Abstract
Pakistan comprises of a complex and chaotic society divided into various socio-economic strata. These strata are characterized in terms of their access to the resources and social mobility. Obviously rich strata are the privileged ones who have access and opportunities to the best resources and have social mobility. Lower classes have less opportunity to compete with the upper strata. The average class keeps struggling to attain their position in the society. This phenomenon has deep implications in parents’ school choice for their children, more specifically in a society where they have free choice to select school of their choice. This is in contrast to Education system of Europe and America, where governments exert influence on parents’ school choice to reduce inequities in the society. The study, thus, explores practices, actions and inclinations of parents’ school choice for their children with respect to their social strata. The study endeavors to explain how and what various parents of different cultural capital look for while preferring one school to other. Exploratory design was used for the study. A sample of twenty-nine parents, fifteen from urban and fourteen from rural areas of Sargodha district was purposively selected and interviewed. Qualitative data were analyzed to get appropriate patterns of parents’ school choice for their children. Overall, private schools are preferred over public schools due to the stigma attached to the public schools for not providing quality educational atmosphere and the parents’ concerns for safety, security, caring atmosphere and good teachers with whom children feel comfort. As government plays no significant role in school choice for children, this creates segregation among students and generates inequities.