Low enrolment in government run schools is an area of major concern for the school education department and the cause cited for this serious concern is the lack of some basic facilities in government schools. Not only the educationists but people in rural areas too show reservations in enrolling their children at government run schools. The people in rural areas of Jammu & Kashmir have genuine grievances about the poor infrastructure in government run schools. The increasing no of private schools in rural areas has undoubtedly reduced the enrolments in government run schools but the major cause of fast reducing enrolment in government run schools in rural areas is the poor infrastructure. Even the teachers of government run schools say that why should they enroll their children in government run schools where wooden boards are still kept hanging on easels for teaching the students and not in private schools where teachers use markers on white boards for teaching students in classes. While students of government run schools still sit on jute mats in classes in the 21st century, the comfortable seating arrangements in the classrooms of private schools is obviously one bigger cause of increasing enrolments in private schools. While the students in private schools are availing comfortable transport services, the children enrolled in government schools have to travel longer distances to reach their campuses early in the morning hours. While the buses of government owned Road Transport Corporation could have been hired by government run schools by charging monthly bus free from the students, the private schools leave it to the choice of the parents to avail the transport facility against the monthly payment of bus fee for their wards. Gone are the days when people would refuse to pay for the basic facilities of schooling for their children but now people instead prefer to pay for the facilities offered to their children by the private schools.
What reduces the enrolments in government run schools is the lack of some basic facilities which don’t require huge funds but very little funding. A small initiative could become the cause of bigger boost for enrolments in government run schools.
So to increase enrolments the government run schools will have to ensure availability of all such basic facilities which are being offered by the private schools. The great advantage government schools have over the private schools is the facility of trained teachers as most of the teachers appointed in government run schools are trained graduates and trained post graduate. So what reduces the enrolments in government run schools is the lack of some basic facilities which don’t require huge funds but very little funding. A small initiative could become the cause of bigger boost for enrolments in government run schools.
