More beautiful trees
Since October 2009, I have been working on a NREGA-Panchayati Raj project of MIT Poverty Action Lab. I have been fortunate to see rural Rajasthan first hand, and observe on-the-ground reality about many government run programs and schemes.
In the kasba of Chhonkarwara (Bharatpur), as well as in most Rajasthani revenue villages/smaller villages and even some hamlets (“dhaanis”) I went to, I found a private school. This one – Shubh Laxmi School – was till Class 10 (but the school gates showed till Class 8 – presumably they have not been changed), although some schools were till Class 5 only. A few were till Class 12, but that seemed rarer. Barun Mitra of Liberty Institute and my fellow blogger, Pragmatic Euphony had been encouraging me to document this.
So, this is what I got after interviews with the staff there:
(Full disclosure: Having received free chais from one of the teachers, I might not be fully objective)
Fees (Books costs are separate)
Class 1-2 – Rs. 550 per year (not per month)
Class 3-5 – Rs. 601/year
Class 6-7 – Rs. 671/year
Class 8 - Rs. 1500/year
Class 9 - Rs. 2500/year
Class 10 - Rs. 3500/year
Teacher salaries - Rs. 2500 per month + performance bonuses.
School Timings – 10 Am – 4:30 PM, Monday to Friday (Saturday depends)
No holidays for teachers for election duty etc. In govt schools, Diwali holidays are for 15 days. In Shubh Laxmi, it is for 3 days. In Shubh Laxmi, winter holidays are for 7 days. In Shubh Laxmi, it is 2 days.
25-30 students are taught by a teacher at a time (There are 7-8 periods in a day)
Around 450 students total. They come from as far as 2-5 km, after rejecting the “free” government schooling option because teachers there do not show up often – and when they do, they take no real interest in teaching (with honourable exceptions of course)
Last year’s Class X Topper – 85.5% (Vijay Singh Meena). Three other students got in the mid-70s (which is considered good for Rajasthan state board)
Shubh Laxmi wants to become Shubh Laxmi High – it wants to start Class 11 and Class 12 in the coming years
Owner details – Prem Singh, MEcon, BEd.
Ten other teachers – some BEd, some not.
Mr. Singh’s credo – “Kaam he to daam hai. Yeh degrees bekaar hai” (Private schools have performance/merit pay unlike public schools. Teaching degrees are not really useful)
Any problems he faces – “Kuch teachers sarkari teaching ke liye try karte rehte hai” (Public schools crowd out private schools at the margin because teachers at the latter keep looking for jobs in the former due to artificially inflated salaries and reduced work expectations)
Any help he wants – “Kuch sarkari anudaan taaki hum library aur lab laga sake” (Government subsidies to get libraries/laboratories – that is, something like vouchers)
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My previous posts on education -
http://swaraj.nationalinterest.in/2008/09/05/school-choice-fat-unions-vs-poor-parents/
http://swaraj.nationalinterest.in/2009/01/13/open-letter-to-mr-advani-on-education/
http://swaraj.nationalinterest.in/2009/05/28/the-freedom-of-unaided-schools/
http://swaraj.nationalinterest.in/2008/10/31/right-to-education-bill-is-flawed/
http://swaraj.nationalinterest.in/2009/06/14/sc-again-oks-nationalisation-of-pvt-medical-seats/
Great example , document it on a video 2.
Harsh, a few questions!
How old is this school? Who owns and manages the school? Any estimate of the capital expenditure, if any? Is there any record for number of teachers, staff, expenditure on salaries, guess estimate on profitability? Do they keep accounts? What is the status of the building? Owned or rented? How many rooms? Toilet, drinking water, any other facilities? One the main reasons for higher drop out rate among girl child is the lack of toilet facilities. In the picture, the class size seems much smaller than the 25-30 you mention. At 25 student per class, there could be 250 students in all? But you say the total enrollment is 450, so do they have multiple sections in the same class? Or is it more kids at the lower classes, and lesser number of kids in the higher classes? What was the drop out rate? It would be interesting to note the drop out rates in different classes, and a gender wise break up?
In the picture, the girls sit at the back, any reason? Any extra curricular activities? Is the school visited by any authority from panchayat, education dept, police, etc? Is it possible for such schools to tie up with the sarva siksha abhiyan kind of programmes? Are there any scholarship or waiver for very poor children? Presumably, the syllabus is the state board? What is the approximate costs of the books? Do books get recycled? How do children appear in the class 10 board exam? Are they adopted by any other legal school, or do they appear as private candidates?
Any background information about the people who started the school? What kind of families the children come from? What do those who pass the board exam do? What do those who fail the board do? Any documentation on how girls perceive their education? How do the girls fare in these schools? At the board level, the performance of girls, although fewer than boys, have tended to be consistently better than boys in the CBSE exams. It would be interesting to know how the boys and girls fare at different levels and at the board, from this school.
Did you get a chance to talk to the children? What were their expectation? What was their need?
Sorry, as it turns out, I seem to have more than a few questions.
Dear Barun, Thanks for commenting.
I have the owner’s phone number – and I will ask him all these questions, and blog again. But let me try answering some of them right now.
The school is around 5-7 years old. Mr. Singh owns and manages the school. The building has been rented – I did not ask the rent, but I will. There is a toilet – no drinking water I think. Yes, they have multiple sections in some classes. There are more kids in lower classes. There are no real extra-curricular activities.
Yes, it is a government recognized school. But completely unfunded through SSA or anything – although Mr. Singh was saying that the Rajasthan government was thinking along those lines. There are no scholarships from what I remember, but there is an interesting pricing policy. Those prices are per student, but during some enrollment drives they allow 3 students at the price of 2.
The syllabus is the state board, and the books do get recycled. But the school is not involved in that – maybe the teachers are. Dont know the costs of books. Dont know whether teachers encourage tuitions on the side.
For class 10, students appear as student of this school only and there are no extra fees.
I will definitely have more on this. Am going back to Bharatpur in a few weeks.
Thanks again for commenting