Small-budget private school managements are reporting an increase in enrolment in 2021-22 compared to the previous academic year. This, parents and school managements say, is because many parents have pulled out their children from expensive private schools on being unable to pay the fees this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The trend is particularly reflected in budget private schools in rural areas as many parents have migrated from cities to their home towns.
Lokesh Talikatte, State unit president of Recognised Unaided Private Schools Association (RUPSA), Karnataka, said that budget schools charging a fee between ₹20,000 and ₹40,000 a year were seeing a 10% increase in admissions this academic year. He said parents were pulling their children out of private schools charging over ₹40,000.
“While schools that charge more are facing a decrease in admissions, budget private schools are benefiting and seeing an increase in admissions,” he said.
Government schools
On the other hand, the third category of schools that charge a fee of less than ₹20,000 are also seeing a decline in admissions as parents are pulling their children out and admitting them in government schools.
Many private school managements that cater to parents from lower economic backgrounds are on the brink of closure. A school management member of Sandeepani International School, Holalkere, Chitradurga, said that they had seen 118 new admissions this academic year. Of these, more than half — 64 — were students who had migrated from schools in Bengaluru.
Dinesh Kumar G.D. of Shanthiniketan Central School in Chikkamagaluru said their school had seen a 10% increase in admissions. “Many children admitted to our school are those who did not attend classes properly last academic year as their parents were unable to pay the school fee,” he said.
Mullahalli Suri, president of Parents’ Association, said that parents were making a conscious decision this year to shift their children from big corporate schools to lower-budget private schools.
“Many parents, in the last academic year, were hopeful and thought they could pay the school fees after a few months. They thought their salary, reduced in the pandemic, would return to normal. However, now they have acknowledged that they will be unable to pay the fees,” he said.
