With elections nearly upon us, perhaps this is the best time to not talk about politics. Instead, let’s mull over an issue that could seriously affect the way we prepare for the future of the nation’s children. In a country where reservations are bandied about as quick-fix solutions for every conceivable social ill, the latest guinea pig selected for the Great Indian Quota Experiment may be Delhi’s schoolchildren. After yo-yoing to come with the right percentage, the Delhi government has sent out a notice to the state’s private schools demanding that they set aside 25 per cent of seats for children from poor families. Despite the good intentions, the quotas-for-schools plan is a disaster in the making.
Delhi’s private schools have strongly challenged the government’s demand. They collectively maintain that it’s not only about providing free quality primary education to needy children, but also about investing extra money which will be required to bridge the gap by providing special coaching classes, clothes etc. This, they maintain, can only be undertaken by substantially hiking the fees for ‘general’ students — something, as a private enterprise, they are not too comfortable about. Despite the fact that there’s no reason why private schools shouldn’t share the responsibilities/burden of the state, that’s not the reason why bringing the quota regime in school classrooms is a bad idea.
Taxing the rich to pay for the poor is a noble idea. But as one has seen over and over again in this country, reservations turn into doling out favours. More damagingly, instead of narrowing the social gap and integrating the haves and have-nots as intended, the resentment created by forcing a quota system on private schools will actually end up widening the gap. The Delhi government would do well to open more schools that impart quality education to all, instead of taking the easier — and faulty — way out. Reservations in India have made a joke out of the idea of ‘affirmative action’ in the spheres of public employment and higher education. Let’s not taint our school classrooms now with something that essentially always ends up being little else but a political tool.