Page 39 - EW-June-2025

medical services and hospitalisation able toilets, mass teacher absenteeism
are not. Moreover over-regulation of and abysmal learning outcomes.”
education is preventing the inflow of That and other feature-length
clean, idealism-driven, philanthropic explanatory reports in EW seem to
capital into education. This is not in have had no impact on middle class
the public interest,” says Arghya parents who continue to invite in-
Sengupta, Director of the Delhi- cremental government intervention
based Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, an to depress private schools tuition
independent think-tank that conducts fees. Nevertheless, they simultane-
“legal research to make better laws ously expect school managements to
and improve governance for the pub- provide globally benchmarked infra-
lic good”. Promoted by Sengupta, an structure and capital-intensive digital
alumnus of the National Law School teaching-learning technologies and
of India University and Oxford Uni- sports facilities. The late Shomie
versity (UK), the not-for-profit Vidhi Das (1935-2024) who served a long
Centre (estb.2013) has 297 employees career as headmaster of India’s most
on its musters. respected and routinely top-ranked
The downsides of the judiciary and Shomie Das RIP: over-regulation warning private schools, offered middle class
government overlooking the funda- parents useful advice.
mental rights conferred by Article 19 of migration of the licence-permit-quota “Promoters invest huge sums of
the Constitution upon citizens to free- regimen into the education sector. money to establish globally compa-
ly engage in the vocation of education rable schools. Therefore they are enti-
provision have been repeatedly flagged OR INSTANCE IN JULY 2017 tled to reasonable returns on their in-
by EducationWorld (estb.1999). With F in a comprehensive cover vestment. If tuition fees are controlled
your editor as founding-editor of Busi- story titled ‘Fees regulation by government which applies uniform
ness India (estb.1978) and Business fever endangering India’s ceilings on fees, education quality will
World (1981), pioneer publications private schools’ (https://www.educa- suffer, with supplementary co-curric-
that planted the seeds of the 1991 eco- tionworld.in/fees-regulation-fever- ular and sports education the first ca-
nomic liberalization and deregulation, endangering-indias-private-schools/) sualty. Government interference with
having had the experience of chroni- we wrote: “A virulent fever with the tuition fees of private schools will
cling the devastating impact of run- symptoms of irrational behaviour and gradually lead to incremental official
away neta-babu licence-permit-quota myopia seems to be spreading through interference in other administrative
raj on industry and business, ab initio India’s 300 million-strong middle matters. There’s a real danger of In-
EducationWorld has been protesting class. Across the country, middle class dia’s private schools suffering the
households who have opted to enroll fate of India’s universities ruined by
their children in private unaided (i.e. government over-regulation,” warned
Average annual international school fees financially independent) K-12 schools Das, an alum of Presidency College,

(US$, annual) — and wouldn’t dream of enrolling Kolkata and Cambridge University
their precious offspring in the coun- (UK) who began his academic career
New York City 45,950
try’s 1.5 million non-performing gov- as a physics teacher in Gordonstoun
Beijing 36,799 ernment schools — are clamouring for School (UK), returned to India to
London 22,725 government ‘regulation’ of tuition fees serve long terms as principal of the
levied by India’s estimated 320,000 top-ranked Doon School, Dehradun,
Singapore 22,187
recognised private schools. Evidently Lawrence School, Sanawar and Mayo
Hong Kong 18,317 their collective judgement is impaired College, Ajmer.
Bangkok 13,287 by this fever because they seem un- Unfortunately for Indian educa-
Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman 10,959 mindful that government interven- tion and the polity, such well-consid-
tion and diminution of the autonomy ered advice falls on deaf ears. Because
Kuala Lumpur 5,161
of private schools — the sole bright of the legacy of almost half a century
Johannesburg 5,301 spot of a dysfunctional education sys- of socialism, resentment against pri-
Mumbai 5,813* tem — could be the first step towards vate schools runs deep within the
levelling them down to the pathetic establishment and the middle class,
Source: International School
Database (2024) condition of government primary-sec- averse to sending their children to
ondaries defined by crumbling build- free-of-charge government schools.
* EW estimate NB $=86
ings, multi-grade classrooms, unus- During the Covid-19 years (2020-

JUNE 2025 EDUCATIONWORLD 39