A Study of Growth of Secondary Education in Delhi

While India has seen a rapid expansion in secondary education, there has been a drift of demand towards private schooling with a large number of parents choosing this in preference to government schools. The present study made an attempt to analyze the pattern of growth of secondary education in Delhi, using data from SEMIS and Directorate of Education. For in depth study primary data was also collected from senior secondary schools of Delhi. The analysis emphasizes the pattern of growth in number of schools and participation in secondary and senior secondary level under different management and the factors affecting the shift in demand towards private schools in Delhi. The overarching findings suggest that in Delhi the government schools have basic resources but, private unaided schools have more advanced resources that are academically important, such as better classroom availability, internet connection, science laboratory and variety of books in the library, which are causing the shift in choice of schools. We also see that, within the sample, children in private schools seem to perform better academically, despite better-qualified and more experienced teachers working in government schools.