Review of Pilot Ratings of Affordable Private Schools
India is the second most populous country in the world. With over 41% of the population living on less than a dollar a day in 2007 and a Human Development Index of 0.612 India is marginally ahead of Pakistan and Bangladesh but well behind the other two large Asian countries, China and Indonesia. Also, in terms of the Education Index, literacy rates and enrollment ratios India is well behind China and Indonesia. It is not surprising, therefore, that in parallel with the government funded educational system there has developed a gamut of private educational institutions including private schools catering not only to the children of the elite but also more affordable schools that are intended for the children of relatively low income families.
This report reviews the performance of the 35 affordable private schools assessed by M-CRIL as part of the pilot rating initiative sponsored by Gray Matters Capital. It compares their performance with such benchmarks for the education sector as are relevant and available. It also reviews the experience of the pilot program for developing an assessment/rating model for APS.