PRIVATISATION OF EDUCATION

The public choice strategy proposes that functions that are not being carried out properly/efficiently or have received a lackadaisical approach towards them must be delegated to the private sector. The world has been seeing a wave of privatization sweep across many spheres. It is sometimes not only essential but also the only choice that remains when breaking the monopoly of the government is concerned, especially in infrastructure. The impact of privatization on education could not be contained either, as it seemed to help a cause and diversify choice of resources available. At the school-level, privatization has become a very normal phenomenon.  Even though privatization is a necessity, it does not come without drawbacks. The process involves private sector in the ownership or operation of a State-owned enterprise. In reality, the ideals that are upheld by the State in its enterprises has been overtaken by the underlying mantras of business enterprise— profits and more profits. It becomes necessary at this stage to understand that when the Constitution has laid down free and compulsory education for children until they complete 14 years of age, why is the State not able to meet its responsibility. And subsequently, even if it does involve the private sector to reach its goals, why is it unable to hold the ideas of social equity and service to the deprived sections! Is privatization of education really going to help or is it just another up-scale factory turning up nose on the natives?   At the time of independence, Nehru’s vision to make India a socialist country placed immense responsibility on the shoulders of the State to establish and oversee the expansion of educational institutions. The highly ambitious goals of literacy achievement have been shouldered by the State-run schools so far. In the rural pockets, the elementary schools are State-aided and so are the majority of schools in the urban areas. In the present times, the presence of private enterprise is being felt much in the area of school-level education concentrated in the urban areas only. Even at the colleges and the university levels, the State’s contributions loom large over the country’s education scenario. Now the time has come when India’s burgeoning population demands more resource allocation and larger infrastructure to combat illiteracy and promote education. With the paucity of funds being an almost permanent feature of the departments of State, privatization has to be resorted to on a larger scale if the targets are to be met. In this scenario, the unrealistic burden that has been cast upon the State can be effectively met, too. There are many myths about the private enterprise in education and how it can aid the government’s efforts in scaling down illiteracy and building up a veritable force of educated human beings. It must be realised at the very outset that the motives of the two organisations are at cross-purposes and one cannot substitute for the other. It has been seen a lot many times that corporate/religious bodies take up the onus of contributing to the field of education. There is a great exhibition of the philanthropic spirit in the beginning, but it soon fizzles out. In reality, these are the image-building exercises of these trusts, which transform into commercial activities guided by motives of profit-making and diversifying operations to garner more resources. In this arena also exists the misnomer of ‘public schools’, which are completely run by private bodies or trusts. These schools have English as the medium of imparting education and are churning out children from the upper class exclusively, while the lesser mortals continue to go to the State-aided schools.  The quantum of knowledge available to the world has increased rapidly in the past few decades and that itself is a pointer to the fact that knowledge is power. It is of utmost importance that the developing and the underdeveloped must focus on the education for keeping the knowledge gap between themselves and the developed nations to the minimum extent possible. Even the World Bank has corroborated the view, stating that the knowledge explosion is fast dividing the world into fast moving rich economies and the slow moving poor ones. Now, that this is the true state of affairs, education is no longer considered a part of social service. It is a necessary area that needs careful investment that will be a greatly contributing factor to the human resource development. The value of human capital has dawned upon the world and it is much more important to invest in human being than to invest in assets of any other sort. There can be no doubts about the required contributions of the private sector in the enhancement of the education, as they are sure to benefit from such a move. Technological developments across the country have fostered a need for skilled and knowledgeable manpower. Without adequate infrastructure we will not be able to meet up the challenges, therefore the intervention of the private sector is required.  It is true that we need a large and competent infrastructure to meet the demands of the new times and that the current system will need a great revamp. However, calling for the contribution of the private sector in a field like education can have serious ramifications. One has to consider several aspects here. When the State undertakes the onus of educating the masses, a certain non-partisan character of education can be guaranteed. But when the management is in the hands of people who are private entities, they could have agendas for fulfilment through education, ranging from generation of profits to promotion of an ideology, to mould the children’s characters in tune with certain specific values, to mention a few. In that the government think tanks have to get rolling and churn out ways and means to ensure the meeting up of requirements and standards in the field of education. It is certainly one area that cannot be left in the hands of private individuals. It is quite evident from the public school experience that the children who come out of those systems have little powers to empathize with anyone else but those of their own social class and ethos.  However, when the idea is to reduce gaps and foster social equity, one cannot rely on this option. There is not one but many maladies that ail the system of governance in our country. And to think that it is easy to circumvent or surmount those issues to reach the goal of equitable education and opportunities in the same field is like burying one’s head in sand, like an ostrich. The government resources are on a real low as compared to the needs of the people. It is not an inherent lack but it so happens that the funds allocated happen to disappear on their way to the projects. It is not really possible to replace the people handling the affairs in one go. In such a scenario, privatization can relieve the system of the enormous responsibility that is important and yet not fulfilled.  It can easily make up for the lack of funds, sincerity and political will that effects the public sector. Privatization of education can be relied upon for overcoming structural and operational rigidities and promote the effective and efficient steps towards the implementation of education projects necessary for development of the human capital. According to W.W. Rostow, the world is going through the fourth Industrial Revolution and it needs true professionals to fit the slots created for employment.  Against the backdrop of speck and span environments and efficiently run organisations, are the other realities that need an equal mention. The new breed of entrepreneurs—the educational entrepreneurs—take full advantage of the situation and capitalize on the need for good education. Land allotment is done on a nominal cost and slowly as the structure begins to take shape, students are charged with building fee, development fee, maintenance fee and sundry other charges. These unaided schools, although they charge huge sums from the students, come to be sweatshops for the teachers. The country has a high level of unemployment, which helps these institutions hire well-qualified individuals at low salaries. The teacher’s work under a system of rigid rules and regulations, where innovation in teaching is not appreciated; they only have to tread the beaten path. The management has the prerogative of hiring or firing a person any time and this is what keeps the teachers on their toes. The State-run schools, however, have much attractive packages for their employees.  One has to look at the gains in terms of the output vis-à-vis the inputs given. The case with the public sector education has been that it has failed to regenerate constructive resources from the recipients of education. Over the years, time and again, as the State has been identified responsible for the provision of education to the masses, services have been sought from it, however, considering all that comes free in this deal and the number of subsidies that are given, education has come to be a social service activity. People do not place the premium on it as is required. It is just the same phenomenon that happens to all things—they are not valued when they come free of cost. On the other hand, if education is privatized, and the institutions charge a full fee at all times, the student is likely to value it, the parents will take care that every penny worth is extricated and that efficiency and effectiveness in service is maintained. It will stop the process of devaluing of education.  The position of our country, on the ladder of development, demands that great strides be made in the direction of building up the human resource base. It is imperative and a need of the times that education is necessarily provided to the people. The definition of literacy itself needs a revamp, because simply learning to read and write does not bestow powers of discernment on an individual. It has often been recognised by the experts that skill imparting and development of areas where the aptitude of the learner lies, are prerequisites of good education. The economic base of the country cannot  support demands of the country, but there is nothing impossible if there is willingness and the great Indian ingenuity is put to use. The role of private sector has proved to be greatly facilitating in diverse fields, but the need for a guarded approach cannot be ruled out in areas like education. Relevant legislations can be worked out to ensure that privatization does not degenerate into commercialization. An under-standing between government and the private sector can work miracles—universities can start up R & D activities funded by the corporates. In so far as professional courses are concerned, the issue of capitation fees must be taken seriously and here is where State intervention is required.