9 Comments
User's avatar
Mohit Satyanand's avatar

Whenever I use a table, I can't seem to get substack to keep the spaces between columns. Any help/tips would be deeply appreciated.

And apologies.

Expand full comment
Bibhu Prasad Mohapatra's avatar

You are right about Delhi government. I am not so sure about states like Odisha, Bihar or mp regarding the private school fees and expenditure on education. But worth thinking about OPM delutions

Expand full comment
Mohit Satyanand's avatar

Bibhu,

Since education is a state subject, one has to look at the data for each state separately. I had done this a few years ago, and nowhere was it less than 3x.

Maybe you can look at Odisha, and I will look at Bihar?

Expand full comment
Bibhu Prasad Mohapatra's avatar

My data set for odisha is dated of 2012. After that the 3 departments concerned have not updated nor collated the data. But I do take your point.

Expand full comment
Mohit Satyanand's avatar

https://www.indiaspend.com/spending-per-student-increased-but-enrollment-fell-in-govt-schools-study/

This study gives the per student expenditure across states in 2017-18; the number would have gone up substantially since then, as teacher salaries are pegged to Pay Commission.

Note that the expenditure per child - even in MP and Odisha - was around 2,000 per child per month, whereas avg budget school fees were around 500 then.

Bihar IS an outlier, at 800 per month, but one educationist wrote to me to say that the Bihar enrolment figures are vastly overstated, increasing the denominator, and suppressing the final number.

Expand full comment
Bibhu Prasad Mohapatra's avatar

Same with Odisha numbers.

Expand full comment
Chandra Mohan S's avatar

Private schools are highly unregulated and take parents for a raid. Two schools in the same vicinity have drastically varied fees. It is impossible for parents to compare two schools for value of the fee paid.

Expand full comment
Mohit Satyanand's avatar

Private schools are highly regulated, choked to death.

Doctors and hospitals also charge fees as they like.

Consumers never have perfect knowledge.

Humans never have perfect knowledge - hoe much does the average human being 'really' know about his or her spouse before they marry - arguably the biggest decision of one's life.

Expand full comment
Chandra Mohan S's avatar

I didn't know that private schools are highly regulated. My sense is, either it is on paper or private schools know to sidestep. That is my experience in Bangalore, as a parent. But, I go by your comments. You know it better.

Expand full comment