Startup Originals Team
Commenting on the alleged suicide of a 16-year-old student at St. Columba’s School in New Delhi, entrepreneur and former banker Ashneer Grover publicly criticised how many urban private schools have transitioned into elite “clubs” rather than educational institutions. He asserted that these schools prioritise status and exclusivity over students’ well-being and core learning.
Incident at St. Columba’s and Public Reaction:
According to reports, on 20 November 2025, a 16-year-old student of St. Columba’s School was found dead. The family alleged that the student had been subjected to mental harassment and pressure at school, prompting protests by parents and students and the suspension of three teachers and the headmistress by the school administration.
In response, Ashneer Grover took to social media platform X, writing:
“All big city schools are clubs – hard to get in and status symbols.”
“All school management / owners have therefore started acting as club owners – not educators.”
His remarks triggered a wave of comments from the public, with many agreeing and adding concerns about student mental-health support, parental pressure and the commercialisation of schooling.
Schools as Status Symbols: What Grover’s Critique Highlights
Grover’s criticism centres on three interconnected themes:
- Commercialisation and exclusivity: He suggests that top private schools in big cities operate less like institutions of learning and more like members-only clubs, emphasising brand, fees and social status.
- Management mindset: Groove argues that school leadership increasingly behaves like club owners, focusing on amenities, branding and image rather than education and student care.
- Mental-health and student welfare: The incident raises questions about how schools manage pressure, student well-being, mental-health support and whether the culture of high stakes and performance contributes to tragic outcomes.
Wider Implications for Private Schooling in India:
This episode and the ensuing critique bring several broader issues into focus:
- Pressure on students: As competition intensifies, students in elite institutions may face disproportionate stress, less personal support and greater anxiety.
- Parental expectations and status: Some social media users responding to Grover’s comments pointed to the role of parents: “Parents are more concerned about the status symbol associated with the school rather than the education their kids are getting.”
- Need for mental-health infrastructure: The incident lends further weight to calls for mandatory counselling, teacher training, and better support systems for at-risk adolescents.
- Re-thinking schooling values: It invites stakeholders to reflect: Should a school primarily tell students what to think or how to think, or support them as individuals navigating modern challenges?
What to Watch Going Forward:
- How St. Columba’s and other schools will respond with reforms: Will there be more transparent student-welfare policies, mental-health services and changes to school-culture?
- Whether regulatory bodies or state governments will examine the mental-health frameworks in private schools and recommend guidelines or oversight.
- How private-school models evolve: Will more schools shift from “prestige-driven club models” toward holistic student-first education and well-being-led frameworks?
Final Word:
Ashneer Grover’s stark assessment of urban private schools as clubs underscores deep-seated concerns about modern schooling in India, especially in elite institutions. The tragic case of the 16-year-old student at St. Columba’s serves as a sobering reminder that status, branding and exclusivity cannot substitute for genuine student welfare and educational care. As the conversation intensifies, the question remains: Will school leaderships, parents and policymakers move beyond optics and tackle the underlying issues that affect young lives?
