E-Paper
The three R?s are okay
HT-CSDS Survey show that an overwhelming 58 per cent of Delhiites are satisfied with the quality of education their children are receiving.
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All Delhiites with young children have at some time or the other worried about their education. There’s generally a lot of anxiety around the time the kids are ready to go to school; once in school, however, a majority of parents seem to relax much more.
Results of the HT-CSDS Survey on voters’ perception of the state of Delhi’s schools show that an overwhelming 58 per cent of Delhiites are satisfied with the quality of education their children are receiving. A small 9 per cent are unhappy; the rest are not interested or have no opinion on the matter.
Satisfaction levels are, however, spread out unevenly across social and economic categories and various types of schools.
People are more happy with private schools than with government schools. And more poor people (12 per cent) are unhappy with the quality of education their children are receiving than rich people (4 per cent). It is well known, of course, that many more poor people send their children to government schools than rich people.
Are the fees reasonable in Delhi’s schools? Yes, says a majority. Overall, 68 per cent of Delhiites feel they don’t have to pay too much for their kids’ education.
However, people who send their children to government schools are much more happy on this count than those who send their children to private schools.
An overwhelming 86 per cent of Delhiites who send their children to MCD/Sarvodaya schools, and a slightly less 81 per cent of those who send their children to Kendriya Vidyalayas, feel fees are reasonable.
In contrast, only 48 per cent of people whose kids go to the well known public schools, and 49 per cent of those whose kids go to other public schools, are happy with the fees they have to pay.
Satisfaction levels on this count vary with financial position. Thirty-six per cent of the rich feel fees are too high; 27 per cent feel they are okay. Among the poor on the other hand, as much as 52 per cent feel fees are fine.
The reason for this could be that the rich and aspirational send their kids to expensive schools; the poor aim for government schools where fees are minimal.
Would hiking fees in government schools lead to better education for our children? No, feels a majority of Delhiites.
As many as 74 per cent of respondents say the government can, if it wants, improve the quality of teaching without having to jack up fees. This opinion is shared by people belonging to all economic classes.
