Study says parental demands carry majoritarian ideas into private schools

The brief in 7 cards

1. Context1 / 7
   • The Hindu's "Abstract" column has reviewed a study published in the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), a social science journal.
   • Studies of ideology in Indian education usually focus on the state: government policy, curricula and textbooks.
   • This study looks elsewhere. It asks whether parents' preferences can shape what happens inside private schools.
   • The researcher interviewed households and school leaders in Delhi-NCR, and held focus groups, between April and September 2022.
   • The study calls the process it describes "bottom-up Hindutva". The term is the author's own framing.
2. Key highlights2 / 7

   Growth of private schools: Private-school enrolment at primary and middle levels in Delhi rose from about 30% in 2014–15 to over 46% in 2019–20.

   Parents as customers: Since 1991, the study says, competition among private schools has made parents act more like consumers.

   "Hyper-accountability": The study's term for schools depending heavily on enrolment, reputation and parent satisfaction. This makes them quick to meet parents' demands.

   Unequal voice: The study argues that economically stronger, larger groups of parents have more bargaining power. Minority concerns may then get less attention.

   Choices made to look neutral: It says religious demands are often presented as ordinary preferences: "parents want it, so the school provides it."

   Constitutional concern: The author links these practices to the constitutional guarantees of equality, religious freedom and minority rights.

3. Key concepts3 / 7
   1. Marketisation of education

   • Marketisation means running a public service more like a market, where providers compete for customers.
   • In education, private schools compete for students. Parents choose schools, much as they choose any service.
   • This can improve quality, since schools must satisfy parents to survive.
   • The risk, critics say, is that the loudest or most powerful customers shape the product for everyone.
   • Analogy: a restaurant that changes its whole menu to suit its biggest regular customers. Other diners may no longer find what they need.

   News connection: The study argues that competition for enrolment makes private schools respond to the preferences of the majority of parents.

   2. Equality and religious freedom — Articles 14, 15 and 25

   • Article 14 guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the laws.
   • Article 15 bars the State from discriminating on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
   • Article 25 protects freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion. It is subject to public order, morality and health.
   • Most Fundamental Rights bind the State. How far they apply to private unaided schools is a more complex legal question. Statutes and courts fill part of this gap.

   News connection: The study argues that some school practices it observed sit uneasily with these guarantees.

   3. Religion in schools — Articles 28, 29 and 30

   • Article 28 bars religious instruction in schools wholly funded by the State. In State-recognised or aided schools, no student can be made to attend religious instruction without consent.
   • Article 29(2) bars State-run or State-aided institutions from denying admission on grounds only of religion, race, caste or language.
   • Article 30 lets religious and linguistic minorities set up and run their own educational institutions.
   • Distinction: Article 28 limits religion in State-funded schooling. Article 30 protects minorities' right to run their own schools.

   News connection: These provisions frame the debate on how far any school, public or private, may reflect one religion's practices.

   4. Constitutional morality

   • Constitutional morality means respecting the Constitution's core values, such as equality and dignity, even when a majority prefers otherwise.
   • The Supreme Court has used the idea in several major judgments.
   • Analogy: a referee applies the rules of the game even when the home crowd is shouting for a different call.

   News connection: The study's central worry is that majority preference, working through the market, may override the Constitution's commitment to equal treatment.

4. Way forward4 / 7

   Write clear, fair rules: Schools should set admission, hiring, uniform, food and festival policies in writing, using objective criteria.

   Widen parent representation: Parent bodies should include families from all sections of the school community, not one dominant group.

   Provide a way to complain: Students, parents and teachers need accessible channels to report discrimination and seek a remedy.

5. Note5 / 7

   How the study says influence works

   The study identifies several everyday pathways. These are the author's findings from interviews, not official data:

   Festivals: Parents' preferences may decide which religious festivals the school celebrates most prominently.

   Food: Demands for vegetarian-only rules may affect students from different food traditions.

   Dress: Rules on religious clothing, such as the hijab, can be justified through reasons like discipline, security or uniformity.

   Hiring: The study reports parents objecting to the appointment of teachers from particular religious backgrounds.

   Outside influence: Parents' views may be shaped by media, social media, neighbourhoods and political debate, then enter school as "private" choices.

   Normalisation: The study argues that repeated accommodation can make such practices seem neutral and routine.

6. Note6 / 7

   Other perspectives and limits

   A small, local study: The research is qualitative and based on interviews in one region, Delhi-NCR. Its findings may not hold across India.

   Parents' role is legitimate: Policy encourages parent involvement. The Right to Education Act, 2009 requires School Management Committees, mostly made up of parents, in government and aided schools.

   Private school autonomy: The Supreme Court has recognised the right to run private educational institutions. Private schools have wide freedom over their own policies.

   Not every choice is ideological: A school's food or dress rule may reflect cost, hygiene, discipline or local custom, not necessarily religious preference.

   Courts are divided on dress: In the Karnataka hijab case, the High Court upheld the uniform rule in 2022. The Supreme Court then gave a split verdict and referred the matter to a larger bench.

   The key question: Where does a school responding to its community end, and discrimination against a minority begin?

7. Note7 / 7

   The constitutional map: a quick reference

   Article 14: Equality before law.

   Article 15: No State discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

   Article 19(1)(g): Freedom to practise any profession or carry on any occupation. Courts have read this to cover running private educational institutions.

   Article 25: Freedom of conscience and religion.

   Article 28: Limits on religious instruction in State-funded and State-aided institutions.

   Article 29(2): No denial of admission to State-run or State-aided institutions on grounds only of religion, race, caste or language.

   Article 30: Minorities' right to establish and administer educational institutions.

   Article 51A(e): A Fundamental Duty to promote harmony and brotherhood among all people of India.

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