I read in today's Hindustan times that the planning commission has decided to sponsor 25 lakh seats in private schools for poor students. So 2500 schools will be opened throughout the country which will admit 1500 students at the market rate and 1000 poor students will be sponsored by the central government.
Given that school quality of most government schools in India has not improved over time, this appears to be a more plausible step towards integrating the poor into the mainstream. However still many questions confront my mind even when I try to be optimistic about this initiative.
Firstly how they define a 'poor student' is someone whose parents do not pay income tax. Aren't there many rich (non salaried) people in India who fall into that criteria. Secondly, the plan talks about paying for tuition, textbooks and two free uniforms. This is simply not enough aid. Students from middle and higher class families will afford better stationary, bring better food, better sporting equipment and other similar things.
Also will schools treat these children equal to the others. Don't many 'posh' schools already have 'poor sections'? Will the plan ensure that schools don't bunch up these students in a separate section? How? Will teachers be more tolerant of the fact that these children have special learning needs due to the absence of assistance at home?
Finally I ask that how many 'rich' people will prefer to send their children to such schools. If these schools become the least preferred choices for them, then the overall quality may not be very high in the first place to benefit these poor people.
In my opinion plans like these are a good experiment to try, but there is no substitute for improving public school quality.
12 years ago
Posts
