42% of rural kids opt for tuitions

ASER 2012 reveals that 42% students of private schools opted for private tuition. Only 9% of students of Class I-VIII in government schools chose the extra attention.

In 2011, 47% of students surveyed in private schools went for tuitions. The figure has dipped to 42% this year. Similarly, 10.5% students of government schools opted for extra attention in 2011. The figure stands at 9% this year. “The education scenario has improved in the state in last few years,” said Kirit Joshi, principal of Diwan Ballubhai School. “Infrastructure, quality teachers and their number has improved. I don’t agree that students opting for tuitions perform better,” he added.

Private schools charge several times higher tuition fees than their government counterparts, and thus are expected to provide a complete academic guidance to students. Private tuitions, therefore, should be unnecessary.

But Annual Status Education Report – 2012 (ASER) reveals that among students surveyed in rural Gujarat, 42% from private schools opted for private tuition. Only 9% of students of Class I-VIII in government schools chose extra attention.

The findings were collated from 567 districts of India, covering more than 16,000 villages and 3.3 lakh households. About six lakh students were respondents for the study. This includes 25,700 students in 692 schools of rural Gujarat. The ASER for the state covers reading, language and comprehension in English and Gujarati, and arithmetic skills.

Tuitions lead to better education
Analysis of data from government schools suggests that students (of Class III-V), who took private tuitions, performed better than those who relied only on schools for academics. About 70% of ‘tuition-goers’ could read letters, words and sentences. Only 58% of those who didn’t opt for tuitions could do the same. The trend was similar in private schools. About 61% of students not attending tuitions failed the reading test, but 79% of students attending tuitions passed it. The latter were found better in subtraction, as well.

EXPERT-SPEAK
When queried about the findings, education pundits said that students go for paid private tuitions because quality of education isn’t up to the mark. Students aren’t confident of what is taught in school.

But Father Fernand Durai SJ, who is principal of St Xavier’s Loyola Hall, has an alternate viewpoint. “I believe that students who cannot pay more, opt for government ones. I assume these students cannot afford for tuitions either,” said Durai. He also observed that students who attend classes regularly perform better than those who bunk them and then depend on tuitions.

Principal of Diwan Ballubhai School, Kirit Joshi, said the sample-size (2% of all students in the state) of the analysis is too small to arrive at any conclusion.
“The education scenario has improved in the state in last few years,” said Joshi. “Infrastructure, quality teachers and their number has improved. I don’t agree that students opting for tuitions perform better,” he added.

Trends emerging from the study, in fact, support the expert-view. In 2011, 47% of students surveyed in private schools went for tuitions. The figure has dipped to 42% this year. Similarly, 10.5% students of government schools opted for extra attention in 2011. The figure stands at 9% this year.