Private schooling and aspirations: a case study of parental perceptions in a low income settlement of Delhi

This paper based on an exploratory study of low cost private schools in Delhi, India argues that low income parents have limited access to social and economic resources which gets reflected in their educational aspirations and the future they anticipate for their children. Using Bourduie concept of “habitus” and cultural capital the paper tries to understand the ways parental aspirations get shaped given their low socio-economic status and get influenced by the household survival strategies and parental education level. Drawing on data from a series of semi structured in-depth interviews with parents; the paper examines the ways in which the low cost schools perpetuate existing inequalities rather than encouraging disadvantaged parents and children. The paper highlights that the poorly resourced low cost private schools fail to give better aspirations to the parents. Also within the given context low income parents tend to cap their educational and occupational aspirations.