School Performance and Parental Choice: A Qualitative Study on the Low-Performing Primary Schools in West Bengal, India

The public primary schools (hereafter, government schools) in India frequently fail to deliver meaningful learning outcomes for children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This study examines the underlying causes behind this in North Bengal, a region with a large number of socio-economically disadvantaged people and explores the parents’ decision-making for school choice. In this qualitative study of 30 purposively selected low-performing schools, teachers’ absenteeism and low accountability were evident. Classroom observations, discussions with the students and interviews with 30 purposively selected parents were conducted. 80% of observed classrooms relied on lecture-based, monologue instructions. Parents perceived education as a financial investment.