The clause in the recently passed Free and Compulsory Education Bill that makes it mandatory for the private schools to give admission to 10 per cent children from deprived families raises many a question. While it is up to the private schools to accept or reject this issue, one thing that comes to mind is how will a child from an underprivileged family adjust with children from well-to-do backgrounds.

Children are children. They will compare their stationery sets, their lunch and lunch boxes, their toys and other possessions; some may even talk about their birthday parties and their vacations abroad. How will a child who does not have these things feel and react, and wouldn’t he suffer from inferiority complex when he realises that his parents cannot provide him the amenities that his classmates take for granted.

Leave aside the elite schools, it is not possible for lower class families to meet the expenses of the so-called bungalow schools.

Under government instructions the schools may waive off the fee and may be even provide books and uniform but the parents will have to meet other expenses, such as costume for special days like the Earth Day, etc., that are celebrated with much fanfare and children are given a dress code besides the uniform, or material for sports and other extracurricular activities.

Ahmed working at the managerial level at a small firm put it very well: “I can afford to pay the fee and books for one of these top-level schools, but I cannot meet the other expenses that come with the package.” He might have in mind the outings and socialising the students of these schools engage in, but his concern reflects very well the situation that parents from underprivileged backgrounds will face. Wouldn’t all this affect the psyche of the poor children? — R.N.