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Effect of Covid-19 on private schools in India

Effect of Covid-19 on private schools in India

Learning & Development

Yeshwanth Parasmal

Yeshwanth Parasmal

206 week ago — 4 min read

Schools across the country are closed due to the pandemic caused by Covid-19. This has also led to the postponement / cancellation of examinations and has disrupted the normal operations of the School. To understand the effect of COVID-19 on private schools, my company Strategum Eduserve conducted a national survey involving 100 School Principals and Promoters from about 22 Cities across India, including the Tier 2 cities.

We are living in an unprecedented times caused by the pandemic. It is only appropriate that we carve out a collective response to ensure minimum disruptions to the routine operation of Schools across India.

Strategum surveyed (online) 100 CBSE School Principals / Owners in India between 30th March to 04 April 2020. The key findings are summarised here.

  • Respondents represented about 22 Cities across India and 83% respondents are Principal the remaining were School Promoters.

  • 43% of the schools surveyed said that they are highly affected by the pandemic and school closures

  • While 52% said schools may start in June 2020, 26% believed that the schools will be able to start only by July or later.

  • 78% of the schools said they were well prepared in terms of hygiene and protection of your students/residential students to resolve the panic situation created by the epidemic

Impact on School financials

  • School fee collection has been hit. 74% of Schools collected less than 25% of Schools fees that is usually collected by March 2020

  • 87% of schools said that the new admissions are affected

Impact on Staff

  • The good news is that 74% of Schools do not intent to lay-off teachers.

  • Only 22% of schools have cash surplus to pay salaries beyond May 2020

 

Managing expectations

  • 87% of the schools expect pressure from parents to not increase fees in AY20-21

  • 70% of Schools expect that Parents will ask for fee waiver for the duration of lockdown

  • While 33% of schools are willing to waive off transport fees, 48% of Schools are not willing to waive any fees

  • More than 75% of schools are satisfied with support / response from CBSE

Managing expectations

  • 61% of Schools don’t expect any concession or benefits from Government to support the Schools. However, they want:
  • Govt. not to enforce fee waiver on Schools

  • Relaxation in dates for various compliances (incl. CBSE)

  • Allow Schools to run independently (not make it political)

  • Streamline admissions process for students who have passed 12th Grade and are awaiting admissions into Undergraduate Programs across discipline.

Preparing for the future

  • 79% of the Schools have started revising the School Working Days and aligning their calendar / curriculum

  • 83% of Schools are willing to go online to conduct classes for Grades 8 and above in case of delay beyond June 2020

  • But only 52% of Schools are prepared to conduct online classes, if required in future

Conclusion

  • School Principals appear to be well-prepared to face the effect of lockdown caused by Covid-19

  • Private Schools have always maintained best practices of health, hygiene and safety

  • Schools are worried about Government forcing them to waive-off School Fees for the duration of lockdown as they continue to pay salaries of staff.

  • None of the Schools expect slowdown in School sector and hence there are no plans to lay-off teachers

  • School are willing to adopt online education or models of flipped classrooms.

Also read: An unprecedented challenge, also an opportunity for SMEs to do unprecedented things

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Yeshwanth Parasmal

Education Management Company with 10+ years of experience in establishing and managing Schools, Preschools, Colleges and Universities across India. We undertake turnkey projects...