Government funding of education is always controversial. Almost nobody argues that it should not be done at all; since the time of the Greeks, public education for everybody's long-term benefit has been considered a worthy project. Tempers flare when it comes to the 'how' part of it. One troubling issue is how to 'target' the public funds in a manner that would yield optimal results.

Just spending money on education is not good enough. In fact, state-run schools in many parts of the world are so derelict that the policy has become a zone of high cynicism. 'Why don't we simplify everything and open guns and drugs exchanges instead?' a TV comedian in America once asked.

For long, some people argued that the government cannot be expected to run anything, especially for the poor, with the efficiency of the private sector. Since state-run schools are not directly accountable to the people (least of all, to the poor), they have little incentive to perform. So the only thing to do is make sure nobody you care about has to go to one of these schools.

But then, somebody wondered why public schooling cannot make use of the key factor that makes private schooling so much better-competition. And thus emerged the idea of school coupons.

The logic? To educate the poor, empower parents. Give them the capacity to behave like better-off parents: like people who have the means for education, and more importantly, the power of choice in schools. Use the public education budget to hand out fee-coupons (for schools to collect and the government to encash), and let parents pick schools for their kids. The schools, meanwhile, would be supplied by the market. Enterprising educators would go about identifying zones of opportunity, setting up schools, and then competing-on quality-with other schools for the coupons. This would maximise customer satisfaction, while directing the budget towards the actual need.

It's a radical idea, no doubt. It asks the government to stop running schools, and to empower poor parents with the means to get their children educated. But then, the government would have to cede education itself to private entities, and that's another entire point of controversy. It took decades for parents to appreciate the 'scientific temper' rationale of IITs.