C2.1 Anugula Reddy: Schooling in Urban India
Schooling in urban India faces several challenges. Low participation of poor and slum-dwelling children in schools despite high overall enrollment. A highly divisive system where rich children attend private schools with good facilities while poor children have low-quality public schools with few resources. Public school quality in urban areas is particularly low. These issues are intertwined with the increasing privatization of education. However, government policy does not adequately address the problems of urban schooling. This paper aims to re-examine challenges of urban schooling using new data, analyze patterns of private sector involvement, and their impact on equity and quality. It argues the lack of policy has allowed unchecked private sector growth, reducing education's potential to promote equality of
C2.1 Anugula Reddy: Schooling in Urban India
- 1. C2.1 Schooling, Education and Work Presentation 3 Abstract from Conference Paper: “Schooling in Urban India” Anugula N. Reddy Assistant Professor Department of EMIS NUEPA, 17-B, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi-110016 e-mail: anredy@nuepa.org, anugula.reddy@gmail.com Schooling of children in urban areas is confronted with multitude challenges. One is the low participation particularly of poor and those living in slums in schooling notwithstanding high aggregates. The other is the highly divisive nature of schooling in urban areas. The rich attend private schools with ultra modern facilities whereas poor are left with public schools with no or bare minimum facilities. The third challenge is the abysmally low quality particularly of public schooling in urban areas. These challenges are intertwined with increasing privatization of education. The policy response is conspicuous by the absence of any reference to issues relating to schooling in urban areas. In this background the paper proposes to reexamine the challenges of schooling in urban areas with latest evidence and data. It critically examines the emerging patterns in the provision of urban schooling focusing on participation, emerging forms of private sector involvement in schooling and impact on equity and quality. From the discussion and evidence the paper attempts to provide a critique of policies relating to urban schooling or rather absence thereof. The paper argues that the policy vacuum with respect to urban schooling let private sector to grow unchecked blunting the potential of education as equalizer and gateway of opportunities. Towards the end the paper hints at alternate policies that could be adopted to make education with reasonable quality available to all children in urban areas.