---
type: faq
question: >-
  Why do many still pay for school education when we have a fundamental right to
  free education?
topic: education
topic_title: Education
topic_url: 'https://liberty-lighthouse.vercel.app/topics/education/'
canonical_url: >-
  https://liberty-lighthouse.vercel.app/topics/education/faq/why-do-many-still-pay-for-school-education-when-we-have-a-fundamental-right-to-free-education/
markdown_url: >-
  https://liberty-lighthouse.vercel.app/topics/education/faq/why-do-many-still-pay-for-school-education-when-we-have-a-fundamental-right-to-free-education.md
updated_at: '2026-03-14'
---
# Why do many still pay for school education when we have a fundamental right to free education?

Think about the last time you bought bottled water when a tap was free, hailed a cab for a short walk, or ordered delivery instead of cooking or eating college mess food. Each time, you made a deliberate trade-off where you spent money because the paid option gave you something the free one didn\'t: convenience, safety, or quality. That gap in perceived value drove your decision. For millions of Indian parents, the free alternative they are walking away from is the government school.

Government schools are notorious for their abysmal quality, despite heavy investments. Many government schools have poor [infrastructure](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/cag-report-exposes-poor-infrastructure-of-schools-in-karnataka/article68985520.ece) and [unsafe](https://indianexpress.com/article/education/21-kendriya-vidyalaya-buildings-found-unsafe-in-audit-hrd-ministry-5844258/) buildings. Government school teachers are frequently [absent](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272716301621) from classrooms, and students are not [learning](https://asercentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ASER-2024-National-findings.pdf). Eventually, disillusioned parents and students turn away from such schools and opt for private schools.

Nearly [half](https://www.centralsquarefoundation.org/State-of-the-Sector-Report-on-Private-Schools-in-India.pdf) of India\'s children are now in private schools, and the reasons aren\'t hard to find. Private schools deliver [better](https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/130/3/1011/1931887) learning outcomes at lower cost, even after accounting for students\' socioeconomic backgrounds. Their teachers are [more](https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/130/3/1011/1931887) present and more engaged. Their campuses are [safer](https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/130/3/1011/1931887) and better disciplined. When COVID-19 shuttered classrooms, they adapted [faster](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15582159.2024.2352994) than their government counterparts to keep children learning. Parents [cite](https://mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Report_585_75th_round_Education_final_1507_0.pdf) 'quality' as one of the top reasons for why they choose private over government schools. Therefore, millions in a relatively poor country are choosing to pay for education even when a free alternative exists. The value that parents are paying for is real.

Reasons parents cite for choosing private schools

![A segmented bar chart showing why parents choose private schools. Nearly three-quarters, 73.1 per cent, cite a better learning environment than government schools. Another 12 per cent cite English-medium education, 10.2 per cent say no government school is available nearby, and 4.7 per cent give other reasons.](/images/content/education-image4.png)