Private schools are not so private

The National Convention of Private Unaided Schools Association has made a couple of demands that can, at best, be described as short-sighted. They have said that private schools should be exempt from the Right To Education (RTE) and the Right To Information (RTI) Acts.

The RTE and the RTI are among the most empowering laws in the country. The first aims to eliminate illiteracy, which should have been done ages ago, and the second works to make India a more open and accountable society. Any school, whose purpose is what these bills seek to fulfil, should welcome them. Instead, private schools have displayed closed mindset in their decision to oppose the extension of these laws into the private domain.

The distinction between state-run and privately-managed schools has to be maintained. And it also has to be noted that given a choice, most parents from any income strata would prefer the private to a government school. This gives certain leverage to the managements of private schools, but this does not extend to opting out of the ambit of laws like the RTE and the RTI.

Private schools can argue that parents who seek admission for their children do so voluntarily, and they are willing to abide by the rules framed by the schools. And they have a point. But even a private organisation cannot be seen to be arbitrary or opaque. It has to make its rules both fair and public, and parents have a right to know what they are getting into.

Moreover, private schools are not so private. The same convention demands land at subsidised rates, cheaper electricity, and lower property taxes on the claim that they run schools on a ‘no-profit, no-loss’ basis. This proposition would easily be challenged by millions of harassed parents who deal with fees that rise faster than the inflation rate, clearly earning them some profit.

This is not to discount the fact that schools in India do face problems, or that the RTE Act is not perfect. For instance, the notion that a classroom should have 70 students is questionable: no teacher can pay attention to so many students in half an hour.