FAQ's on the campaign
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What is the education choice campaign |
The Education choice campaign aimed at reforming the way public education is managed in India. The current system provides government schools with a captive group of consumers (the students) who have no choice but to attend these schools. This makes govt. school authorities complacent about performance and the resultant education being provided to students from poor backgrounds is often of low quality. The Education choice campaign seeks to fight this complacency by bringing in competition among schools and aims for a system where the poor student would have the same choices available to him as his rich counterpart.
The Education choice campaign aimed at reforming the way public education is managed in India. The current system provides government schools with a captive group of consumers (the students) who have no choice but to attend these schools. This makes govt. school authorities complacent about performance and the resultant education being provided to students from poor backgrounds is often of low quality. The Education choice campaign seeks to fight this complacency by bringing in competition among schools and aims for a system where the poor student would have the same choices available to him as his rich counterpart.
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Why is such a campaign needed in India |
The current status of public education in India is dismal. One survey found that 80 % of those who passed Class V from Municipal Corporation of Delhi schools in Delhi could not read or write! Dropout ratios are as high as 40 per cent in primary schools and go up to around 70 per cent by secondary school. The Public education system in India is in desperate need of a complete overhaul.
City governments in India spend between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,700 per child on education, PER MONTH. This sum when given in the hands of the poor parents would allow them to afford the best quality of education available for their child. Increased competitiveness for student enrolment will also push government schools to perform better. The introduction of vouchers, deregulation and the setting up of a mentoring/ VC fund body – are all measures that would bring about accountability and competitiveness to the disintegrating public education system in the country.
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If there aren't any good schools in a neighborhood for families to choose, how will this campaign help them? |
The education choice campaign will not only allow parents to send their children to public and non public schools outside their neighborhood (through vouchers), but will also facilitate the opening of new schools (edupreneurship and deregulation).
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Would it improve the status of public education in the country |
Yes, it most definitely would. It would push government schools to be more efficient and competitive – reduce costs and improve quality.
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How does the voucher system differ from the present system? |
Today government provides funds to schools. These schools then provide education to students. The voucher system provides funding to the student who then approaches any of the schools for education. In the present system, the schools are accountable to the government. The voucher system makes schools accountable directly to students since they pay for the education through vouchers. If the student does not like the school, she can take her voucher to another school. Under the voucher system, money follows the student rather than the school as in the present system. The graphic on the next page captures well the differences in the present and the voucher system.
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Have these ideas been implemented anywhere in the world before? If yes, how has the been |
Voucher programs have been implemented in different forms in countries as diverse as Sweden, Chile, Columbia, Holland, USA, UK, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Czech Republic and Cote d' Ivorie. There has been an increase in the quantitative indicators on all the following counts:
• Parental satisfaction
• Increase of test scores and learning outcomes of students
• Improved performance of public schools
• Increase in enrolment
Though the degree of improvement varies from case to case, there has been not a single case of decrease in parental satisfaction or educational standards after the introduction of a voucher scheme.
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Would family choice in education destroy public schools? |
This fear can be seen as similar to market competition wiping out inefficient private enterprises. There is no doubt that in a system based on accountability and performance evaluation, inefficient public schools would stick out like a sore thumb. However, there would be a time lag between the announcement and actual implementation of such a programme. Thus, these schools will be given adequate time and assistance to allow them to come up to levels from which they can compete with other schools.
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Would this adversely affect the performance and sovereignty of private schools? |
No, it wouldn't. A student's choice in selecting his/ her school will not impinge upon the school's sovereignty in selecting its students. Schools will be allowed to continue with their admission procedures, tests and interviews. A voucher is only a form of financial assistance. It ensures that no meritorious student is deprived of a good education simply because of his/ her limited financial means.
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What about chances of misuse of such vouchers and leakages of funds? |
Concerns of corruption and leakage in any public system are warranted. However a well designed voucher system will have less leakage than the present system as it puts the money directly in the hands of those who will pay and benefit from it. |
