Union human resources development minister Pallam Raju on February 16 said the current trend among parents to get their children admitted in private institutions should be viewed in light of their aspiration to get the best education for their wards. He, however, emphasised that this trend should not be linked to the quality of education in government schools.
“I don’t find fault with the trend as the urge to progress fast is increasing in the society. However, it does not mean that quality of education is poor in the government schools, but they (parents) find it better in private schools. There’s nothing wrong in it,” said the minister.
He was addressing the inaugural session of the second international conference on ‘Human Values in Higher Education’ at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-H) in Hyderbabad. “There is no dearth of quality teachers in government institutions though infrastructure is poor in government education sector,” said the minister.
Raju said the situation in schools was improving after the enactment of Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (aka RTE Act) which has pushed the retention rate of students in schools to 96 percent.