The “Incredulous” Public-Private Divide

“Incredulous” was the word that came to my mind when I reached one of capital's most prominent private schools for data collection. The disparity between government schools and private schools in terms of facilities and resources was akin to being on two different planets at the same time.

I was greeted by the watchman who was dressed immaculately in his heavily starched brown uniform. I was asked to wait in the reception area before the teacher escorted me to the venue where the Focussed Group Discussions (FGDs) were supposed to be held. On my way to the venue, I couldn't help but reflect over the differences that existed between government schools and private schools.

The stark opposition between the two has become a staple of everything that characterises our country where few have tremendous canvas of opportunities and resources, and majority are supposed to languish behind. As I reached the venue, I could see a motley group of 15 students waiting for me. The teacher in charge had managed to gather selected students of class 9th and 10th together.

She also asked me to be strict with them anticipating that they would want to bunk this session. I precisely had one hour to do the FGDs with them. I could see a sense of entitlement and confidence in them which was missing in my student interactions with the government school children who were very scared to be interviewed.

Once everybody was there, we began with the volley of questions. The students were very responsive. They seemed to be aware of every latest technological gadget that was out there, from tablets to palm tops. Despite all the awareness, they all seemed to believe that boys were better than girls when it came to doing Maths or Science. Most of them asked me if I had ever heard of or seen female scientists or innovators who were working on cutting edge technology.

The gendered aspect came out very clearly during the course of our discussions. The boys demonstrated great interest, and were very vocal in pointing out the reasons behind scant participation of girls in Science and Technology. "Because girls are not that good in Science and Maths. Simple.", they said. Simple!?! My heart sank as I heard their arguments even though I have heard and read such stereotyped opinions many many times before. I was sad more to see that the girls agreed to this opnion.

There were moments when the discussions got too heated. Two of the students who were supposedly from the debating club considered it an opportune moment to demonstrate their debating prowess, even though their arguments were drifting away from the main topic of dicussion. They had to be calmed down. The sessions were very helpful in understanding the gulf that existed between private schools and government schools.

As I returned back to office, on my way, my thoughts were drifting between women's rights, poor-rich divide, science and technology, innovation, voice and control of power. I have heard these words too many times in our team meetings. Today I was able to connect a few dots for myself to understand this circle.

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Shambhavi is a dynamic and young Program Associate at FAT and works in the School Contact Program.