Bhubaneswar: Education was dealt with a heavy blow thanks to the raging COVID-19 pandemic. Schools have remained shut for more than a year and that has impacted their revenue badly.
Most private schools in the country have reported a 20-50 per cent slide in revenue, leading to teachers’ salary reduction in some cases, a new report has said.
NGO working on quality school education in India, Central Square Foundation’s (CSF) report is based on a study with over 1,100 respondents (parents, school administrators, and teachers) from 20 states and union territories.
“Revenue decreased in the range of 20-50 per cent for most schools but the cost of heads has largely remained the same, thus making it difficult to continue operations seamlessly,” the report stated.
“Schools’ revenues were hit by the inability of parents to pay fees regularly. This was highest among the urban schools. Fifty-five per cent of schools suggest that there was a major reduction in the number of new admissions this academic year,” the report further stated.
To support the deficit in revenue, only three per cent have successfully accessed loans. At least 77 per cent schools said they are not interested in loans. However, five per cent more schools are awaiting processing of their loans.
“Sixty-five per cent of teachers’ salaries were put on hold by low fee schools as compared to 37 per cent of teachers whose salaries were put on hold by high fee schools. At least 54 per cent of teachers do not have an alternate source of income, and 30 per cent supplement their salary with private tutoring and coaching,” revealed the report.
About 55 per cent of teachers are optimistic that their schools will manage to continue operations till normalcy returns.
ALSO READ: Odisha Shuts Several Govt Schools, Rural Education In Jeopardy
Comments are closed.