ahmedabad like most people rajnikant solanki a sanitation worker living in dudheshwar area here was worried when he was handed a 20 pay cut due to covid19 pandemic with his meagre earnings now dropping to rs 6500 per month he was faced with a tough choice to feed his two daughters or send them to private schoolwith the annual fee of rs 10000 for his two daughters now totally unaffordable solanki sought financial help from the school with authorities not forthcoming he dumped the dream of educating his girls in private school and got them admitted in the governmentrun shahibaug shala number6 his younger daughter has taken admission in class 3 while the elder one in class 7solanki says his apprehensions over quality of education were unfounded as his daughters have started online classes despite charging fees private schools did not offer online education he saidfollowing the covidtriggered financial slowdown where families are grappling with pay cuts pink slips and depressed incomes government and grantin aid schools in gujarat have seen a rush of students from selffinanced schools in fact there has been a 30 rise in intake of such studentsthis year 236 lakh students have moved from selffinanced schools to government and grantin aid schools across the state said vinod rao secretary education departmentgovt schools only hopethis year 236 lakh students have moved from selffinanced schools to government and grantin aid schools across the state last year this number was 17 lakh the homelearning initiative seems to be the biggest reason for this change said vinod rao secretary education departmentthe government has started 15000 smart classes and introduced textbooks with qr code to help students learn in a better way a lot of audiovisual content has been generated for the students all these steps have led to an increase in students opting for government run schools rao addedat least 20 of parents are yet to pay fees for the ongoing academic year at selffinanced schools due to job losses salary cuts or losses made in business due to covid19 crisis said sources there are close to 33000 government and about 5000 grantin aid schools offering hope to parents faced with financial crises these schools have more than 50 lakh students enrolled ahmedabad municipal corporation amc school board administrative officer l d desai said the amc schools have seen an 14000 more such candidates than last year who shifted from private schools dinesh thakor a rickshaw driver who is struggling to make his ends meet says he has moved his two daughters from a private school at paldi to kankaria public school as he could not no longer afford the tuition fees amid the coronavirus pandemic with few people sitting in autos due to covid fear incomes have dropped by 80 there is barely enough to buy food there was no way i could pay rs 26000 annual school fees said thakor