CBSE is going full throttle on NEP 2020. From competency-based learning to teacher training modules, the framework is tightening its grip—on paper at least. But here’s the kicker: it’s the private, self-financed schools that are scrambling to meet these expectations. Despite limited resources, these schools stretch themselves—checking boxes, organizing workshops, staging events, and hustling for admissions. Sometimes it’s performative. Often, it’s superficial. But even in their “bare minimum,” they’re miles ahead of our government schools.
And here lies the uncomfortable truth:
Government schools, with all the resources and state backing, aren’t even trying to do the best they can.
They operate in a vacuum—shielded from real regulation, untouched by urgency, and free from accountability. The very people running the system—IAS officers, bureaucrats, MPs, MLAs, SDMs—don’t trust it. They send their own children to private schools.
The self-employed do the same.
The underprivileged cling to RTE quotas in private institutions.
If the system doesn’t work for the policymakers, how can we expect it to work for the people?
As someone who works on the ground as a CBSE resource person, I’ve seen both sides.
In many private schools—whether standalone setups or franchisees of big education chains—the focus is often on branding over substance.
Photoshoots over pedagogy.
Fancy infrastructure over foundational learning.
The buildings are colorful, the brochures are glossy—but the roots are weak or non-existent.
Compliance? Checked.
Visual appeal? Perfect.
Real learning outcomes? Debatable.
Meanwhile, government schools are still fighting the foundational battle—just to bring children to school.
They carry the burden of access, ensuring every child gets a chance to sit in a classroom.
But ironically, the burden of quality has been almost entirely offloaded onto private schools.
This silent divide has gone unquestioned for too long:
Access is a public responsibility, but quality is treated as a private luxury.
That’s not equity. That’s a ticking time bomb.
Now let’s talk about government schools.
Where’s the accountability?
Where’s the innovation?
Where’s the urgency?
Why aren’t government schools being held to the same standards?
Why aren’t they bound by the same “light but tight” philosophy that NEP loudly promotes?
If NEP is to be more than a vision statement, we need to make government schools the heart of the education reform agenda—not the forgotten corner.
So here’s a bold, necessary step:
Make it mandatory for every government servant—from top-ranking IAS and IPS officers to local DMs, SDMs, and elected representatives—to enroll their children in government schools.
That’s when priorities will shift.
That’s when “quality” will become non-negotiable.
That’s when public education will stop being charity and start being accountable, equitable, and excellent.
Until that happens, “light but tight” will remain just a well-worded slogan—light for the privileged, invisible for the underserved, and irrelevant to those who hold the power to change it.