Can investing in government schools result in an improved education system? Or does the answer lie in developing affordable private schools? In this episode, Aditya Natraj, CEO of Piramal Foundation, and Parth Shah, founder-president of the Centre for Civil Society, discuss the pros and cons of government and private schools, and why both systems need to work together to ensure quality education for children.  Highlights: The pandemic has thrown up many challenges for both government and private schools. The entire education system needs to be reassessed to ensure children don’t suffer any further learning losses.  A monopoly of either system takes away parents’ right to choose the kind of education they want for their children. It is important for affordable private schools to co-exist with government schools. There is a huge gap between the perception and reality of both schooling systems. The perception of either system’s performance vis-a-vis national surveys and popular media does not usually paint the whole picture. For more information about IDR, go to www.idronline.com. Also, follow IDR on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram.  Read more: 1.  The purpose of education: Learn, do, become. 2.  Are private schools really better than government schools? 3.  “Let us not give up on government schools” 4.  Can we ensure all children return to schools? 5.  How reliable is India’s learning outcomes data? 6.  State of the sector report on private schools in India 7.  Without accountability, there’s no pressure to improve 8.  What standardised testing doesn’t tell us about learning 9.  What the National Education Policy means for India 10.  Why Indian children can’t read 11.  Education in India needs an overhaul 12.  Teacher shortage: A problem of distribution or scarcity? 13.  The billion dollar opportunity in affordable private schools 14.  Charting the rise of budget private schools