Understanding Parental School Choice in Varied Socio-economic Milieus: A Case Study of a Village in Punjab

Schooling Profile of Village

In terms of schooling options, the village has three government schools (two primary and one high school). The village presents an interesting case with presence of only one Low Budget Private school (LBP henceforth) that caters to the local clientele. This school is unrecognised and functions in collaboration with some other schools affiliated to the Punjab Board of School Education. The LBP School has English medium for primary classes. Given the financial constraints, it resorts to multi-grade teaching after the primary stage. The school functions in a rented building which is in bad shape. The school enrolment ranges from 80 to 160 for different academic sessions. The minimalist presence of private schools in the village does not hinder the parental school choice as parents send their wards to private schools in nearby villages and towns. The nearest urban city is 21 km from the village (research site) which is approached by wealthy parents for accessing different schools. The upper-class population of the village chooses different big schools even within a radius of 30 km of the village.

Sampling and Data Collection

The qualitative data for the study was collected with the help of in-depth semi-structured interviews with 60 parents. Parents were particularly asked about the ‘processes and reasons for choosing a particular school for their child’. Data was collected in two stages. At the first stage, parents were interviewed to gain insights on the process of school choice. To understand the patterns and determinants of choice, preliminary responses were studied with the help of thematic analysis. After narrowing down common determinants, parents were further interviewed regarding their understanding and perception about particular determinants at second stage. Detailed field notes were taken during the survey. Focus Group Discussions (FGD, comprising 7–10 different stakeholders, that is, parents, private tutors and teachers) were also conducted to further enquire into the common patterns that emerged from interviews. In order to substantiate the parents’ perspective of school choice, the marketing advertisements of the schools in the form of newspaper leaflets, admission brochures, Facebook pages, and so on approached by interviewed parents were also analysed.

Basic information about the profile of parents in terms of their caste, education, occupation and income was obtained. To have a brief look at parents’ profile, children of 15 parents study in government schools, 19 parents enrolled their wards in the LBS in the village and 26 parents have chosen big private schools in nearby villages and cities. The respondents choosing government schools belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category and are daily wagers. The parents served by the LBP School are a mix of Upper Caste, other backward classes (OBC) and SCs. The professional profile of these parents comprises private jobs, small shop keepers, daily wage labourers, Pathi ² at the local Gurudwara, small tenants working at big landlords’ farms and drivers, and so on. The parents who choose schools in the city and town mainly belong to the Upper Caste (mostly Jats) and mainly involved in farming activities with 10–15 acres of landholding and few have small government jobs also. The educational profile of government and LBS parents reflects that either they have basic literacy or have attended primary classes. Presenting an interesting scenario, the parents of students studying in big or elite private schools in town are also not highly educated as only 10 have a bachelors or masters degree and 16 have attained education up to higher secondary.

Choosing the Government School

Interviews with parents reflected the changing scenario of government schools. Different respondents said that the quality of government schools had increased over the years. Earlier, there was only one primary school in the village which was ‘notorious’ for daily fights among teachers and their internal politics. Moreover, the government high school did not have teachers for all subjects. The situation started improving since 2014 as the ‘notorious’ primary school’s staff was transferred and the vacant positions at the high school were filled. Parents across sections asserted that the village government schools have a good reputation as the quality of teaching–learning is really good. Elaborating on the quality of teaching, they told us that the social science teacher has developed a social science lab which is the centre of attraction for villagers. It was further noticed during the school visit that this lab is actually being used as new pedagogical tool to stimulate the curiosity of students for social sciences. Reflecting on the quality of education in terms of results, it was observed that high achievers of this school have been successful in securing admission at ‘Meritorious Schools’. ³ Thus the quality of education in government schools is appreciated by the villagers. However, it is also important to mention that the social and economic profile of the parents choosing government schools reflects that they do not really have a choice besides choosing a cost-free government school. Ten of the parents, whose children study in the government school, expressed that given their financial constraints, they have never considered the private school option.

Between the Government and Private School

Depending on the resources, while one set of parents either choose government or private schools, the choice process of another set of parents presents a complex case where they keep alternating between the private and government schools. The ever-increasing desire for quality education has led to the ‘bottom-up movement’ (Liu & Apple, 2016), where even the poor also keep exploring available options in their periphery. In their study on the LBP School in Delhi, Mousumi and Kusakabe (2019) found that parents resort to LBP schools as an interim solution. Re-establishing this finding, responses of the parents choosing the LBP School in the village highlight that they planned to keep their child in this school only up to primary classes. Indicating the ‘stopgap mechanism’ aspect, the parents believed that after completing primary classes from this school, the ‘foundation’ of the child would be sound. One of the parents told us that since this school has English medium for primary classes, it would help their child to have a good command over English. Another parent told us that the government primary school of the village were not of good quality, so they chose this school for primary classes and they will enrol their child in government high school for further studies. This particular instance indicates that if government school’s performance remained convincingly good, the poorer sections prefer the government school over private options. The occupational profile of parents served by the LBP school points out that in spite of being low budget, these schools also cost the poor dearly.

Another important dimension of this ‘fluctuating choice’ emerged in the form of ‘preparing their child for entrance of Navodaya School’. ⁴ This school gives special ‘free of cost coaching for Navodya school entrance’ to bright students. In every batch, 3–4 students from this school successfully get admission in Navodaya schools. This achievement of the school and English medium in primary classes has attracted the villagers to this school. The demography of this school has changed over the time. The headmaster of the school explained that earlier this school was accessed by the upper castes also. However, slowly upper castes start moving to big private schools in nearby urban settings. Now the school demography comprises 55% SC, 30% OBC and only 15% Upper Caste students.

Phenomena of Elite Choice

The elite strata (socially and economically) chose costly elite private schools in nearby urban settings. As ‘membership of a certain social group’ has been identified as a variable in schooling access (Kingdon & Dreze, 2001; Tamim & Tariq, 2015), ‘group norm’ has been highlighted as one of the important aspects of school choosing process among elite strata. The ‘selecting [a] school in [the] city’ trend is being followed by the elite Jat families where they are influenced by the families in their neighbourhoods which can further be attributed to class orientation of school choice (Heath, 2009). Similar to Potterton’s (2020) findings, it was observed that, for narrowing down the choice to one particular school, these families rely on their ‘social network’ to gather information about schools. Ball and Vincent (1998) maintained that in contrast to ‘official cold knowledge’, ‘hot knowledge’, that is, unofficial information that is exchanged within informal social networks by ‘word of mouth’ shape up the school choice processes.

The school choice does not turn out as a straightforward process even for parents with financial and social capital as there remains cut-throat competition to secure a place in the top schools of the city. Social capital plays a significant role as there have been times when some, exploiting their social nexus and influences, even approach the local MLA or politician to find a place in the desired school. Sometimes, parents even migrate to urban settings which underline the role of economic capital as only parents with surplus resources can afford to take such extreme steps. These findings further point towards the role that various kinds of capital play in determining the school choices of parents (Bourdieu, 1986). It was also noticed that schools also try to influence parents by personally canvassing their target clients. The schools find some contacts in different habitations of villages and use them to persuade parents to enrol their wards in their school by personally visiting their houses.

Thus, the school choice process unfolds differently for different parents depending on one’s position in socio-economic ladder. The poorest section is excluded from the choice process while the upper strata indulge in the choice game freely. There remains a third type of parent who keep switching their choice wherever they find a desirable and affordable option. The choosing process of this section of parents underline that the choice is not just about government vs private; rather parents are making choice within as well as between the government and private schools.

Teacher Characteristics

While a government schoolteacher has been a major target of advocacy of private schools (Nambissan, 2012), the private schools have been criticised for hiring teachers with no professional training. U-DISE data (2019) reported that 97% teachers in government schools and 84% teachers in private schools were professionally trained. ‘Teacher’ has emerged as an important aspect of school choice from field data. In this study, all the government teachers were professionally trained as a professional degree is a necessary condition of their recruitment. All teachers, except the head of the school, working at LFP School do not have any professional training. These teachers either had a higher secondary or Bachelors’ degree as their educational qualification. Teachers working at elite schools are also professionally qualified as this was a great concern of the parents.

The vacant posts, high pupil–teacher ratio and teacher absenteeism have been discussed as aspects of ‘dysfunctional public schools’ by different studies. The role of teachers has been raised as an important factor for the better functioning of school. The teachers’ indulgence in local politics and daily fights in government primary schools and non-availability of teachers for different subjects in government high schools were highlighted as the reason for lack of interest in these schools. As discussed in the previous section, in the changed scenario (after filling up of vacant posts and transfer of a ‘notorious’ teacher), the parents expressed high regards for the efforts of teachers for improving the performance of schools. The admission of alumni of government schools in the highly competitive ‘meritorious school’ emerged as an important parameter for judging the performance of a school among parents. The parents expressed their trust in the teachers. Despite the ‘lack of choice’ of government school parents, they keenly noticed of the efforts of the new teachers.

A very different standard of judging teachers was observed while analysing the perception of parents served by the LBP school. These parents frequently mentioned that ‘the teachers and head’ of the school are local, that is, belong to same village. The understanding of ‘[a] teacher being one of them’ or ‘belonging to [the] same community’ was really important for this section of parents. Here, ‘same community’ basically refers to ‘[an] inhabitant of same village’ and ‘belonging to [the] same socio-economic strata’. All the teachers in schools are natives of the same village and are getting a meagre salary of Rs 2500 to Rs 4000. One of the parents elaborated that they enrol their children because they trust the head of this school. They thought about him as a ‘genuine person’ and were confident that he would take good care of students. In another context, one more parent narrated that the school authorities (head and teacher) understand their circumstances and take a sympathetic view whenever they have some challenges. Further explaining this context, another respondent informed us that teachers in this school consider their financial and social constraints. They know that the parents are daily labourers, so they never pressurise the parents for fees and allow the parents to pay fees according to their convenience. One of the respondents shared that ‘there are days when I have to take my son with me for work which makes him miss his school. The teachers take special care that he makes up for his loss and help him.’ For these parents, the way they are able to mix up freely with teachers, the laborious efforts of teachers and the concern for their economic constraints emerged more significant than the qualification of teacher. They repeatedly mention that because the ‘teacher is one of them’, they share a ‘relation of trust with them’. In this context, Kaur (2017) maintains that teachers from same locality as the children, show greater interest in the concerns of their students and this reduced social distance between students and teachers decreases the gap in academic achievements. On the contrary Narwana (2015) noticed in her study on parental participation in school education that government teachers almost inevitably belong to the more affluent sections of the rural society, by virtue of their relatively high salaries and favourable terms of employment. The poor parents face greater difficulty in establishing a rapport with such teachers.

The elite strata of parents choosing big private schools in urban settings also termed ‘teachers’ as one of the important factors. In contrast to parents choosing the LBP school, these parents emphasised that the ‘teacher should not be local and come from outside’. It was argued that an outside teacher would be better in English. Parents very proudly mentioned that teachers in the school chosen by them are ‘South Indian’. It was opined by parents that beside being knowledgeable, the ‘South Indian’ teachers speak very good English with a good accent. The role of ‘speaking English’ will be elaborated in another section. A similar observation has also been made by Jones (2018) that while choosing a school, parents particularly lay emphasis that teachers are from South India. This concern of parents was further used by the school marketing strategies as many school advertisements mentioned ‘South India teachers for inculcating fluency in Spoken English’. One of the parents expressed that ‘what is the use of choosing a convent school if they will hire local teacher. Teacher should be from outside who at least would not speak in Punjabi in class. That’s how our child will learn to speak English’. In this context, the South Indian teacher, given their inability to speak in local dialect (Punjabi or Hindi), are most preferred by parents who desperately want their children to be good at English. The locally trained teachers are not considered well equipped with new teaching techniques. Underlining the working experience of teachers, another parent responded that a teacher in his child’s school had taught in many prestigious schools. ‘With their wide experience, they will be able to take care of my child’s overall growth’. Questioning the quality of professional education in Punjab, it was pointed out that ‘the local teachers attain B.Ed degree from private colleges and these days, they do these degrees even sitting back at home without attending any institute. With this poor quality of professional training, how will they cater to the needs of my child?’. In this context, parents perceive the qualification, experience and knowledge of teachers from outside Punjab (and particularly from South India) as more worthy.

Thus, while the consideration for ‘schoolteacher’ remains primary for parents across all backgrounds, parameters for judging them are found to be diverse. The ‘government school choosers’ were found to be aware of teachers performance. For parents choosing LBP schools, a teacher should be considerate and understanding with whom they can make a connection and it could happen only when the teacher is from the ‘same community’, that is, the same village and socio-economic strata. Elite parents look for professionally sound teachers recruited from ‘outside’, who should have command over English language.

Quality of Education

While the quality of education in rural schools in Punjab is reported as pathetic (Ghuman et al., 2009), on the contrary the rapid national growth of the private unaided school sector appears to be largely driven by parent demand for quality (Central Square Foundation, 2020). In this context, it becomes pertinent to ask ‘what does quality mean for parents?’. The parents served by the government school appreciated the performance of a school in terms of board results. Although they did not express much in terms of quality, nevertheless, they repeatedly mentioned that the alumni of Government high schools successfully crack entrance tests for admission in a ‘meritorious school’. This indirectly indicates their trust in the quality of education provided in government schools.

Quality has been a matter of great concern for parents choosing private schools. Parents choosing the LBP School pointed out that the school promised a good quality of education to their children as they specifically help students preparing for Navodaya School admission. The exam score is pointed out as another criteria for viewing the quality of school education. For higher classes, the school was found to be using 8th class and 10th class books in the 7th and 9th standard, respectively. They make students study the same curriculum of board classes for two years consecutively to produce good board results. Parents framed their own understanding of ‘good quality’ which depended on their educational exposure. For them, this ‘faulty exam-oriented way of teaching’ was considered a good practice since it helped to gain a good score in board exams. Besides this, ‘extra classes for students appearing in board exams’ and ‘giving more homework’ are other dimensions of parental perception of quality education. Given their limited educational capital, the parents have developed their opinion of what constitutes quality education.

For elite parents, quality education has a broader scale of parameters. First, these parents observe ‘the board’ to which the school is affiliated to: the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (henceforth ICSE) or the Central Board of Secondary Education (henceforth CBSE). It was pointed out in interviews that they give priority to the ICSE board. If that is not available, they go for the CBSE board. Parents opined that the school affiliation to these boards ensure basic standard of education, curriculum and textbooks. Second, educated parents mentioned that they look for such schools which help in developing cognitive skills of their child rather than promoting cramming. Explaining the quality education concept in the form of ‘over all development’, one parent proudly informed us that their child leads the prayer assembly of the school which underlines the level of confidence the education is giving him. Hence the quality parameters drawn by the elite parents indicate awareness, exposure and importance of educational capital the parents already have. Thus, quality of education means different things for parents belonging to different strata.

Learning Environment

Parents frequently mentioned ‘school ka mahaul’, that is, the ‘learning environment in school’ as an important aspect of selecting the school. But on further probing as to what was really meant by learning environment, most parents were not clear about it. Highlighting the improved conditions of government schools, the parents choosing government schools mentioned that ‘earlier the children at school used to roam around and nobody bothered about them. Sometime even small kids used to come out of the school boundary. But now whenever we go to school, all students and teachers are in classroom busy with studies’. This understanding indicates that parents observe the learning environment of school.

At the LBP School, parents explain ‘the learning environment’ in the context of ‘discipline’, and teaching–learning activities in terms of extra classes and daily tests. It was expressed by all parents that the school is very particular about ‘maintaining discipline’. The students in school are always engaged in one or the other task and can never be noticed roaming here and there. The school focuses on learning achievements of students which is ensured by weekly tests and extra classes before exams. Despite choosing this school, some parents were concerned about the school building and multi-grade teaching for higher classes. One of the parents shared his unease over the shelter building of the school which was in bad shape. It was also highlighted in the FDGs that for two academic sessions when the school rented a good big building, it resulted in increased enrolment which further refers to the importance of this factor for parents. Multi-grade teaching is another concern raised by parents in context of improving the learning environment of school. For 6th–10th standard, the school does not have sufficient teachers which results in multi-grade teaching. Teachers for Math, Science and English take combined classes which is not appreciated by the parents. This aspect also reflects the poor enrolment after primary classes which further explains the ‘choice switching’ by parents. In this context, it very significant to mention Lahoti and Mukhopadhyay’s (2019) observation that parents expressed their need to switch schools when they did not seem to be satisfied with the quality of education in their current choice. However, in spite of multi-grade teaching, a few parents still opt for this school for higher classes. This situation is well explained by Gurney (2018) where she argues that in the face of significant disadvantages within the educational market, parents moderate their aspirations with respect to quality.

‘Learning environment’ means a gamut of issues such as good infrastructure, hygiene and safety, extra-curricular activities, and so on for parents who opt for elite schools. Elaborating on good infrastructure, one parent shared her concern that ‘the school has very attractive environment for small kids with interactive boards for teaching basic concept to the kids. My daughter does not want to skip her school even for a day’. Another parent emphasised on a ‘good schooling experience’ for their ward as she explained that she wants her child to enjoy her schooling and she should not be burdened with books at this tender age. Focus on extracurricular activities and sports facilities was another concern of parents for the overall development of their child. Addressing the safety of their ward as a primary concern, a parent said that every activity of the child and teacher could be observed under CCTV cameras. Purified water facility and air-conditioned rooms were mentioned in all school advertisements which was viewed positively by parents. Sharing an amalgamation of different perspectives, a mother expressed that she wants to keep her only son away from ‘Pendu Mahaul’, that is ‘village culture’ and wants a school with strict discipline as her son does not show interest in studies. She deliberately chose a school far away from village and felt satisfied with its performance. Thus, the learning environment has a different meaning for different parents depending on their aspirations and expectations.

English Education

Gurney (2018) argues that English education is understood by parents as conferring advantages within the competitive employment market. However, Lahoti and Mukhopadhyay (2019) found that there was no clear understanding among parents as to what education in English medium meant. The field data reveals that in the absence of English medium, many parents selecting government school expressed their desire for English medium education as the government schools currently have Punjabi medium. In the wake of government policy of establishing ‘Smart School’ with English medium, the parents wished for a smart school with English medium. It is assumed by the parents that English medium will help their child to have a strong base as higher studies can be pursued only in English.

English medium for primary classes has been noticed as an important factor for choosing the LBP school over the government school. However, parents were not found to be fully aware of how English medium turns out in practice. Interactions with school authorities revealed that only Math is being taught in English. Despite the claims of English medium, the prescribed books were found to be in Punjabi and English. On inquiry, teachers at the school explained that it was done to make the students easily comprehend the concepts which further questions the capability of imparting education in English.

The desire for English education equally echoed in concerns of rich parents. Explaining the context, one of the parents elaborated that availability of English medium is so obvious in these schools that one does not need to ask for it. What parents look for when they say English education is mainly ‘fluency in English speaking’. Their preference for a ‘South Indian teacher’ or a ‘teacher from outside’ also reflects their aspiration for good understanding of English and speaking skills. Another parent mentioned that as there is craze for ‘settling down in abroad’ in Punjab, the children prepare for International English Language Test (IELTS) exam for pursuing higher studies in some foreign country. Therefore, good quality English education with speaking skills at school provides them with a good foundation for cracking this exam with good scores. A look at school advertisements clearly underlines that schools have a clear understanding of parents’ expectations. Few schools categorically mention ‘English Speaking skills’, ‘special focus on IELTS preparation’ and ‘South Indian Teaching Staff’ in their advertisements. Thus, when everybody aspires for English for their child, parents’ understanding, expectations and demands from schools have different connotations.

Private Tuition: An Extension of Parental Educational Choice?

Though ‘the practice of private tutoring’ is not directly linked with school choice, interactions with different stakeholders underline the prevalence of private tuition trend among parents across sections. An analysis of school advertisements highlights that the school marketing strategies make best use of this concern to influence their school choice. The analysis of ‘private tuition’ therefore is necessary for understanding school choice in this case study. The village has a blooming ‘private tuition’ market where a total of 9 tuition-cum-coaching centres are operating. A significantly different approach towards ‘tuition’ is noticed among parents belonging to different sections. The children studying in government schools adhered to ‘private tuition’ only for 2–3 months before the final exam. They mostly opt for Math and English tuition. It was informed by parents that government school students have one coaching centre which is run by the wife of a government teacher. Before joining government service, the teacher himself used to run this centre. The parents mentioned that as the child does not get a proper ‘environment’ at home, they send their child for tuition when exams are approaching, assuming that it will help them to prepare for exam. Many families face problems of alcoholism; the male head of the family, under the influence of alcohol creates a nuisance every other day and the child does not get a congenial environment at home for studies. In this context, the mothers choose to send their child for tuitions to provide some time and space for study. Given the financial constraints, they could not afford the tuitions throughout the year.

The duration of private coaching for parents choosing LBP school span from five to seven months and this is usually catered by the class teacher. This helps them to develop a better understanding with the class teacher of their ward. One parent informed us that they always urge the teacher to make their child do extra work during the tuition class so that he can prepare well as they are not able to provide any academic support at home. It was also noticed that as the teachers in LBP School get very meagre salaries (₹2,500–₹3,000 a month); to make some extra income, they encourage tuitions. The parents find it convenient to send their child to tuition with their class teacher as they will not get any complaint from school.

The most interesting picture emerges from the responses of elite parents and school marketing strategies. First, the school advertisements underline the parents’ aspirations and desperation for private tutoring. One of the elite school’s advertisements proclaimed, ‘Say No to Private Tuition’, thus pointing out that, with the quality of education provided by this school, the students of this school do not need private tuition. They strictly forbade tuition practices among their students. Another school is famous for their ‘day boarding’ option which particularly means that the students will be helped in doing their homework. The students attend school and then do their homework classes till 4:30 pm in evening. It was pointed out that students of this school do not attend tuition at least till 8th class. For higher classes, the students look for professional coaching in order to compete in various exams. The parents expressed their satisfaction with these options given their time constraints. Given the limited educational capital, the other set of parents give importance to tuitions. They have made such transport arrangements that children directly go for tuitions after returning from school. Explaining the necessity of tuition, the parents mentioned that ‘given their limited educational exposure’, they find themselves incapable for helping their child at home. They have to attend parent–teacher meetings every fortnight. If they are not providing academic support at home, then they would be questioned in meetings, so they opt for private tuition. Another interesting response from a mother understands private tuition as a saviour. She is very conscious that her only child should be away from the ‘vice of rural culture’ as the trend of ‘drugs consumption’ in village youth is very high. The school bus directly drops him at the tuition centre and then she comes to pick him from tuition every evening. The private tuition helps her to keep her boy away from ‘bad company’. This was also confirmed by the tuition centre teacher that many children from elite school spend three to four hours at tuition even when they are done with their lessons as their parents have strict instructions not to let them leave. Thus, the practice of private tuition carries a larger meaning which goes beyond academic help.