Most parents in Dehradun and elsewhere in Uttarakhand want to send their children to private schools to study instead of Government schools.
Even Government school teachers send their children to private schools due to the deteriorated level of education in Government schools. As irregular attendance of the teachers themselves is a major reason for poor quality of education in Government schools, the State Government is planning to introduce a biometric identification system to register the presence of teachers in Government schools.
Most people in Dehradun believe that the level of education in private schools is much better than in Government schools because in Government schools most teachers lack the dedication and motivation to teach the students well. State Education Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani said that for improving the quality of education in Government schools, a biometric identification system will be introduced soon for collecting thumb impressions of all Government teachers every morning in place of the attendance register and it will be mandatory for teachers to give their thumb impression daily, except on holidays, so that proper data can be collected on teachers who are not teaching regularly in schools.
He also said that decision of adopting English medium in basic classes was also taken for the improvement of education in Government schools. local resident Vikram Singh said that parents just want their children to score good marks and that is the reason why most of the parents prefer private schools for their children.
Students get good marks and learn better in private schools. He also said that private schools provide better education as compared to Government schools as teachers in Government schools don't take students problems seriously. Another parent, Rashmi Uniyal said that private schools are better because education quality is much better in private schools as compared to Government schools.
She also said that private schools conduct parents-teachers meet twice or thrice a year so that parents can know the level of their children's knowledge. In private schools many extra-curricular activities for students such as dance, music, sports are also conducted which helps in overall development of students, she said. A father, Anil Singh Rawat said that the education quality in government schools is not very good and that is the only reason parents prefer private schools for their wards.
He also said that teachers of government schools are not ready to teach students properly whereas private schools also provide facilities to children like personal development classes (PDP), aptitude classes and extracurricular activities, he added. Poonam Sharma said that parents prefer private schools due to the quality of education they provide. She said that though the fees in private schools are not affordable for everyone, people still send their kids to private schools mainly because of good education facilities.