Hello,

You have likely encountered the term "dummy schools" in the media in recent years. It refers to schools that grant students automatic attendance, while they in fact study at other coaching centres that prepare them for college entrance exams.
Such schools are, in fact, part of a larger system of irregularities in Indian schools, which the government has tried to curb, with little success. As pressures to crack entrance exams have intensified, while some schools run as dummy schools, many others have entered into partnerships with coaching companies to run parallel training programmes for their students. A third such kind of school is one that itself sets up a coaching programme for some or all of its students.
The result, as Johanna Deeksha reports, is chaos. Students face unimaginable pressures, even as they navigate bewildering schedules that leave no time for any socialising or extracurricular activities. Many emerge ill-prepared to navigate the world.
"It is distressing to watch the nature of schooling completely change in the country," Deeksha said. "To even have 'dummy schools' is a matter of great shame. Schools no longer seem like places of community, learning, and play, where children can be children."
She added, "The ugliness of entrance exams is now being thrust on children as young as 10. It needs urgent intervention."
You can read the story here.

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Ajay Krishnan
Senior Editor

Follow the Scroll channel on WhatsApp for a curated selection of the news that matters throughout the day, and a round-up of major developments in India and around the world every evening. What you won’t get: Spam.

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This yield from Jharkhand’s trees might hold the key to rural livelihoods

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How Indian schools’ focus on entrance tests is stunting education

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