Ahmedabad: RTE parents prefer private schools, says study

Parents opting admission for their wards under the Right To Education (RTE) Act prefer private schools to government institutes. They feel the private ones are more conducive and safer, found a recent study 'Adversarial Parental Perceptions About Government Schools in Ahmedabad'. The study was conducted by Right To Education Resource Centre (RTERC) of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA).

Many parents have a poor impression about the government schools because they've had bad experiences, RTERC researchers said. However, their opinion slightly changed after they visited several government schools.

The study, supported by UNICEF was conducted by professor Ankur Sarin of IIMA and a research associate Nisha Warnekar found flaws with issues such as lack of teachers, non-teaching staff loaded with too much work, principals and administrators lacking authority over teachers, among others. The findings come at a crucial time when around 40,000 seats under the RTE Act remain vacant this year.

"We interviewed several parents belonging to a particular geographical area comprising 34 schools. We wanted to compare their responses. We investigated the extent of information asymmetry amongst the households on the lines of parental perceptions. Our researchers also visited ten schools," professor Sarin's team said.

Pvt schools bandh killas, ensure safety:

The parents feel that schools should have CCTV cameras, students should have uniforms, identity cards, and regular parent-teacher meets.

The parents suggested that government schools usually were large open spaces where anyone could walk in because the gates are always open. On the contrary, the private schools are "bandh killas" or fortresses.

For this reason, parents said, their wards often leave the premises during school hours.

In contrast, the parents whose wards made it to the private ones feel the gates are locked and the students can't leave the premises during school hours.

Govt schools cleaner than pvt counterparts

Many government schools are cleaner and more spacious than the private ones. Some say many have walls that are nicely done or boards displaying letters and numbers in different languages, maps and prayers. The infrastructure in these schools are also better and focus on extracurricular activities.

However, many parents cited the new focus of government schools on extracurricular activity and participation in competitions as being a waste of time.

"Private schools, in contrast, were incredibly cramped with almost 60- 65 students sitting on benches, which is double its capacity. Another private school was located in the middle of a marketplace and reels under tremendous noise. To solve this, the authorities have put up boards on the windows. This has made the classrooms dark and dingy," professor Sarin said.

Mixed response

"We found mixed results inside the classrooms. For example, in one government school, a teacher was very strict. But, even many private schools had the same rules. Also, in one of the private schools, we found a teacher spending a lot of time during the class on the phone. The students silently sneaked out without taking any permission," Sarin added.

Shortage of teachers

The report found that all five government schools had at least one teacher short. As one school explained, a recent mandate on the qualification of teachers had led to a shortage of subject teachers in secondary classes.

This led to an excess of primary grade teachers and a shortage of secondary-level teachers. The two Urdu medium schools said it was a major problem as very few with higher degrees required to teach in the secondary classes. The report concluded laying a map for the state government which can help parents change their perception. They included highlighting achievements of government schools, ensuring more accountability, etc.

ISSUES IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS

• Teacher shortage
   
• Teacher absenteeism
   
• Safety of the children
   
• Measures not strong to improve schooling environment
   
• Need restricted entry to and exit from school premises during school hours
   
• Measures for increasing accountability of schools
   
• Teacher assessments should be shared with parents personally, interpreted in actionable ways
   
• Parents should have access to a dedicated channel through which they can file complaints

WHAT PARENTS SAY

• Students should not be allowed to leave the school premises 
   
• Strangers should not be allowed to enter the premises
   
• Government schools should adopt the practice of having teachers sign classwork and homework assignments regularly
   
• Assessments should be shared with teachers personally
   
• Achievements should be marketed through flyers and media