SC and ST Communities: Deprivation of Basic Education

SC and ST Communities: Deprivation of Basic Education

Question: Children from the SC and ST communities in India form a majority of the those deprived of basic education. Discuss.

- A survey backed by the central government has revealed that in the six years since RTE, close to 60 lakh children between ages 6 and 13 remain non schooled in India

- Children from SC and ST form 49% or 29.73 lakh of deprived kids while OBCs constitute 36% indicating RTE has brought little change in marginal groups and communities

- Majority of out of school children in rural areas (77%) as compared to urban areas

- Around 15.57 lakh Muslim children are out of school, comprising around 25% of unschooled children

- Around 3% of the total 20.4 crore school going children are deprived of their RTE

- Activists have argued that families from backward communities such as SC and ST fail to send children to school due to economic compulsions

- Even with subsidised education for children, families hold that earnings will suffer if they are placed in schools

- Efforts should be made to incentivise children’s education to attain justice for all

- However, on a positive note, at 29 lakh, girls comprise 48% of unschooled children indicating fewer girls are out of school

- Number of OOS children has been a source of contention with UNESCO reporting that India is one of the worst performing nations in the world when it comes to basic education

- India has made impressive progress in primary education associated with 2012 figures provided by India according to which around 17 lakh children are out of school

At least 1 million children have been denied education in the following nations:

- India

- Indonesia

- Kenya

- Niger

- Nigeria

- Pakistan

- Philippines

- South Sudan

- Sudan

- United Republic of Tanzania

Facts and Stats

- According to the MHRD, 60,64,229 students are out of school in India with around 31,66,409 boys and 28,97,820 girls

- The OSS include 13,68,711 in urban areas and 46,95,518 in rural areas

- Caste wise, number of SC students are 19,66,027, ST number around 10,07,562

- OBC students equal 22,06,001 while other groups total around 8,84,639

- Religion wise, 62,699 are Christian students, 15,57,100 are Muslim and 44,02,413 are Hindu while 42,017 belong to other categories