Giving Compass' Take:

• Budget private schools in India are on the rise as public and expensive private schools fail to meet demand for education.

• How can philanthropy help to collect more data about budget private schools? How can these schools reach students who aren't served by existing systems?

• Learn how giving in India is an opportunity to scale impact.

As of 2011, there were 170 million children enrolled across government and private schools. From 2011 to 2015, based on reported data from Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE), the total enrolment in government schools fell by 9 percent, or 11.1 million students.

However, overall student enrolment in schools did not fall during this period. The drop in government school enrolment was accompanied by a 36 percent increase (around 16 million students) in private school enrolment. While there are different government categories of private schools, one category has been growing rapidly across rural and urban India: budget private schools (BPS).

As independent profit-making entities that provide education, budget private schools face ire and support in equal measure. Ire from those who believe education and profit are not natural allies. And support from parents who believe these schools offer them an affordable education (less than INR 15,000 in annual fees) for their children.

  • First, these schools tend to be situated right in the community, making it easier for children, especially girls, to attend.
  • Second, learning English, which is integrated as a subject in the BPS curriculum, is an aspiration many parents have for their children.
  • Third, parents find lower teacher absenteeism and greater accountability for learning outcomes at BPS. Simply put, parents believe their children will learn better in these schools and are therefore opting to pay for the education.

However, the these schools are not without challenges. They need to have a strong vision, good teachers and continuous teacher training to provide quality education. Because they target low-income populations, their fees are not always paid on time, impacting their working capital. As startups, they struggle with complying with a host of blanket regulations that do not differentiate fee-based schools from a government/free education.

Read the full article about the rise of budget private schools by Debleena Majumdar at India Development Review.