NAGPUR: A national survey has revealed that over 50% of students will pay for primary education by the year 2020. NGO Pratham has cited annual rise in private school admissions as a measure for reaching this conclusion. Their Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is one of the country's most respected and valued surveys.
The report states that "we have believed for a long time -and this is the logic of Right To Education (RTE) - that governments will provide for education of a large majority of children. This premise is likely not to be valid 10 years from now". Quoting government data on schools, the report says that 29.8% of students in Std I-V (urban and rural) attended private schools in 2010-11. And surprisingly in just two years after RTE came into effect, ASER says there has been an increase of 5.8 percentage points in private school enrolment.
The report mentions that "the trend is unmistakable. Private school enrolment in rural India is increasing at about 10% every year or about three percentage points per year. In the election year of 2014, about 41% of all of India' primary age children will be in private schools, and by the time 2019 elections come around, private sector will be the clear major formal education provider in India".
ASER says in Maharashtra over 40% of primary level students are enrolled in private schools.
TOI had reported in August last year that 10 lakh students had moved out of government schools and shifted to private institutes, in the last five years. The then director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) Sanjay Deshmukh, said, "Five years ago, we had about 78 lakh students and now that figure has slipped to 68 lakh. While the students are leaving government schools they are not necessarily moving away from the state board."
At an RTE convention held in the city last year, additional chief secretary in charge of school education, JS Saharia reminded his subordinates working at the ground level that it was time to buckle up. Saharia, said, "Every year 2 lakh students are moving out of our schools. This tells us that something is very wrong and we must act upon it immediately. Visit schools and check discrepancies - use the powers that the state has granted you. We already know the schools which have less that 50% attendance, so go there and take action."
Over 50% primary students will attend private schools by 2020, reveals survey
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Over 50% primary students will attend private schools by 2020, reveals survey
