This story is from August 14, 2020

2.36 lakh students shift from private to government schools in Gujarat

Like most people, Rajnikant Solanki, a sanitation worker living in Dudheshwar area here, was worried when he was handed a 20% pay cut due to Covid-19 pandemic. With his meagre earnings now dropping to Rs 6,500 per month, he was faced with a tough choice -- to feed his two daughters or send them to private school.
2.36 lakh students shift from private to government schools in Gujarat
Following the Covid-triggered financial slowdown where families are grappling with pay cuts, pink slips and depressed incomes, government and grant-in aid schools in Gujarat have seen a rush of students from self-financed schools.
AHMEDABAD: Like most people, Rajnikant Solanki, a sanitation worker living in Dudheshwar area here, was worried when he was handed a 20% pay cut due to Covid-19 pandemic. With his meagre earnings now dropping to Rs 6,500 per month, he was faced with a tough choice -- to feed his two daughters or send them to private school.
With the annual fee of Rs 10,000 for his two daughters now totally unaffordable, Solanki sought financial help from the school.
With authorities not forthcoming, he dumped the dream of educating his girls in private school and got them admitted in the governmentrun Shahibaug Shala Number-6. His younger daughter has taken admission in class 3 while the elder one in class 7.
Solanki says his apprehensions over quality of education were unfounded as his daughters have started online classes. “Despite charging fees, private schools did not offer online education,” he said.
Following the Covid-triggered financial slowdown where families are grappling with pay cuts, pink slips and depressed incomes, government and grant-in aid schools in Gujarat have seen a rush of students from self-financed schools. In fact, there has been a 30% rise in intake of such students.
“This year 2.36 lakh students have moved from self-financed schools to government and grant-in aid schools across the state. ,” said Vinod Rao, secretary, education department.
Govt schools only hope
This year 2.36 lakh students have moved from self-financed schools to government and grant-in aid schools across the state. Last year, this number was 1.7 lakh. The home-learning initiative seems to be the biggest reason for this change,” said Vinod Rao, secretary, education department.

“The government has started 15,000 smart classes and introduced textbooks with QR code to help students learn in a better way. A lot of audio-visual content has been generated for the students. All these steps have led to an increase in students opting for government run schools,” Rao added.
At least 20% of parents are yet to pay fees for the ongoing academic year at self-financed schools due to job losses, salary cuts or losses made in business due to Covid-19 crisis, said sources. There are close to 33,000 government and about 5,000 grant-in aid schools, offering hope to parents faced with financial crises. These schools have more than 50 lakh students enrolled. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) school board administrative officer L D Desai said the AMC schools have seen an 14,000 more such candidates than last year, who shifted from private schools. Dinesh Thakor, a rickshaw driver who is struggling to make his ends meet says he has moved his two daughters from a private school at Paldi to Kankaria Public School as he could not no longer afford the tuition fees amid the coronavirus pandemic. "With few people sitting in autos due to Covid fear, incomes have dropped by 80%. There is barely enough to buy food, there was no way I could pay Rs 26,000 annual school fees," said Thakor.
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About the Author
Bharat Yagnik

Bharat Yagnik is special correspondent at The Times of India, Ahmedabad, and reports on education-related issues, including primary school and higher and technical education. His interest areas include travelling and has recently been to Mansarovar.

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