Private schools and the millennium development goal of universal primary education: a census and comparative survey in Hyderabad, India

Abstract

Development literature suggests that private schools serving the poor are not part of the solution to meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of universal primary education. The study conducted a census and survey of schools in notified slums of Hyderabad, India, to contribute to the sparse literature on the nature and extent of private schools for the poor. Of 918 schools found, 60% were found to be private unaided (PUA), enrolling about 65% of total enrolment. On a range of indicators, including pupil-teacher ratio, teaching activity, teacher absenteeism, and classroom and school inputs such as blackboards, desks, chairs, toilets and drinking water, PUA (including unrecognised) schools were found to be superior to government schools. Objections to a role for private schools in meeting the MDG target are explored and challenged.

Choosing and changing schools in India’s private and government sectors: Young Lives evidence from Andhra Pradesh

“…At the same time, a growing research agenda has addressed questions about how far increasing choice via an expanded private sector is compatible with the Education For All (EFA) agenda and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (Tooley et al, 2007;Härmä, 2009;Woodhead and Streuli 2013;; about the characteristics of private and government schools in terms of quality indicators (The Probe Team, 1999;Pratham, 2012); and whether students studying in the low-fee private sector achieve higher test scores compared to those studying in the government-provided alternative (Chudgar & Quin, 2012;Kingdon, 1996; 1 Operationalized as charging a monthly tuition fee not exceeding about one day's earnings of a daily wage labourer at primary and junior levels (up to Class 8) (Srivastava et al, 2013: 4). Muralhidharan & Kremer, 2006).…”

Reflections of Teachers in the FPE Era

“…But we could also explain mobility by the perceived quality of education in the low-cost private schools (Oketch et al, 2012;Oketch & Somerset, 2010), that these private schools achieve results with relatively low fees (Tooley & Dixon, 2007). As expressed by teachers, pupil mobility could also be as a result of low-cost private schools having increased in number within the urban informal settlements in SSA countries.…”

“…Studies done in the context of the informal settlements in India, Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya showed that in many instances these low-cost private schools performed better that government schools (Ngware, Abuya, Admassu, Mutisya, & Musyoka, 2013;Tooley & Dixon, 2007). Other scholars have argued that the reason for the rapid growth of the low-cost private schools have been the failure of the government-owned schools to accommodate 629189S GOXXX10.1177/2158244016629189SAGE OpenAbuya and Ngware…”

“…In Kenya, Ngware, Oketch, Mutisya, and Abuya (2010) showed that the mean score on a math test was less than 50%, and some Grade 6 teachers scored as low as 17% in a test that was to appraise their knowledge in math. Research evidence suggests that many parents preferred to send their children to fee-charging private schools in the slums because of the perception that the quality of education in the public schools was poor (Oketch, Mutisya, & Sagwe, 2012;Oketch & Somerset, 2010), that these private schools achieve results with relatively low fees (Tooley & Dixon, 2007).…”

Changing trend in choice of schooling in selected areas of rural Almora, Uttarakhand: Some case studies.

“…Debates on school choice have gained attention in the South Asian context in recent years, especially in reference to the category of the urban poor (Alderman et al, 2001;Tooley, 2009). Expansion of private school in urban India has occurred in recent times and some scholars have presented evidences that indicate acts of resistance by the poor against the state controlled bureaucratic education system that generally fails to deliver quality education (Tooley et al, 2007;Tooley, 2009). In this context, some studies have highlighted the need to understand the social context of schooling in South Asia and have found flaws with the quality of low-cost private schools (Saragapani, 2009;Sarangapani and Winch, 2010).…”