APS: A Ringside and Inside View

Learning more about Affordable Private Schools is perhaps more about unlearning our ideas and perceptions about the consumption of schooling by the poor in India.

While we are talking about the poor, it need not always mean the “poorest of the poor.” There is a huge section of urban poor that has the basic resources to access private schooling and are stretching themselves in line with their aspirations, much like the middle class in India. This private schooling sector has emerged for the poor in various parts of India primarily due to rising aspirations, rising incomes, and dissatisfaction with government schools.

It may all be considered a fad and that “teaching shops” have come up to lure the poor parents. However, there is little evidence about the poor performance of these affordable private schools in light of the available options. And more importantly, what is often missed out is the evolution of a sector and its ecosystem. Nipping this ecosystem early on will have serious consequences for the stakeholders in this ecosystem as well as the health of the ecosystem. This platform, EnterprisingSchools.com, will be used to make ourselves think more rigorously about these Affordable Private Schools, and as well to share my own experiences. Sometimes it will seem like six blind men and the elephant. However, there is an elephant in the room, and we have to discuss, dissect, and raise the quality of the debate about it.

Srinivas, whom I interviewed recently, sends his children to an English Medium Private School in Hyderabad. These schools are usually quasi-English medium, despite what their name may indicate.  Srinivas works in a dhaba (roadside canteen) in Balanagar. However, he is aspirational and wants to have the best of English education for his child. I could see that emotional investment in his eyes, the implicit commitment made by him for his child’s better future. He considers government schools a no-no because teacher absenteeism is high and there is a lack of discipline in the classroom.

We have government announcements that these Affordable Private Schools will be closed if they do not comply with certain rules like the presence of a playground and teacher payment at government rates. What many people do not know is that these factors could distort the economics of private schooling for the poor. In India, the salaries of government teachers vary 5-10 times the pay of teachers in Affordable Private Schools. And the required sizes of playgrounds are either immensely costly or just do not exist. We have to think of alternative solutions like ratings and competition to engender quality in the ecosystem rather than a Boolean YES or NO framework.

The other view that I have come across in a few educationists is that both these affordable private schools and government schools are worthless, and that something should be done for radical improvement. There is an element of truth in it. There is room for a lot of improvement in these private schools. However, in reality, we have to look at their economics given that we are all in favor of sustainable enterprises, not just charity. And crucially, we do need to understand that for the poor, there is huge difference between sending a child to a INR200 ($4) per month as compared sending a child to a INR400 ($8) per month private school. There are clear segments in parents even below the INR600 ($12) per month fees. And that in their options, these schools have turned out to provide the most value for their investment into their children.

Through this platform, we will adopt various lenses (education, parents, sustainability, public policy, etc.) to understand this sector better and through that process adopt beneficial roles in the creation of a healthy ecosystem that provides high quality affordable private schooling.