About 15 years back, I wrote this post 'Increasing commercialisation of education in India' which highlighted the control of big businessmen and politicians on the school system. Even after 15 years, this article is very much relevant because this trend has become more common today. I recently read news which stated that a politician from UP has 50 educational institutes. This news clearly shows the presence of politicians in the education system. In India, we can find great attraction among parents for Private English medium schools. Initially, it was the convenient schools run by Christian missionaries but the list has become very long and we have international schools in India.
Why do big Businessmen and Politicians run schools?
The answer is simple - Schools offer a regular and stable income as compared to other businesses and there are very clean businesses to do. Therefore many politicians prefer to run schools. These schools give them regular income with huge influence. You can do research on this matter to find the schools run by politicians in India. If they don't run schools themselves then they run schools with the help of others.
The same is true for the big businessmen who also they do investment in big international schools in India. Sometimes, politicians and businessmen come together to create big schools or other educational institutions. Opening a new and big school is not an easy task because you first need land and a good building then you need many clearances from many departments including the educational department. After getting all approval, a good money is required to be spent on the marketing of the school. A simple man can never complete all these tasks because red tape in the system creates many problems for him whereas politicians or big businessmen know well to manage all these things.
I am not against the growth of Indian schools or the entry of politicians into the school. But I am only against the harmful side effects of the commercialisation of education in India. Most of the middle class in India think that they lacked behind in life because of their poor education so they try hard to send their children to the best schools in the city. This trend gives rise to competition in the admission of nursery classes. Parents start buying the forms of famous schools when even their child is not worn. This is the level of desperation in people for a good education for their children.
On one side our government promote free and equal education to all through government schools. But despite all the efforts of the governments our government schools still fail in competition with the big private schools. Getting admitted to these big private schools becomes a matter of prestige for many.
These habits of parents and current trends are making private schools a very attractive commercial opportunity and we see the entry of more advanced private schools in India. Increasing commercialisation of education is a global trend and it has affected almost all countries of the world. But I feel that India is one of the most affected country of the commercialisation of education and we need to think about it so that we can make education a free and necessary thing.
