Mahaul and Mazboori: educational aspirations and realities of Dalit youth in Delhi

Abstract

This paper examines the predicament of the Dalit youth in their pursuit of higher education through a qualitative study in a low-income locality of Delhi. In absence of control over material resources historically, education offered promise in liberating socially excluded groups for its instrumental link with modern occupational structure. The policy of universal public education backed up with affirmative action in India has formally aided its access across sections. Even as the participation of the hitherto marginalized groups has been increasing manifold, privatization and marketisation in the education sector under the neo-liberal regime have transformed the educational landscape. Dalit youth is largely segregated into low-quality distance and social sciences education. The paper discusses various constraining and motivating factors embedded within and outside the neighbourhood and educational institutions which shape their educational interests, choices, and decisions. It elaborates on how cumulative socio-cultural, spatial, and historical disadvantages continue to shape the process of educational exclusion, even when these groups live in a metropolitan city amidst educational institutions. However, we also stress that the state policies, informed mentors, shared aspirations, and diversity in socio-cultural interactions hold the potential to alter and widen educational aspirations, access, and outcomes.

Keywords:

• Dalit youth
• higher education
• public education
• caste
• Delhi

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on the doctoral research of the first author, supervised by the second author. Firstly, the authors would like to thank all the participants for giving their time and, sharing aspirations and experiences of their educational journey. We are immensely grateful to Dr. Bhim Reddy for the insights and critical inputs in developing this paper. . We thank Dr. Manoj Bandan Balsamanta for his comments and feedback on the paper. Finally, authors are immensely indebted to the anonymous reviewers for offering comments and suggestions on the paper. .

Disclosure statement

There are no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report.

Ethical approval

The research conforms to the ethical guidelines of the institution. The research procedure and methods deployed in the research were monitored and approved by the Department Post-graduate Programme Committee (DPPC). Informed oral consent was obtained from all the research participants.

Notes

1 In all the state controlled and administered higher educational institutes of the total seats 15% is reserved for the members of Scheduled Castes (SCs); 7.5% for Scheduled Tribe (ST); and 27% is allotted to Other Backwards Classes (OBCs).

2 Dalit refers to socio-politically assertive identity of ex-untouchables in India. In the caste order they were assigned to perform defiling work they had been subjected to humiliation and discrimination that aided in their systematic exclusion from all spheres of life. Administratively the members are categorized as Scheduled Castes (SCs).

3 The Delhi Directorate of Education (DDE) classifies schools into nine categories: Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB), New Delhi Municipal Council school (NDMC), Kendriya Vidyalaya School (KVS), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Public schools recognized by MCD, MCD aided schools, DoE recognized schools, government aided schools and government schools. According to the 2018 economic survey of Delhi, there are 5772 schools in the city.

4 Some of the prominent and well reputed English medium public schools in the vicinity of the settlement were established in mid or late seventies (1975). The usage of Public in the names of these schools is misleading because they are privately run and its access is mainly restricted to upper- and middle-class families capable of paying exorbitant fees. In the post liberalization age, the city has witnessed a rapid growth in the number of private schools capturing on the people’s aspiration to secure quality education for their children. These private schools are internally stratified based on their location, fee structure, quality of education, and the classes/communities that are able to access them. In the private education sector, English medium elite “public”, “international” and “global” schools “cater to the education of the upper and middle class” (Nambissan, 2012, p. 52). At the lower spectrum, there are unregulated low-budget English medium schools situated within or nearby low-income settlements which are accessed by the children from low-income families. It is to be noted that most of our participants completed their school education before the implementation of RTE Act. Therefore, despite the existence of elite English medium schools due to the constraint of economic condition most of them accessed state schools available in the vicinity. Since the implementation of the act many parents try to secure and infrequently succeed in gaining admission for their children in these pre-eminent private schools. Also, several low budget English medium private schools within the settlement are not eligible to reserve 25% seat for the EWS students as the act prohibits unrecognized schools from the practice.

5 According to the policy all students are mandatorily passed till eighth grade and cannot be detained before completing elementary education.

6 The act is also known as Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education was enacted in 2009 and came in effect in 2010. It guarantees free and compulsory education for children between six and fourteen years. In order to ensure compulsory education, the act requires all private schools to reserve 25% seats for the students coming from economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups. The disadvantaged groups include the members of SC, ST, OBCs, transgender and orphans.

7 As most of our participants completed school education before the AAP gained electoral success in the city (2015), therefore in the paper we do not focus on how reforms introduced in the state schools by the government has influenced the educational outcome for Dalit youths. Although we did interview students who were in class 11th and 12th when the AAP led government introduced the reforms, as our fieldwork began in 2016 any assessment of the reforms would only have proven speculative.

8 According to the AISHE (2018–2019, p. 17) total enrolment in universities and its constituent unit in regular mode is 3514727 and in distance mode is 3972068. This includes enrolment in Ph.D., M.Phil., Post Graduate, Under Graduate, PG Diploma, Diploma, Certificate and integrated courses.

9 In undergraduate SOL offers B.A. programme, and B.A. honours in English and Political Science, B.Com. and B.Com. (honours). Post-graduate courses include M.A. in Hindi, History, Political Science, Sanskrit, and M.Com.

10 This paper is based on the doctoral research of the first author, supervised by the second author. We discussed and tried to find solutions together to overcome and negotiate difficult situations that arose during the fieldwork owing to the gender and caste location of the researcher in the field.

11 It means there is no atmosphere to study.

12 B.Ed. is required to appear in CTET and State Teacher Eligibility Test held by the central and state governments respectively to fill the teaching positions in state-run schools.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rama Devi

Rama Devi is a teaching fellow at KREA University, India. Rama holds research interest broadly in the domains of contemporary caste, urban space-making, aspirations of marginalised youths under neo-liberal economic order and higher education. Her research focuses on the interrelationship between caste identity and urban space in consolidating urban inequalities.

Sawmya Ray

Sawmya Ray is a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. She teaches Sociology, Gender studies and Development studies. Her areas of research specialization include Sociology of Gender, Sociology of Law, Human Rights and Gender, Sex Trafficking and Sex Work, and Caste Studies.