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Low income families prefer private schools in India

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Press Trust of India London
Last Updated : Jan 21 2013 | 4:10 AM IST

Even low-income families are 'voting with their feet', according to new research led by the University of Oxford, a university statement today said.

Researchers tracked 3,000 children who were randomly selected from different social and economic backgrounds in Andhra Pradesh.

They found that in 2002 about one quarter (24 per cent) of seven and eight year olds attended private schools, but by 2009 the rate had almost doubled to 44 per cent.

The study suggests that the trend is fuelled by the availability of low fee-paying private schools, and the perception among parents that children will make better educational progress in private schools.

Parents said they valued English-medium teaching offered by private schools, whereas government schools mostly teach in the regional language, Telugu, the statement added.

The research is part of the Young Lives project, which is tracking the development of children in four countries, including India.

The research team compared two cohorts of children of different ages

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First Published: May 08 2012 | 4:05 PM IST

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