Determinants of school choice and their relation to success to the institution: a comparative study between public and private schools in Bangladesh

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to identify the determinants of school choice and factors that define the success of a school as perceived by the parents and then compare “Public” and “Private” schools with respect to the explored criteria to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the institutions.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on 1,121 quantitative data collected through survey questionnaire from the parents living in urban areas of Bangladesh. The school choice model was developed and validated by applying structural equation modeling.FindingsThis paper offers a statistically significant, robust and reliable five-dimensional 23-item school choice model that includes both school characteristics and preferred outcomes as perceived by the parents. Characteristic-wise comparisons in terms of characteristics revealed that public schools are superior to private institutions in fulfilling several choice criteria such as parents–teacher relationships, performance of the teachers, offerings of special programs, safety assurance in the campus and in having bigger campus with playground. On the other hand, private schools dominate in providing better educational environment, arranging training to the teachers, ensuring satisfactory library services and delivering information effectively to the parents. Among outcome determinants, government schools are well ahead in creating self-discipline, morality and good work habits among students. Private schools are superior in developing critical thinking skill of the kids.Originality/valueThere is a gap of comprehensive empirical study on school choice in South Asia region that includes both school characteristics and outcomes. Therefore, this paper contributes significantly to the relevant literature.

Improving School Reconstruction Projects Satisfaction Outcomes Using Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment (FQFD)

“…Hwang et al [58] proposed using energy-saving materials and room thermal comfort on the roofs of school buildings in Taiwan. Playgrounds are integrated into campus facilities to shape and develop student character, discipline, and morality [59], and must be improved in the school design phase. In fact, schools can be seen as an adequate playground from the perspective of economic and social sustainability [60].…”

Determinants of Parental School Choice: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…In Bangladesh concerning the physical facilities, it was observed that many private schools have a large and diversified collection of books with a mandatory provision of library hours and internet connectivity and hence parents prefer private schools (Chowdhury & Synthia, 2020).…”

“…In Bangladesh, public schools follow the national curriculum that focuses more on core contents, whereas private schools put more emphasis on critical reasoning and learning or operational curriculum (Chowdhury & Synthia, 2020). Hence school curriculum is the major factor for school choice in Bangladesh and the structure of the curriculum of the school is the critical factor in the school choice of Tamilnadu (Jayasubramanian, Rajamani, & Rajakrishnan, 2020).…”