Happy Fourth of July! It is something else to celebrate this holiday abroad. This evening, the small American crowd in Hyderabad is going to Senor Pepe’s, the lone Mexican place in town, for a July 4th dinner—Mexican is the closest thing to American we could find. No fireworks, sadly, but we try the best we can.
In the past few days, I visited several budget schools. These schools charged between $1-$5/month, and the quality was, in fact, seriously better. Most of these schools were started, and are completely controlled, by the owner and founder. All of the founders I met went to government schools themselves. Much of the literature surrounding budget schools focuses on entrepreneurs—people founding schools as a business opportunity. But these schools are only marginally profitable. Most of the people involved in this (and in education worldwide—look, for example, at teachers in America) view this as a vocational calling.
These school owners are amazing. They often have built the schools literally and figuratively, and exist from month-to-month, tuition-payment to tuition-payment. The two biggest differences I have seen between the budget schools and the government schools: English-speaking ability of the students, and school discipline. Maybe the biggest reason, I’ve found, why parents send their kids to private schools is the English-speaking medium. Almost no government schools teach in English; they teach in Telugu, the local language. Most parents’ primary priority is having students learn the English language. English is a huge status symbol, and business opportunity, in India, which is a class-obsessed society. When I have been with Indians who speak fluent English, they will speak English to waiters, taxicab drivers, and more, even if the person they are speaking to obviously does not speak good English. English is the language of business, and is everything. India has heavy amounts of local pride, and for patriotic reasons, the local government teaches in the local language.
The second-biggest difference is the discipline of the students. In the government schools I have visited, the kids have come running out of the classrooms, seeing the white guy walk in. They have swarmed me. In the budget schools, the kids have politely waited in their desks. We have chatted, and we shake hands, but the kids don’t go anywhere. Very noticeable.
These budget school owners are desperately proud of their students and their school. I visited one school that fit 300 kids in one room the size of half a basketball court, with makeshift concrete blocks dividing grade from grade. Another school wanted a new bus. Another wanted a science lab. All these, they think, will increase their profitability. Let’s hope we can work together.
ERB
