Private schools in Karnataka are facing significant challenges, leading to many being put up for sale
Dismissed as a one-off distress sale induced by Covid admission inertia, the whole school set-up, along with land and infrastructure, going on sale is becoming more common now, with at least 200 functional schools up for grabs, according to educationists and real estate agents specialising in educational properties. Because they come with a lot of liabilities, many schools have not been able to sell.
Prasanna said: “State board schools – operating on smaller premises, with low fee structure – are seeing parents shift their children to bigger schools, especially into CBSE/ICSE curriculum. They pump in money for infrastructure and branding,” he said. National Institute of Open Schooling, for instance, has been having a large patronage now,” said a city school principal. That is why many of them have not been sold,” said the school principal.
BENGALURU: Private schools in Karnataka are on sale. At the same time, smaller CBSE/ICSE schools are unable to face competition dictated by big brands entering their jurisdiction. Agreed N Prabhakar Urs, founder of The School Company, which is into sale, rental and lease of schools. “Every corporate school is coming to district headquarters, creating tough competition for small, budget schools. They invest crores of rupees in one go. They have marketing strategies, offer admission-fee waivers, and other offers to attract parents. Their school buses ply up to 50km whereas that of a small school might ply for 15km. “With newer curriculums, options for parents have widened. Some schools have invested heavily expecting good admissions but they don’t. These liabilities include loans, court cases and lack of clarity over documents. “Nobody wants to get into that whirlpool.
Last year, around 5,500 schools in Karnataka did not receive renewals. Because this is not glamorous, “The next generation is not interested. On the other hand, state board schools are struggling with renewal-of-recognition compliances as the department is very stringent with them. Family-run schools are also on the block. It’s not easy dealing with everyday problems like complaints from parents, teachers and so on. So the new generation is not inclined to stay with the business,” Prasanna added.