Perception and why private schools are better than government schools. But IIMs, NITs, and IITs which are government entities are considered superior to any private college. How this perspective has been developed in Indian society?
Are government universities better than private universities?
I believe the focus of IIMs, NITs, and IITs is on how to apply the learnings in real life and bring value to society along with placements, but other engineering colleges have focused on grades and placements. The assignments of IIMs, NITs, and IITs are designed in a manner to encourage brainstorming. Such an approach to focusing on applying knowledge in real-world scenarios has attracted students to apply to IIMs, NITs, and IITs.
Next, comes the power of supply and demand. Since the seats are limited in IITs and IIMs and more and more students want to get into such colleges, this has created a supply and demand mismatch. The basic principle of human nature is that if something is available in scarcity then the value of that thing increases. This has been happening for decades and decades and therefore making IIMs, NITs, and IITs valuable institutes.
Further, if the above is true then the bright students of the country will be in IIMs, NITs, and IITs. Since every one of us wants to be the best and surround ourselves where the best people are. IIMs, NITs, and IITs value further increases because of the networking effect.
Are government schools better than private schools?
If all of this makes sense to you, then the question comes, "Why such a principle is not applicable to government schools?". Let's further understand the fundamental problem with government schools.
In the higher education areas IIMs, NITs, and IITs are able to operate well than the private players in the market. But the same is not true for the schools. Government schools are operated with minimal infrastructure to make them affordable which is not true for the IIMs, NITs, and IITs.
The government further has to do this to support policies such as Free and compulsory education, education for girl children, etc. To achieve this goal the quality is impacted.
Because of these reasons, there are private schools that are better in terms of infrastructure, hygiene, teaching quality, and discipline. There are additional fundamental reasons such as staff mismanagement, politics, teacher's capabilities, and a lot more which further make private schooling options better.
Summary
The government universities such as IIMs, NITs, and IITs are considered superior to private universities because of their focus on real-world learning, supply and demand mismatch, and networking effect. But same is not applicable to government schools because of the minimal provided infrastructure to support government policies.
Let me know what you think. Do you agree with the thoughts shared or do you have some other perception?