The "Business of Education" & Political Connections

It is an open secret that many private educational trusts and mega-schools are owned or backed by politicians and powerful businessmen. When the individuals responsible for creating public policies also profit from private education, there is a massive conflict of interest. There is very little political will to aggressively fix government schools because a thriving public system would directly reduce the demand for expensive private alternatives. While regulations like the Right to Education (RTE) Act exist to cap exploitation or mandate free seats for lower-income groups, private schools frequently exploit legal loopholes. Fees are hiked under various hidden charges (development fees, smart-class fees, uniforms, and books bought strictly from the school), and no centralized regulatory authority strictly questions them.