Understanding Marketing Strategies of Private Schools in a Provincial Town in Rajasthan, India

This paper, based on empirical study of private schools (n=35) and the families (n=105) in select localities (n=3), explores the nature and growth of diversified school market(s) in Alwar city of Rajasthan in India. It observes that the private schools execute range of strategies, both ethical and unethical at times, to influence parents to attract admissions. School strategies range from the most modern methods such as advertising through local television channels, Whatsapp and Facebook, roadside-billboards, wall-painting, door-to-door visits, etc., to the invoking of primordial affiliations such as kinship ties, caste and religious identities to reach out to parents. The schools also use promises like better English medium education, ensuring safety and security of the child, better discipline and providing coaching to prepare students to get admission into prominent government schools, engineering and medical institutes of the country as marketing strategies to flourish and sustain in competitive education market.