Parental Decision-Making Processes in Nepal: Public and Private School Differences

• In Event: School Choice Policies and Practices

Abstract

The study provides descriptive quantitative and qualitative evidence on parental choice processes using original data collected in Nepal (Summer, 2011).
While selecting schools, public school parents are more likely to emphasize relative cheapness while private school parents emphasize professional expertise. Even with abundant schooling options, most parents do not consider more than one school while selecting schools. Also, despite variations in satisfaction, most parents are not thinking about changing schools. Switching from private to public schools happens when parents experience economic hardship while the reverse switch happens for quality reasons.
All parents mention discipline, safety, and English medium of instruction as primary reasons for private school attractiveness, and as the primary aspects that need to be improved in public schools.

Author

• Priyadarshani Joshi, University of Pennsylvania