Dalits discriminated against in schools: study

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A study conducted under the banner of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in November 2006 had reported that children hailing from Dalit colonies in the city were discriminated against in schools.
The research, carried out by the Technical Support Group of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development in Erode and Akkulam colonies in the district, also reported continuing segregation of Dalit students in certain schools in the State.
The research conducted through extensive grassroots-level interviews and group discussions with students revealed that many hailing from Dalit communities were teased by their classmates about their low social standing. The two colonies had a high percentage of the Scheduled Caste population.
Sindhu (not her real name), a former student from the Akkulam colony, narrated how her classmates taunted her saying she was the daughter of a ‘servant.’ She studied up to class X in a government school in the locality. “Some of them used to tease me saying that I came from a colony. I felt ashamed to say that I lived in a colony,” she said.
According to her, even teachers discriminated against Dalit students in school. “Some teachers ignored us deliberately during lectures. Only students who studied well were asked to read out lessons in the class,” said Sindhu adding that she had never been asked by her English teacher to read out any lesson in class. The students identified English and Mathematics as among the most difficult subjects to learn.No private tuitions
Financial difficulties faced by their families prevented the children from taking private tuitions unlike their affluent classmates.
As a result, most children who hailed from the colony either failed to clear the class X examination or discontinued their studies earlier, the study said.
Bindu (name changed), a class X dropout who is currently working as a garden cleaner at the Akkulam tourist village, described her school days as “very painful.” She had to do all the household chores along with that of her neighbours before and after school hours. “At the school, I did not receive any support from the teachers. Only well-off students got attention at government schools,” she said.
Bindu said the environment at home matters a lot in a child’s education. “Owing to frequent fights between my parents at nights, I could hardly study at home,” she said. Her two brothers too dropped out of school before class X.
Most of the men in the locality work as casual labourers, while women work as domestic help in affluent neighbourhoods. The study observed that the community as a whole was not interested in educating their children. As per the 1991 census, the literacy rate of Dalits in the State stood at 79.66 per cent.
The research is part of a series of case studies on education conducted by the group among children living in urban slums in various parts of the country.