Is the CBSE board's decision to make it mandatory for all CBSE schools to provide free education to the girl child a step in the right direction?
The CBSE board has now made it mandatory for all CBSE schools to provide free education to the single girl child (girls without siblings) after a certain grade. The fees will be reduced by 50% in the case of parents with two girl children. This provision has been introduced with the aim of discouraging bias against the girl child, and encouraging people to send their daughters to school.
Although private schools too must conform to these guidelines, they will not be reimbursed by the board, and will have to bear the cost themselves.
Naturally one can see what's going to happen. Admission to most private CBSE schools is very competitive. Hundreds of children
get rejected each year. There is no real standard admission procedure,
and most decisions are based on interviews with the child, etc. If
schools know they will have to foot the bill for every single girl child they admit, chances are, a lot of such girls will be denied admission, or admitted only after paying a hefty 'donation'.
The fee for other children
is likely to be raised, in order to compensate for the loss. So for all
intents and purposes, the parents of a poorer boy, with perhaps two to
three children to educate, may be forced to foot the education bill of a girl from a wealthy family, whose parents have only one child to educate.
One wonders if there shouldn't be some criteria for giving free education,
other than just gender. Since this is an economic benefit, it would
make sense if such aid were given on a need-basis, merit basis, or
both.
Such a provision also makes no sense when one considers the fact that many parents who send their children to private schools, do so with a willingness to pay the fee. They make the decision to send their children to private schools because they are satisfied with the quality of education provided by such schools. If the schools find themselves suddenly short of funds, needless to say, quality of education
is bound to suffer. The school will cut corners to save money, and will
compromise on other aspects. Perhaps libraries will not be as well
stocked. Perhaps toilets will not be cleaned as regularly.
In addition, parents of one child are generally able to afford a good education for their only daughter. Even when couples find that money is tight, they are willing to spend on education of their children, because they often consider education to be an investment.
The schools that will be hurt the most by
this provision, are all-girl schools. All boys schools will feel no
pinch at all. So essentially those institutes that are at present
providing education to the girl child
are the ones that are being penalised in this manner. Wouldn't a new
school think twice before deciding it should be an all girls' school?
Take any all girls school that has around a
100 students in every year. After the introduction of this provision,
the school will still admit only a 100 students. Yes, the number of
girls applying to a particular school may increase, but the same number
of students will get in. So the question of providing education to more girls by this scheme makes little sense, especially in private schools
located in metropolises like Mumbai and Delhi. Perhaps this makes sense
in the case of villages, where many parents don't send their children to school.
Now, the ICSE board is considering implementing this scheme. What do
you think? Do you think all girls without siblings irrespective of how
wealthy their parents may be, should be provided with free education? Do you think it will help, or is it counter productive? Contribute your opinion.
Name:
Radhika
Country: india
i feel such a scheme will open up more avenues for corruption. the parents of such girl children will definitely be asked for donation – or they may even volunteer donations because they know they will not be paying fees.
Name:
ambika
Country: india
i am the mother of one girl child and can afford the best education for her. but this stupid scheme has made me reayy anxious as i think good schools in the city will not admit her because they would not want someone else to foot the bill. what an insane decision of cbse!
Name:
Tony S
Country: india
it is unfair to give free education based on gender or any other criteria. when anything is free it is not taken seriously. so this kind of a scheme is not going to work
Name:
preeti
Country: india
when we say at this aera now boys and girls are equal then why this bias is created.free education must be provided based on the economic condition of a family and not on gender basis at all.i being a mother of 2 beautiful girls and belonging to a middleclass family totally disagree with this decision.the boards must in fact make it madatory to at least have 1 child per class getting free education whose economic condition is not so good.
Name:
raj
Country: India
it is obvious that morons are making these decisions.these stupid decisions will ensure that no scheme will be beneficial to the poor and deserving.mera bharat mahan.
Name:
naina
Country: usa
i am expecting my first child who is a girl and might not go for a second child but i feel that this decision is not right as there are so many families where they just have i daughter and 2 earning parents in great job who can afford the best so its a stupid decision its more strain on middle class families where only one parent is earning and already under pressure of increased fees and with a decision like this it will only mess things more coz schools are there to make profit these days and if they are not getting it from one source they will try to raise fee for other kids.in my openion if one can afford they should pay the fee infact there should be certain criteria where for example if in a middle class family ther are 2 girls and other kids also with one earning parent give them some concessions etc .but introducing this rule means that wealthy people and there kids will get more opportunities where as middle class and poor class kids will suffer who made this stupid decisions are they out of there mind
Name:
Mita Suvarna
Country: india
its beyond my perception how guidelines are laid without taking into considertions the pros and cons before implementing any schemes. such schemes should categorize and target the needy sections of the society. this scheme might be beneficial for some and a load on others. after all we need a well balanced society. the bottom line is that this scheme is for a good cause, but definitely needs to be amended.
