Critical Analysis of Educational Aspirations and Practices Inside a Low-Cost Rural Private School: Possible Implications for Quality and Sustainability

Low-Cost Private Schooling In India

The majority of rural Kashmiri children receive their primary education from state funded schools. However, the number of unassisted fee-charging LCPSs in rural India has rapidly increased. LCPSs charge the cheapest prices possible in order to serve the major portion of vulnerable areas (Mond, & Prakash, 2019). They have a low funding model, low teacher salaries, are located in lateral or deprived communities, and are generally, but not always, made up of students from disadvantaged communities. LCPS is a for-profit organisation that is not supported by a religious organisation, a non-governmental organisation, or the surrounding community (Philipson, 2008, 1). Low-fee private schools are only comparatively cheap; for those who enrol their children in such school systems, particularly the poor, the cost of such education is prohibitively expensive. Low-fee private schools are only comparatively cheap; for those who register their children in such school system, particularly the poor, the cost of such education may absorb a substantial portion of income (Endow 2019). Their rapid growth can be attributed to two major factors. To begin, the government is failing to even provide responsive and accountable schooling, resulting in increased trend for LCPSs in low-income areas such as slums or rural areas where they are the only options available to poor parents (Harma, 2009; Tooley & Dixon, 2006). Second, the availability of educated young unemployed people is critical to this rapid expansion (Muralidharan & Kremer, 2006), as it enables educational institutions to hire people at lower wages, allowing them to charge lower fees (Kingdon, 2006).