A new study has found in Patna, an overwhelming majority of students depend on unaided, unrecognised schools, which the new Right to Education seeks to close by March 2013. Earlier, a report by non-governmental organisation Pratham had said enrolment of students in government schools in rural areas stood at 65.6 per cent, compared with 28 per cent in private schools.
The recent study by the India Institute and Newcastle University, ‘Private School Revolution in Bihar’, which focuses on unrecognised private schools in Patna, shows while 65 per cent of schoolchildren in the city attend private unaided schools, only 34 per cent attend government schools. The study, which found private unaided schools accounted for 78 per cent of the city’s schools, said the Right to Education Act should be amended to ensure education wasn’t denied to the majority of children in urban areas.
Earlier, government data showed private education, especially the unaided and unrecognised segment, was an inconsequential part of Bihar’s educational landscape. District Information System for Education (DISE) data for 2008-2009 showed there were 93 private schools in Bihar. Provisional data for 2009-10 estimate the number of such schools at 14.
However, the India Institute visited 1,224 private unaided schools in Patna alone, none of which were reflected in the DISE data. The study also found 56 per cent of the parents who enrolled their children in government schools also sent these children to private, unrecognised schools in their localities.
This was because government schools provided transfer certificates, while private schools didn’t. “Around 56 per cent said they were afraid they would not be able to secure admission for their children in a government school if their income levels fell; they were also wary of the continuation of their child’s education in a private school,” the study said.
Of the parents of children in government schools (194 children from 361 households), 70 per cent said affordability was an important factor for choosing a government school. While 67 per cent of the parents chose a government school because of free books and clothes, 39 per cent were attracted by free meals, the report said.