Budget private schools have been hit the hardest by COVID-19 in school education. Budget private schools charge nominal fees, and cater to economically weaker sections across India. Approximately 90 million children from low-income households attend 400,000 budget private schools. As parents struggled to pay fees, many of these schools had to shut down. This has only widened the “disadvantaged” gap between children from different income-classes in India. What should we change for the future? How do we ensure our policies accommodate the new realities? Schools should be recognised as “industry” or as micro, small, and medium enterprises. This will allow them to access bridge-financing to tide over disasters such as the current pandemic. More importantly, this status will encourage commercial investment in the sector and boost quality education for all.

COVID-19 has exacerbated the crisis in Indian school education. While learning outcomes were already poor across private and government schools, a substantial number of private schools have or are about to shut down due to delayed fee collection, pushing a large number of students out of schools. People have also raised concerns over prolonged school closures and escalation in child labour. In this backdrop, the Cabinet released the National Education Policy 2020. The Policy recognises the need to re-engineer our regulatory processes in a manner that not only ensures a safe learning environment but also improves learning outcomes. It recommends the formation of regulatory bodies such as state standard-setting authority, PARAKH, and strengthening the National Institute of Open Schooling. For this, the first panel will address the role of regulatory agencies in a post-COVID world.