Low-fee Private Schooling: Poor Households’ Struggle to Support Their Children’s School Attendance in Unauthorized Colonies in Delhi, India

ABSTRACT

The growth of private schools in India has contributed significantly to increased student enrollment but also raises certain questions, such as how parents living in informal settlements can support their children’s school attendance and seek alternative options, such as private schools, for their children. This paper addresses these under-researched aspects by focusing on the concerns of Muslim parents (who have a minority status in India) living in unauthorized colonies in relation to selecting a school. The data were generated through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Drawing upon data from 13 principals and 35 households in unauthorized colonies in Delhi, India, the key findings suggest that parents face difficult conundrums due to geographic and social background constraints. Issues regarding the selection of private schools and the challenges of finding schools are discussed. This study provides a different context that should be used to inform policymakers and educators examining schooling options for marginalized communities/parents in illegal settlements.

KEYWORDS:

• Low-fee private schools
• school choice
• poor households
• unauthorized colony
• Delhi

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The Sachar Committee was commissioned by the “Union progressive alliance” government. The committee was asked to report on the socio-economic and educational conditions of the Muslim community in India.

2. Schedule Castes are Dalit (untouchable) groups and are disadvantaged people in India. Dalits are outside the Hindu caste system. “Scheduled” is used as they are included in one of the schedules of the Constitution of India. Traditionally marginalized groups in India are singled out as Schedule Caste, Schedule Tribe and Backward Classes, which also includes Muslims.

3. Government schools are free of cost. As elementary education is free in India, the government’s “Annual expenditure per pupil” is Rs. 21815, and the “Monthly per pupil expenditure” is Rs. 1918 (World Bank, 2016 as cited in Kingdon & Muzammil, 2018).

4. The Hindu caste system involves rigid hierarchical groups. The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories, namely, Brahmins (usually intellectuals), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (traders) and Sudras (involved in performing menial jobs). Brahmins are at the top of the hierarchy, followed by the others. Lower castes are often reported to face repression and are disadvantaged.

5. A tribal community locally called “Adivasi”.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the FY2015 United Nations University (UNU) grants for Global Sustainability “Development of the Inclusive Education System Model for Learning Improvement in Developing Countries”, Rep: Prof. Kazuhiro Yoshida, Centre for the Study of International Cooperation in Education (CICE), Hiroshima University, Japan.