Paying bribe for admission into top school - Worth it ?

Hi

My son will turn 3 this November and he is eligible to apply for admission into nursery schools at the high schools this time around. By nursery school at high school I mean that while he would be getting admitted into the nursery class, the school itself is upto 12th standard, so he would be in the same school till he takes his Senior Secondary Board exams.

The problem is that there are some supposedly 'better' schools which have the reputation, the history and everything associated with it. It is also considered important from a social point of view that your child goes to the right school. However, it is near impossible to gain admission into one of these schools through the regular admission process.

Let's say I know a person who can organize my son's admission into one of the most prestigious schools. The fee/ bribe is Rs. 10,00,000.00 (around 22000 USD) in cash. I must point out that this is a very large sum for India where I pay my son's maid Rs.4000 (85 uSD) per month and my wife who is at a reasonable mid level position in a multi-national earns around 38000 USD a year. The amount of bribe is roughly equal to the total amount of school fees to be paid over the next 12 years.

So the question is whether it is worth it to spend the money for the stamp of having studied at the supposedly better schools or should I send him to the neighbourhood school where I have studied and I consider a perfectly good school. Even admission into this school is not assured though I am quite hopeful since neighbourhood criterion has a lot of weightage here.

Yours thoughts, please.

Thanks

If you can live with yourself after you pay the bribe, knowing that you've contributed to the corruption in your own country, go for it.

That's a lot of money. How much would it cost for you to send him to the U.S. or England instead?

Originally Posted by bluemagic

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That's a lot of money. How much would it cost for you to send him to the U.S. or England instead?

Obviously a lot more.

If I were in your situation, I'd probably do it.

You know full well that getting into a good college is largely dependent on your board scores. My cousin went to local "private" school( i get confused about the school system there) and did well on the exams and went to good colleges in N.D. At the end of the day if the school is good, it's up to you as a parent to push them to excel(trust me i know full well what indian parents do, as I am indian) and to develop as a good person. Everybody ends up getting "tution" anyway for the exams. Having lived in New Delhi, bribes were popular back in the 90's but now they are done on the downlow. Also, having lived there, 10lakh is a decent sized bribe, but not out of question. I'd give the bribe and report the ****** to NDTV or CNN-IBN.
What part of N.D. you located in?

Thanks for all your comments.

Just to clarify I am balking at the size of bribe rather than the concept.

^^I don't think 10L is that unusual. But then again, I'm American.

Originally Posted by aj_del

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Just to clarify I am balking at the size of bribe rather than the concept.

How much to get your kid into IIT?

^^ almost impossible, also not worth it since if you can't get there on merit you probably are not going to do well there anyway. Primary school is different plus there is no merit. Just random selection

How do you know he won't take the money and then not let your kid in?

You seem to understand that we don't have any clue what money is worth in India, yet we're supposed to be able to evaluate the social returns associated with going to the right school?

And doesn't it depend what fraction $22K is of your net worth? Or were you hoping we'd ask?

^^ I told you how much a maid's salary is worth and how much my wife earns. I can tell you the price of a Coke and a McD burger (around 120 INR - 2.5 USD). Any other info you would like ....

And the most expensive tailor in Delhi charges Rs.10000 (USD 220) for making a suit. Labour only

Originally Posted by CunningSmeagol

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You seem to understand that we don't have any clue what money is worth in India, yet we're supposed to be able to evaluate the social returns associated with going to the right school?
speak for yourself, pal anyway, OP, do it. I'm telling you, do it. I mostly went to school in the middle east and in canada, but finished 12th grade in india at a good school where the socialites sent their kids, and the people I met were INSANE. some of the friends i made include a young scion of the dhirubai ambani clan, and the son of an extremely famous movie director who shall go unnamed, but has immense political influence (just to clarify for people unfamiliar with india, the movie industry and political spheres are one and the same in many of the richer parts of the country) i don't really respect inherited wealth, so i only maintain sporadic contact with these folks through facebook, but i mean, if you value that sort of thing, kid is an ambani. we're talking bigger than bill gates here. 22 lakhs is pissfuck nothing to the kind of network your kid will end up building