Schools - Why They Are In A Mess In India - Part 1 .( The Macro Picture ).

The greatest problem about schooling in India is that everyone who knows A,B,C,D  and can count ,thinks that teaching is the last refuge of people who can do nothing else .Everyone thinks he /she can teach !!.There is no mystique about teaching – there are no high sounding words like cytosine or psoriatic arthritis !! Or for that matter section 302 of the Indan Penal Code !! Its all about cat ,rat ,ohms law ,noun , Brussels etc – don’t we all know about them ?!!

That’s the real problem – teaching is considered so easy that it is not taken seriously by anyone else who is not in the teaching profession  .The greater problem is – that if we don’t take it seriously , then we are slowly setting fire to India .Everything starts from schools .A healthy school system – leads to a healthy nation .

Just by way of a simple question – how many of you reading this blog  know the about the  total number of schools in India ? Or as to how many students study in these schools ? Or for that matter , what are the different kinds of schools ? How many are affiliated to the State Boards or the CBSE ? How many IB Schools are there in India ? What is the average salary of a school teacher who will shape the thinking of your child for the rest of his /her life ? How many schools are there in the private sector ? How many of them are in the public sector?

All the above are important questions and you may say that it is not important  to know these “trivial” facts .Yes you could be justified in saying so – but then please don’t air your views as if you  know everything about schools .Dont  start whipping the schools for the fees they charge ,the quality of teaching and  please be prepared to understand the obstacles they face as they evolve . Don’t call all schools that charge high fees  “ money making machines” .Nothing comes free in todays world .A teacher is a professional .He /she comes with a price .Infrastructure comes with a price .Land comes with a price .Electricity and water come with a price .Buses come with a price .Furniture comes with  a price .Everything comes with a price .!!

Let me answer some of the questions that I asked . Please dont think ,i am dumping statistics on you.The statistics have been taken from government sources and Ernst and Young .
The total number of schools in India is approximately 1.5 million (15 lakhs ). About  250 million children are enrolled in them ( 25 crore)- that is just 69 percent of the school going age of children .Both the US and the UK  HAVE 100 PERCENT enrollment of the kids who are in the school going age – 3 to 16 years .We  in India ,cant provide education to the remaining 31 percent because the govt  does not either have the resources to build schools ,and even if it were to have it – would not invest in them .We spend a measly 3.7 percent of our GDP  on our schooling system .Thats why there is a urgent need for the private sector to involve itself in a big way into the educational sector .

 Of these 1.5 million schools – only 1 percent are afilliated to the CBSE .The rest of the 96 percent are affiliated to the State Boards ,CISCE , AND ABOUT 400 ARE IB Schools .Some schools are run by local bodies  and Municipal Corporations .

Lets look at the number of private sector schools ( like our own DPS JAIPUR ).There are only 4 lakh private schools – from nursery to Class 12( cumulative  - primary ,middle and secondary and senior secondary )Of these 4 lakh schools ,the maximum are in the primary( 57  percent ) ,and then in the middle sectors .The least are in the secondary and senior secondary level( 14 percent ) . This is so – because as the children  grow , they tend to drop out of schools for a variety of reasons .) Of these 4 lakhs ,only 18600 or so schools are affiliated to CBSE .The rest are under State Boards . The government  spends  a measly 3.7 percent of our GDP  on our schooling system .Thats why there is a urgent need for the private sector to involve itself in a big way into the educational sector .

The most important thing to understand  is that though there are only 25 percent schools in the private sector – they account  for 40 percent of the total student force in schools .This clearly means that the quality of education is better in private schools than in government schools .This is also reflected by the fact that states with the highest number of private schools have high pass out rates than the ones with state run schools .

And yet , year after year , the government hammers the private schools by creating roadblocks .There are so many obstacles in the way of running a private school efficiently ,that only the very dogged and determined continue to stay optimistic .Clearly – there seems to a shift to other sectors which get battered less and are also prone to less scrutiny .There are 18 clearances to be obtained to just start a school .And the most important thing is – that once you get the clearances , the battle does not end .It begins 

 Ask me .I started 3 schools from ground zero !! I remember waiting outside the Secretatriat in my car with Sangeeta nursing my 11 month old son .It was hot .And by the time , we had got back home ,Pratique had suffered a heat stroke and the file had not moved a inch from the desk of the Under Secretary to that of the Deputy Secretary .!!

Later that night we asked ourselves - were we in the right profession ? 

The answer was to unfold itself slowly over the next 3 decades !!

( Part 2. The Problem Beyond What  The Statistics Reveal ).