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High private school fees push students to seek admission in Pune ZP schools
According to data shared by the Pune ZP’s school education department, there has been an increase of 10,000 admissions this year, as compared to last year. As of July 16, the total number of admissions in ZP schools stands at 235,000.
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the financial planning of individual families, due to which parents from Pune district are now admitting their children to Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP) schools, as they cannot afford to pay the fees of private schools.
According to data shared by the Pune ZP’s school education department, there has been an increase of 10,000 admissions this year, as compared to last year. As of July 16, the total number of admissions in ZP schools stands at 235,000.
This is expected to further increase by 25,000, as the admission process is open till July 31.
Sagar Abnawe’s daughter was studying in a private school in senior KG. He has is now taken admission for her in a Pune ZP school in Ambegaon Budruk.
“Last year, due to lockdown our business was closed. We had to struggle to pay school fees. This year we decided to change the school of our daughter and have now taken admission for Class 1 in a Pune ZP school. Atleast there is no worry to pay thousands of rupees in fees, and also we get books, study material and other many things free of cost in this school,” said Abnawe.
There have been many protests and demands to reduce the fees in private schools, with some cases before the High Court. Private school fees range between ₹50,000 and ₹5 lakh per annum, depending of the standard and facilities provided by the school.
“We have seen a major rise in the admission of students to our Pune ZP schools for Classes 1 to 8 this academic year. This is mainly because of the Covid effect and parents are unable to pay private school fees. In the last couple of years we have focused mainly on quality education, improvement in the teaching techniques, children-friendly ways to engage students and also provide better facilities at the school,” said Ranjit Shivtare, Pune Zilla Parishad vice-president and chairman of ZP’s education and finance committee.
“As admissions are going on till July 31, we are expecting that around 25,000 more admissions will happen this year. This would be the highest ever increase in the number of admissions in the state. There are several ZP schools where admissions are full and it is difficult to get a seat,” added Shivtare.
Admissions in ZP schools
2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
233,977 226,982 235,000 (Till July 16)
