, three issues appear to be most worrisome to educators. The primary concern is financial, relating to compensation and reimbursement to schools. School fees in high-end private schools range from Rs. 15,000 to 25,0000 a year while the reimbursement offered per pupil ranges from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 13,000. Schools are concerned about how they can make up the short-fall. To make matters worse, I was told that actual per-pupil-spending is about Rs 25,000 and the government is scaling that down with deductions for capital costs and teacher salaries.
Secondly, without rules to guide their planning in all but five states, rumours have fed schools fears of what may be bogeymen as regards the admission process. For instance, school administrators cite the ability of education officers whose duty it may be to identify and apportion EWSD students for admission to be misused by forcing schools to admit students to all grades, not only the entry level grade as defined by the Act.
The final issue relates to a more philosophical question of whether private institutions should share the responsibility of educating all students. This is the crux of the argument in funding for public (government) schools being diverted to charter schools or voucher programs in the US, though in the reverse. One educator I talked to was very clear that if students could not pay fees, they should not expect to avail of the advantages of a fee-paying institution. Her argument was that EWSD students should gradually progress over a generation or two gaining excellence in a regional-medium government school before acceding to the greater demands of English-medium private schools. Is this a minority opinion or an honest rendition of a widely-held view?
Thank you for taking this complex subject and interpreting it so powerfully into simple language for us. Rightly so, it is difficult to take sides on this issue. But your thoughtful articulation helps us better understand the issues.
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