In the last blog we witnessed, private schools unleashed to run as corporate, the idea was to bring forth real picture of the growing trend in urban and semi-urban school education in India. With the overwhelming response from parents across, I am instigated to explore the possibility of moving forward.

Governments should remain primarily responsible for providing free and quality education to all, it claims, and not allow their education system to be exploited by private companies reaping uncontrolled profits”- United Nations Report

Why should we be worried about profit making?

Many of us may have a question – how does it matter if schools are running for profits?  We can at least provide better education to our children with good learning outcome than government schools.

Education cannot be perceived as consumer good entirely, with social, economic, morality attached around it, moreover, responsibility of shaping the future generations to build a nation is possible by imparting good quality education to every citizen of the country; this objective has put education as a matter of public affair across the world. Governments of many countries are successfully involved in providing free and compulsory quality education to their citizens’ right from preschool.

The answer to this question is well spelled out in Indian law too and UN Report by Special Rapporteur  -Protecting the right to education against commercialization. Special Rapporteur Kishore Singh stated in UN Assembly, “education is not the privilege of rich and well-to-do. It is an inalienable right of every person. The State is both guarantor and regulator of education. Provision of basic education, free of cost, is not only a core obligation of states but it is a moral imperative”

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Therefore, this gives a partial answer to why private schools are not entitled to run for profit. There is unanimously agreed fact that the government has failed to endow basic education and consequently private schools have taken the place to provide school education. The current situation of rampant privatization of school education is also due to government’s inability. This is an issue of another post; we will keep the post strictly to ill effects of privatization of school education.

What are the negative impacts or repercussions of for-profit schools?

There are far-reaching social ramifications as evident in today’s societal setup in India. The underlying principles of the right to education established under international and national legal framework are negated with the uncontrolled commercialization of education. Besides this students and parents have become mere consumers and victim to exploitation in emotionally and financially.

Social Impact of Schools Running for Profit

• Instability and Inequality: For-profit, schools bring instability and inequality in the society besides polarizing community with social segregation.

• Quality Gap: For-profit, schools bring quality gap in school education which is significantly prevalent in India currently.

• No Socially Justified Policy: For-profit, schools have little interest in socially just policies such as right to education.

• Lack of shared educational goals and values: For profit schools wind up delivering public funds to support a private company’s bottom-line rather than our shared educational goals and values.

• Adopting corrupt practices:  Devalue of morality by adopting corrupt practices; it is evident from Corruption Perceptions Index of 2014- India ranks 85^th out of 175 countries and it is disheartening to know education institutions are ranked third from the above. Delivery of primary and basic education is made like running a family business.

Widespread impacts of Schools Running for Profit

Widespread impacts of Baleful concerns of privatization in education are listed below:

• Market Position of Schools -The market managers and intermediaries play a crucial role in the brand building exercise to bring the school in the ranking system. The unremitting impact of bringing ranking to school drains out inordinate time and energy in chasing the specious measurable outcomes that can cement school’s market position.
   
• Paying to advertisers and stakeholders- To save its market value schools pay hefty amounts to different stakeholders, this is all from parents hard earned money. Most of the time it doesn’t benefit the students' outcome atall.

• Heads Become Puppet-When schools are for-profit the line changes for the head of the school as accountable to a board, who are interested in knowing how much money has been made. The very motive of commitment to education will turn out to be in figures and number of students and heads become mere puppets in the hands of trustees or management without consideration for children’s wellbeing.

• Dubious practices and financial arrangements to keep it a financially viable entity. The so-called non-profit school entities continue to amass wealth wherein annual income routinely exceeds expenditure.

• Schools have started working like free market consumer goods– Due to private schools proliferation without proper regulatory laws and loopholes in the existing system, schools have started working like free market consumer goods giving way to greater inequalities. Those with more financial, educational, and social resources are more likely exploit the opportunity of consumer choice.

• Curtailment of school autonomy- With more corporate-run schools coming to this arena the school independence and learning methodologies have become mere processes and timelines as per head-office charted agenda.

Impact on Students of Schools Running for Profit

• Test scores by students become yardsticks for school’s promotion: The test scores by students become yardsticks for school’s promotion and tactics to enroll more students in the school. Many a time high test scores and laurels are achieved by efforts from parents and students at home without support from teachers and school administration. The question worth asking – is measuring achievement is a convenience that allows the authorities to use test scores the way CEOs using numbers to measure company growth?

• The single set of content standards, evaluation, and curriculum: The single set of content standards, evaluation, and the curriculum is put in place to punish or reward students through test scores. There is no consideration for students with different kind of learning abilities and disabilities.

• Image of school matters: Image of school matters more than the children do, rhetoric promises and business building policies take the front stage in the for-profit private schools in India nowadays.
   
• Lacks concern for the well-being of students: Turning a system into purely for a profit driven enterprise that lacks concern for the well-being of students.
   
• Safety of children is compromised: Private schools sometimes run on crammed premises and sometimes on a very large area away from the city, both pose different kinds of safety for children.

• Parents are pressurized to spend: Besides the exorbitant amount of school fee parents are pressurized to pay for many other extra-curricular activities and tests run by various private players.

We have good reasons – powerful reasons to atleast slow down the pace of proliferation of private education in India. It is time to put a break to take market forces run like free vehicle and create bigger inequalities, besides making a big hole in the pockets of parents. The deeper logic of all for profit in education today must be replaced by alternative principles of learning and care. There are so many ways to begin.

Stay tuned to read next post on – Way Ahead for Solutions.

Suggestion and comments are invited, on solutions to the serious problem of uncontrolled commercialization of education in India. 

References:http://www.right-to-education.org/resource/protecting-right-education-against-commercialization-report-un-special-rapporteur#sthash.xs8TMyDL.dpuf

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