As many as 75,725 students have migrated from private schools to government schools across grades I to XII in Tamil Nadu so far this year.
Data compiled as of July 24 indicates that while 60,085 students have gone from private to aided schools, 68,569 students have moved from aided to government schools.
“The latest figures available indicate that 2,04,379 lakh students have shifted from private schools to government schools and aided schools, as well as from aided schools to government schools,” Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said on July 26.
Parents, whose income and livelihood has taken a hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, have increasingly decided to shift their children from private schools to government schools.
S. Umapathy, father of two children who were studying in a CBSE school in the city, said, he got his class-VIII daughter admitted in a Saligramam government school. “My elder daughter is in class XII. I could not take her out (of the CBSE school). My business was badly hit during the pandemic and I could not afford to continue paying fees for both of them,” he said.
S. Arumainathan, president, Tamil Nadu Students Parents Welfare Association said that while there was some migration to government schools every year, he was faced with a lot more such requests from parents this year.
“An auto driver with three children in a private school ended up shifting two of them to government schools in the area. With schools continuing to remain shut, some parents have also struggled to ensure their children keep up with online classes. Government schools have been both financially and academically the better option for them,” he said.
He pointed out that with private schools also having been heavily affected by school closure due to the pandemic, the government should take cognizance of their concerns and extend financial assistance.
When the admissions for class XI began in the State, the school education department had anticipated the rush and said that if government and aided schools received more applications than the number of seats available, they could increase the student intake for each stream up to 15%.
As many as 16,620 class XI students have migrated from private to government schools so far this year.
Stating that the migration trend to government and aided schools from private schools was more in cities compared to smaller towns and districts, Patric Raymond, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Graduate Teachers Federation, said the loss of livelihood and employment has been the primary reason for this shift.
“Seeing these trends, the school education department should address concerns in government schools with regard to infrastructure, teacher vacancies and appointments,” he said.