A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SCHOOL CHOICE BETWEEN PRIVATE AND GOVERNMENT SCHOOL BASED ON PARENTAL ASPIRATIONS IN THOUBAL DISTRICT

Abstract

The choice of school is a critical issue nowadays. Parents are the consumers in the educational market and, therefore, spend a crucial amount of time and information choosing the right school when their children start attending school. School choice is based on Parental Aspirations for their children, which is an essential component. The study's objective is to examine the role of parental aspirations in the school choice of their children among the Scheduled Caste and the general population in Thoubal. The study's design is a cross-section and uses a purposive sampling method. Method: The population of the study comprises 199 Parents (92 parents from Thoubal Khunou (Schedule Caste) and 107 parents from Phoudel Keirambi (General) in Thoubal district, children who were attending school in the age range of 6-15 years. Data was collected using schedules of questioners through interview methods and analyzed using appropriate statistical tools such as descriptive statistics. Result: School choice based on educational aspiration; government schools choose up to class XII, and private schools choose graduate, postgraduate, and higher education. Choice of school based on Job Aspiration: Private schools were the most popular, and government schools were the least popular. No one chose a government school for a low-income status job. Conclusion: These parental aspirations regarding their employment and education were not up-to-date in the government school. As of now, the choices of Private schools were most. However, the characteristics of the government schools improved; parents started choosing government schools, and parents preferred to choose government schools.