Coronavirus pandemic forces dropouts from Punjab private schools

The reason? Teachers, parents and the State Education Minister point to the economic distress triggered by the Covid lockdown that has forced dropouts from private schools across the state.

Punjab has a total of 19,175 government schools. And according to the Education Department, the new admissions were mostly to the pre-primary section where 65,192 more students were enrolled, followed by 37,599 in Class 2, 21,732 in Class 11, and 27,851 in Class 12.

“Government school teachers tell me that more parents with children in private schools are approaching them for admissions,” Minister Vijay Inder Singla told The Indian Express.

Singla attributes the numbers partly to “improved infrastructure and teacher selection process”. “But no doubt, Covid is an additional factor this time. Many parents decided to come to our schools as they are under financial distress,” he says.

The Minister’s words find an echo on the ground.

“Recently, a well-off businessman got his child admitted in Class 9. Many parents here are facing a financial crunch due to the lockdown,” says Arvind Jindal, principal of the Government Senior Secondary School in Mansa district’s Kotra.

Jagjit Walia, head teacher at the primary school in Mansa city, confirms “100 new admissions of which 50 per cent have come from private schools”. Officials in Bathinda say over 62 per cent of new admissions at the Government Adarsh School have made the switch.

Vijay Kumar, who runs a well-known salon at Tapa Mandi in Barnala, is among the parents who have opted for government schools. “My elder son, who is now in Class 9, used to go to an expensive private school 15 km away. But my salon remained closed for two months due to the lockdown, and the future looks uncertain,” he says.

The fee difference is significant.

For classes 11 and 12, for instance, the fees in government schools add up to Rs 48 per month and a separate annual charge of Rs 300 for girls, and Rs 83 every month and Rs 320 for boys. There’s no extra charge for textbooks, and uniforms are free till Class 8.

In comparison, private schools in the state are known to charge anywhere between Rs 20,000 to more than Rs 1 lakh per year for each student in classes 11 and 12.

With the Covid curbs in place, the state government has started three hours of classes every day through the DD Punjabi and Swayam Prabha channels from May 19.

Minister Singla warns that the lockdown’s impact will become “more pronounced” in the coming months. “And many more admissions are likely to take place in government schools before the half-yearly exams,” he says.