Private Education In India

An important feature of the very high rate of growth of higher education in India, particularly since the beginning of the 1990s, is an alarming growth of the private higher education sector.

- Kishore Kumar Biswas

The size of the private education sector is about twice that of the public sector in terms of the number of institutions and student enrolments.

The growth of student enrolment in private education in India has been more than the growth in government education or government aided education. According to a study, between 2010-11 and 2015-16, student enrolment in government schools across 20 Indian states fell by 13 million while private schools got 17.5 million new students.

Another research paper is relevant in this context. Geeta Kingdon Gandhi, Professor, Education and International Development at the Institute of Education, London, in her paper published in March 2017 pointed out that the average enrolment in government schools declined from 122 to 108 students per school over five years, while it rose from 202 to 208 in private schools. It is reported that according to the District Information System for Education (DISE) and from ministry data, almost 65% of all school-going children in 20 Indian states (roughly around 113 million) continue to get their education from government schools.

It is also reported that less than one in five elementary school teachers in India are trained. Employment of contractual teachers in schools is rising and that hampers the teaching atmosphere in schools. According a report, in Delhi, half of all government-school teachers are hired on temporary contracts. These teachers are likely to be less motivated and accountable than teachers with full-time jobs.

Will private schools provide better learning environment?