Why parents are preferring private schools over government schools
A steep drop in enrolment in government schools has been noticed across States and UTs in 2024-25. Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha by TMC’ Saugata Roy and Congress’ Kishori Lal on whether a “massive drop in enrolment” has been noticed in Government schools in the country, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan provided a data which indicated the same
According to the data provided by the Education Ministry, enrollment in 2023-24 was 127490199 in comparison to 143240480 in 2021-22 and 136204917 in 2022-23.
The drop in enrolment has been noticed across the board, including in Kerala.
Education, Pradhan explained, is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments. He also talked of various Centrally sponsored schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Yojna and financial assistance to the States and UTs for various activities to reduce dropout and increase enrolment in Government schools. Financial assistances provided to States/UTs for the year 2024-25 central release under Samagra Shiksha is Rs 3445820.90 lakhs, Pradhan said
Notably the Education Ministry has already flagged the disturbing trend, students opting for private schools over government-run institutions, and asked states concerned for remedial action plans.
Reports on a meeting held in April to discuss performance, plan and budget under the PM-POSHAN scheme show that student enrolment dipped in 23 states of which at least eight witnessed declines exceeding 100,000. They include Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and West Bengal. Similar patterns were observed in UTs Delhi, Ladakh, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu
Reasons
There are many reasons for this shift
Education experts say parents are preferring quality over costs, a reason why they are moving children from government institutions to private schools despite heavy fees. The growing popularity of private schools highlights aspirations with families, even from low-income groups, opting for private schools, which they believe offer better English instruction, discipline and prepare a child better for the future.
Officials from the Education Minister call the trend “disturbing,” especially in light of the significant financial investment made in government schools. For example efforts on the PM-POSHAN to provide nutritional support programmes for children in pre-primary to Class 8 in government and government-aided schools. However, enrollment shifts are occurring despite expenditure on schemes like Samagra Shiksha and PM POSHAN, they say.
