Child citizens in the Indian republic

The total lack of infrastructure and the quality of teaching is indicative of the low priority given to basic education in India, especially in the rural and the urban-poor, high population areas. But we cannot claim to be a real republic unless we address this lack, enabling all classes of citizens a voice in the collective shaping of society, says A. R. VASAVI.

MOST nations in declaring themselves to be "republics" also sought to provide the essential bases of equality, especially that of basic education, for all their citizens. That we in India do not have this as a basic right is perhaps indicative of the fact that we are not, after all, a republic in the true sense of the term; that is, a nation where power is held by the people and where there is equality between its members. Failure to have made basic education a priority sector forms the foundation of persisting inequalities in a nation with an entrenched hierarchical social structure. As a result, the practice and functioning of a genuine democracy are belied at multiple levels since most members are disabled from collectively shaping their society.

Since the initiation of the economic liberalisation agenda, there has been an urgency by successive governments to improve the literacy levels of the nation so as to boost the ranking of the nation in international development indicators. Such schemes, programmes and policies have ranged from the spectacle creating "Literacy Missions" to those of State-specific schemes that seek to enhance the literacy levels of specific categories of people. But the more permanent and important aspect of education, institution-building or establishing schools as central institutions in the societies and communities in which they function has largely been neglected. It is little wonder then that there are, at the end of the century, about a hundred million children in the age-group 6-14 who are out of school.

But, despite problems in accessibility and the limitations of the education system, such as its strong urban bias and the lack of linkage to appropriate employment or livelihood enhancing capabilities, there is now a groundswell of demand for basic education. For the first time in the history of the nation, and perhaps in Indian civilisation, children from groups and societies that were typically excluded from rights to formal learning are now attending schools. Such children include those from Caste groups officially identified as Scheduled Castes and Tribes, Backward Castes and the Most Backward Caste groups whose Caste and class occupation ranks them in the lowest economic and social scales. Yet, for many children from these families, basic education is not free, as it is often assumed, and many families extend themselves well beyond their economic capacities to provide for their children to be in school. Children themselves take tremendous trouble to be in school; many walk miles to attend schools, some cross rivers and streams, others traverse jungles, urban children brave unruly and dangerous traffic to get to school, and many combine arduous domestic chores and responsibilities with school work. Worse still, many children bear the frequent and wide-spread corporal punishment meted out to them and tolerate the verbal and mental abuse of some hostile and cruel teachers as inevitable in the process of being educated.

But State response to such propensity for education has been slow and lackadaisical. In many areas, dysfunctional schools and indifferent teachers account for a number of children dropping out of school, even though they are not employed or perform household chores. In failing to cater to such demands, the State actively retains a large number of children in various conditions of child labour, including forms of bonded labour in the agricultural, industrial and service sectors. Decreasing financial support and poor administration of government schools have also led to the decline of the existing government schools in many areas. As a result, government schools have mostly become schools for children of the most poor and the low-ranked caste groups, resulting in a ghettoisation of schooling. Our recent study of selected schools in six States confirms this; on an average, about 74 percent of children in the government schools are from Scheduled Caste and Backward Caste families, while private schools have mostly children from the middle and upper caste groups.

The lack of regulation of private schools has meant that there are now a number of schools that vary in terms of medium of instruction, type of management, school-board affiliation and religious orientation. This proliferation of schools has implications in that the diversity of schools does not reflect the cultural plurality of the nation but rather is a result of the increasing commercialisation of education and the class and sectarian options that people make in education. More importantly, such "school differentiation" negates any role that education can play in developing a shared sense of citizenship or even in providing shared resemblances across a socially and economically diverse student body.

Recent neo-liberal economic planning calls for the withdrawal of State financing from such social sectors such as education. But given that a significant proportion of people continue to live below the poverty level and face multiple forms of exclusion, the State must also bear the larger responsibility for financing and supporting elementary education. The growth of large, urban poverty zones in many parts of the country is a case in point. While most data and policies continue to emphasise the disadvantages that rural areas have with reference to education opportunity, new trends indicate that it is in the urban poverty areas that a large percentage of out-of-school children can be found. The State must take cognisance of the fact that failure to establish schools in such high population growth areas will lead to the growth of a large body of non-literate citizens and to an unregulated school market which will further disadvantage those unable to access or engage with the market. Only the continuation of substantial State support, including benefits and incentives such as grains, mid-day meals, uniforms and text-books can ensure that the children of the poorest attend schools.

Policy makers also need to bear in mind that education deprivation in the nation results not only from poverty but also from pyramidal social relations that enhance the forms by which children are excluded and eliminated from school. Such contexts and conditions demand that the State be able to address the social bases of education exclusion such as child labour, discrimination against girl children, child marriage and even the practice of untouchability within schools. That such practices and conditions are not only accepted but also seen as inevitable and unchangeable by even the key agents of the education system, that is the teachers, are issues that must be radically challenged. A continued failure to address the wide-spread education deprivation will contribute to enhancing not only the great class and cultural divides but also the forms of democratic deficits that exist in the nation. Further, such conditions will make dubious the claims to being a "republic" that is resurgent and which will be a leader in the world's "knowledge economy".

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Things are not what they seem
Next     : The village assembly