Aishwarya Reddy, a student of Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi, died by suicide because she felt that she was becoming a financial burden on her family. Although she was enrolled in the 2nd best college in India, the subsidies provided to ease the pressure on her family was not enough. Her peers have blamed increasing privatization in the education sector as the cause which pushed her.
The economic divide in India, for ages, has pitted the have-nots against the have-alls in a fight tilted in the favor of the latter. But this divide is now creeping into the Indian education system, and girl students might have to face its repercussions in the form of isolation and lack of options.
This commercialization of education would only increase the cost of education and decrease the quality of education imparted, as found in a report by Unite4Education.
Quality Education Is Still Not A Priority!
The quality of education girls gain in schools has never been a priority for poor rural families, as indicated in research, “The poorest rural families must make hard choices about scarce resources and often choose to invest in private education for their sons over their daughters,” and thus “to be a girl significantly reduces the chances of attending LFP (low-fee private) schools.”
With the commoditization of education, parents of such girls would further be pressured into discontinuing the education of their girl child as soaring costs would make it hard for them to ensure quality education.
What Privatization Means For Girls Regarding Their Education
The privatization of education would mean that the government would invest only in a few hand-picked institutions, and graduates from these institutions would suffice for the rapid economic growth of the country. But it would also mean that millions of girl students might lose out on an opportunity to attain subsidized education. This would only aggravate the dropout rate of girls aspiring to attain higher education.
Moreover, girls belonging to oppressed caste communities might find it even harder to access education as now a private collection of institution owners can guide the admission process and the fee structure, further increasing the hardships faced by these girls from segmented sections of the society.
Is It The Correct Time To Introduce Privatization?
With a receding GDP and the country’s economy facing a downward slump in covid times, the introduction of privatization in the education sector might go on to make it financially impossible for girls from marginalized communities to get themselves educated. Slated to see an increase of 20% in the dropout rates of school girls in the post-pandemic scenario, India needs to introduce capitalism in the education sector at bay for a while.
Is Privatization A Bad Idea Altogether?
It might be that the private schools that would be built can provide better facilities for hygiene and comfort of girl students such as hygienic drinking water, clean toilets, better classrooms, etc. It might also give them a chance to be a part of co-curricular activities that have been absent in schools’ current setup for the marginalized. It means that students might get access to libraries, better playgrounds, and better recreational activities, which might promote their urge to attend school.
The setting up of private schools in remote areas might also help girls who previously were not able to attend school because of the distance. This would also help ensure their safety as now their parents would not be afraid to send them to school. It would also increase the employment opportunities in the education sector. The money which the government would have spent on salaries, maintenance and infrastructure, can now be spent on helping poor girls in attaining an education from these private institutes.
What Should Be Done By The Government Instead Of Privatization?
But the cons of privatizing education far outweigh the pros. Education should be an avenue in which profit-making should not be of utmost importance. Private Institutions cannot function without some margin for profit. So, the government should try setting up semi-privatized institutions where students who can afford to get educated on their own are welcome, while some support and subsidies are provided to girl students from poor communities by the government.
The government cannot bridge the gap in literacy rates between girls from poor communities and girls from well-to-do families with the privatization of education. Instead, it should ensure strict monitoring and compliance to rules of the current staff entrusted with educating girls. It should also focus on improving the quality of education which the current schools provide by increasing budget allocations for education, rather than reducing it and looking for investments by profit-making and capitalist companies.