Education Kerala

2. Exclusionary Trends
Several micro-level studies indicate that the situation is not as rosy as suggested by the aggregate statistics
described above. These studies revealed that the aggregate statistics camouflage some of the major differences in
the educational achievements of people belonging to different socio-economic groups. Exclusionary trends have
been getting stronger from the nineties. This is mainly because of four factors:
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1. Increase in private costs to be incurred by students
2. Growth of student financed institutions
3. Strengthening of non-financial entry barriers
4. Inadequate attention to the problems of the disadvantaged groups
2.1 Increase in Private Costs
As noted earlier, students do not have to pay any fees in the government and aided schools. The fees in the Arts
and Science colleges, which are in the government and aided sectors, are also low. The absence of fees or low
fees, however, does not imply low cost of education to the students. Data brought out by the 61st round of National
Sample Survey (2004-05) show that, on an average, the per capita expenditure on education by the rural households
in Kerala was more than double the national average (Rs.41 for Kerala against Rs.18 for India). In terms of the per
capita educational expenditure in rural areas, Kerala ranked third after Haryana and Punjab. But urban India was
spending more than urban Kerala (Rs.74 for India against Rs.66 for Kerala). The survey reveals that rural-urban
difference in educational spending by households was much less in Kerala than in the country as a whole. The
survey also points out that the proportion of households spending on private tuition/coaching is much higher in rural
Kerala than in rural India (17% in rural Kerala and 8% in rural India). However, this proportion is only marginally
higher in urban Kerala compared to urban India (17% in urban Kerala and 16% in urban India).
A study (Nair 2004) on the household costs of school education in Kerala has shown that the percentage of students
receiving private tuition ranged from 6.7% in the pre-primary schools to 34.1% in high schools. These ratios were
11.8% for lower primary schools, 21.5% for upper primary schools and 29.6% for higher secondary.
Though no fee is charged on the students, it is not free for the beneficiaries of education as they have to incur costs
of several types (special fees, examination fees, cost of reading and writing materials, clothing, travelling, study
tours, donation to PTA, private tuition etc). Based on a survey conducted in a sample of schools in Ernakulam
district, Namboothiri (2004) placed the annual private cost of students in government schools at Rs. 2313, Rs.2992
and Rs.4676 in Lower Primary, Upper Primary and High School sections respectively. The corresponding figures for
the aided schools are Rs. 3019, Rs. 3356 and Rs. 4421. In unaided schools, private costs were much higher at
Rs.9100, Rs.9281 and Rs.10608. The study revealed that the private costs of the students in government and aided
schools at the upper primary and high school levels are more than the government spending towards recurring
expenses on these students.