Govt. schools help parents battle COVID crunch

Reeling under financial stress, families are withdrawing their children from private schools to ease the burden of fees

The COVID-19 pandemic has effected an exodus of a different kind. Several children studying in private schools in the National Capital Region have moved to government schools as their parents, reeling under financial difficulties brought about by consecutive lockdowns, have not been able to afford the school fees.

Given their precarious financial position, parents say free education will help ease the burden of school fees at a time when education has moved online and private school education has become a luxury they can no longer afford.

Vijay Verma, a photographer living on rent in Indirapuram, said at the start of the pandemic, getting through the month on his salary was impossible despite cutting down on expenditure. With two personal loans and a home loan to pay off, he decided to shift his son, who had just completed Class X from a private school, to a government school in Moti Bagh. His son, an avid football player, he said, did not protest as the government school had a reputation of encouraging football players.