Page 38 - EW April 2021

Cover Story

3-PRONG ASSAULT ON

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

With the Central government denying them MSME status,
state governments slashing tuition and other fees and parent
communities unwilling to pay contracted fees, India’s 450,000
high-performance private schools are under siege

Dilip Thakore

T HE INCUBATION OF THE CORONAVI year when arguably the world’s most draconian national

lockdown of business, industry and education institutions
RUS aka Covid-19 virus in the exotic
was declared on March 25, last year. This lockdown has ex-
wet meat markets of neighbouring
tracted a heavy price from the economy. The country’s GDP
China in November 2019, and its rap-
which was budgeted to increase by 5 percent to Rs.235.89
id trans-continental transmission for
over 15 months has extracted a terrible
toll worldwide in terms of lost lives and
shrink by an unprecedented 17.38 percent to Rs.194.81 lakh
crore (revised estimate), and already high unemployment
livelihoods. Even though a vaccine to lakh crore in the year ended March 31, 2021, is likely to
combat the deadly virus has been developed in record time, has risen to an estimated 37 million.
Covid-19 has claimed 2.7 million lives around the world and The severe damage suffered by India Inc and the econ-
has devastated the economies of over 100 countries forced omy during the pandemic has been extensively researched
to declare prolonged industry, business and service sector and the best minds of the country are engaged in devising
lockdowns to prevent the spread of this highly infectious policies and strategies to repair it. However, the pandemic
airborne virus. and year-long closure of all education institutions coun-
Inevitably, given the geographical proximity of the Peo- trywide has also inflicted heavy and as yet unquantified
ple’s Republic of China to India, Covid-19 has also visited damage in terms of loss of learning, drop-outs from school
havoc upon the Indian economy and population. Even as and widespread child malnutrition. In particular, 85 mil-
reports of a second wave of spikes are coming in from sev- lion youngest (0-5 age group) children are unable to access
eral industry hub states — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kar- nutrition and early childhood education in the country’s 1.6
nataka and Punjab — the Coronavirus has infected 11.8 mil- million government-run anganwadi centres (AWCs) and
lion citizens and taken a toll of 161,000 lives during the past 132 million children in 1.2 million government primaries

40 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2021