'India's public school students at par with private students'

The study challenges the claim that private schools are superior - a hot issue in India and other developing countries.

According to the report, during the past decade some 40 million children have entered India's education system, giving rise to growth in privately run schools.

"Our study finds no consistent benefit of attending a private school," said Amita Chudgar, assistant professor of educational administration.

"The main implication is to recognise that the debate is not settled regarding public and private schools," she said in a statement.

Amita analysed the reading, writing and math performance of 10,000 Indian students aged 8 to 11.

Since private-school students generally come from families with higher income and education levels, she narrowed the research sample to private and public school students with similar backgrounds.

The study, which appears in Economics of Education Review, found that private school attendance is not associated with any systematic and specific benefit in terms of increased student achievement.

Amita said the results hold for rural and urban areas of India, and for both expensive private schools and low-fee private schools.

Unlike in the US - where a raft of research has produced mixed results in the public versus private school debate - only a handful of studies have been conducted on the burgeoning Indian educational system, and those studies have favoured private schools, the report said.

However, it's important to keep researching and discussing the issue, Amita said.

"There's a perception among some that a child will enjoy better educational outcomes simply because she or he attends a private school, even a low-fee private school.

"But we hope for a more robust conversation on the benefits and limitations of privatisation in the developing world," Amita said.