Nexus between Branding of Education and Parental School Choice: Evidence from Islamabad, Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47067/ramss.v5i3.242Keywords:
Branding, Private Schools, School Choice, Class Divide, Status ConsciousnessAbstract
The educational system in Pakistan is in a dismal position ever since it was established. The government sector has lost credibility with the public and is no longer the first option for parents due to inadequate, consistent, and effective policies and basic infrastructure. Parents are actively choosing the private sector schools for their children. Since denationalization during late 1970s, the private sector has grown steadily. It has expanded during past two decades, establishing new standards for outstanding education, but concerns about the rising class divide affecting social equality have also arisen. The existing literature supports private schools' growing role in expanding enrollment and resolving quality and access issues, but little is stated about their influence on society. Private schools are subtly attacking social justice and equality by increasing the social stratification and widening the socioeconomic difference. Private schools' branding techniques influence parents' choosing a junior and a high school for their children. Most of the research in this field has focused on exploring how the problems of quality, access, and other variables influence students' decisions about which schools to attend. However this research is aimed at exploring on a very basic issue: why are private schools favored because of their "branding"—the branding that has strengthened the status awareness in parents and school choice that has joined the realm of class conflict with several dimensions. The state's obligation to deliver at certain level of essential services has been privatized and sold out in the open market. The middle class's preference is migrating from public to private schools, with the goal of purchasing financial stability in order to gain access to a better-paying jobs and social circles. Today, schooling is not more than just getting an education; it's also a way to show wealth and social standing.
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