Private Schooling in India Size, Nature, and Equity-Effects Geeta G Kingdon Published educational statistics in India ignore 'unrecognised' private schools and include only the 'recognised' private schools, though all government-funded schools are included. Moreover, enrolments in government-funded schools are greatly over-reported in education data. This article argues that, as a result, official education statistics are seriously skewed; they exaggerate the size of the free, government-funded elementary school sector and greatly understate the size of the private fee-charging elementary school sector While it may he expedient for the state to exaggerate its own contribution to school education, a system where fee-levying institutions have a significant role in elementary education while secondary education is largely state-supported has perverse equity-effects. The article also presents evidence to show that official enrolment statistics on which analysts, policy-makers, and international studies rely, and which are used in parliamentary debates are gravely inaccurate.
