For every parent having a child of the age three, the period between January and March has become a time of admission burden. This is the case with parents seeking admission for their kids in the nursery classes. Nursery is the beginning of formal education for any child and is considered to be a crucial turning point w in a child’s as well as parent’s life. But it has now become a nightmare in any parent’s life who is running around to secure a nursery admission for their children.

The crying parents

Few years back, the biggest problem that the parents faced was with the crying child who was reluctant to go to school. With the present so called criterions for selection in the nursery schools, it is the parents who cry.

Money secures admission

It must be certainly unbelievable that the donations made to the nursery schools for securing an admission ranges between Rs. 50,000 and one lakh. But it is true and is happening across the country even though it is claimed that it do not exist. Considering other expenses such as building fund, admission fee, uniform fee and many, it has become a real nightmare. A school is a place where a child is supposed to learn all the good qualities such as honesty, integrity, faithfulness and such, but now such schools of learning have become the centers which acts against what it teaches.

Education a loot business?

One needn’t be an expert or scholar to understand that the nursery admission in particular and schooling in general in India has become a business for the management. There is nothing wrong in calling it a loot business which happens out in the open where a democratic government set up is in place with Judiciary and the so called free press acting as watchdogs.

No role for government in pre primary education

In India, the pre primary education is run by private managements and the role of government is said to be close to zero. In the case of government schools admissions are offered from class 1 onwards and so the only option left for the parents who can afford is to send their children to private schools. Others send their children to government schools which lacks infrastructure and quality.

Parents do not have another option

Parents are compelled to send their children to private schools as there is no other option left and this is one among the major challenges that the education system in India faces nowadays. The desperate attempts made by the government including RTE and the mid day meal scheme  has not really helped in government scoring some points

Thus the school education in the country is in a state of mess, which is controlled by the flow of money and various other influences, and is the same with the case of higher education too. Even though this is pointed out by various voluntary bodies and the media, nothing is done by the government to improve the situation. The government has failed miserably to check the private businesses that operate the present day so called schools.

Primary objective of money making

The private schools operate mainly on the motto of earning money from students under various names which includes compulsory purchase of over priced text books, Uniforms etc and what they deliver is often minimal. They produce students with improved memory power and with less creativity. What more can we expect of an education system that is based on rote learning?

The recent PISA study, which covered learning standards in 74 countries, placed India at the second lowest position among the participating countries.

It is for sure that the fee structure and other monetary gains have very minimal impact in deciding the quality of education at any level. But in the Indian scenario, money making has become the main objective of school managements, thus making the quality of education imparted as a secondary objective.

At least government schools do not plunder

There are lot many instances where many of the leading scientists, scholars and business men in India have come from the government run schools that is currently under discussion for not so good reasons. Quality education is no longer the primary objective of any of these government run schools, which now manages to find the right number of students to protect the jobs of the teachers. But the main difference is that the ones who are responsible for running such government schools are not engaged in activities to loot money from the parents who seek admission for their children.

No to refund

Another example for plundering by private schools is the announcement made by many of the private schools across the country that the deposited fees will not be refunded in case the application is being withdrawn. There are many complaints cropping up from various parts of the country including our capital city Delhi and a metro city Kolkata. In such cases, parents will not be in a position to admit their children to any other schools, if the child is selected in the second round of admission in any other school.

Businesses run schools

The primary objective of any business is to make profit. With many of the corporate houses running schools in India in the present day there is a risk that the quality of education may not be their primary objective. So the divine objective of imparting quality education irrespective of monetary gains has lost its significance in the present day education system.

It is in all respect the duty of the government to make sure that the parents are plundered off their money in the name of education; at all levels of education, not in the case of nursery education alone. The present situation clearly shows that the steps taken by the government so far are not adequate to improve the condition of education in the country. If the situation has to change, the school management has the primary responsibility to make sure that they do not consider education as a means to make money.