MODULE 1

Policies, Programmes and

Schemes for Educational
Development of
Children from Scheduled Castes

ABSTRACT

This module attempt to discuss the educational status, problems

and issues related to the children from scheduled castes after
independence. Through this module, the master trainers and
teachers become empower to know about the implementation
of various programmes, policies and schemes launched by the
government for educational development of children from
scheduled castes. The module also highlight the reasons for
educational backwardness, constitutional provisions, safety guards
and positive discrimination to the empowerment of scheduled castes
through educational upliftment of their children.
 CONTENTS

§
1. Introduction
2. Rationale of the Module
3. Objectives
4. Education of Scheduled Castes
5. Introduction of the Scheduled Castes
6. Reasons for Educational Backwardness of SC Children
7. Constitutional Provisions
8. Policies for Educational Development of Scheduled Castes
9. Programmes for Educational Development of Scheduled Castes
10. Schemes for Educational Development of Scheduled Castes
11. Conclusion
References
1. Introduction
Once we look back and review the progress of our coun-
try in various areas, we find that we have made substantial
progress since independence but we still have not been able
to achieve all our targets. In the field of education, various
Committees and Commissions were constituted which did wider
consultations and made recommendations. On the basis of these
recommendations, a National Policy of Education was
formulated in 1986 and a Programme of Action was developed in
1992 which spelt out short term, medium term and long term
measures to achieve the targets as spelt out in National Policy
of Education. This was followed by various programmes and
projects, both at the National and State levels and the progress
made under them was considered. At the primary and elementary
level, some of such programmes were District Primary Education
Programme (DPEP), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Shiksha Karmi
Yojana, Bihar Education Project, Lok Jumbish, Non-formal
Education Programme, Education Guarantee Scheme, Kasturba
Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya etc., which had their own advantages
and specific objectives. Five year plans of the country have
taken care of various achievements to set up further targets and
allocate resources for the same. However, even today, the
system has several challenges which need to be met though the
enrolment of children in schools has gone up. Even though,
the population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are
represented in appropriate proportion, substanial number of
children drop-out at upper primary level. The reasons for the
same are well known and efforts are being made to give them
another opportunity to complete their education at least till
the elementary level. In spite of this, the country felt the need
for making education a fundamental right in 2009 by RTE Act
passed and elaborated upon steps to be taken up to achieve
it. We, as a country, are moving towards Universalisation of
Secondary Education but cannot overlook the existing problems
of Education at the Elementary Level.
2. Rationale of the Module
India, as a country, includes persons with different background
viz., cultural, social, economic, linguistic and therefore, once
we have decided to address the issue of Education For All,
we need to focus our attention on all children including those
belonging to socially disadvantaged groups (Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes etc.). As per Census of India (2001) the total

POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 3

 population of Scheduled Castes at that time was 16.67
crore which was 16.2 per cent of the total population. The
difference in literacy rate of the total population and SC popu-
lation was 65.2 per cent and 54.7 per cent. As per Statistics
of School Education (as on 30th September, 2009) the total
enrolment in Class I-VIII was 1,95,09,0845 while the
enrolment of SC Children was 3,73,78,933. This constituted
19.16 per cent of the total population in Classes I-VIII.
Another significant indicator is drop-out rate. As per this very
document, the general drop-out rate at Classes VI to VIII was
42.39 per cent while the same for SC population for the same
classes was 51.25 per cent. The higher drop-out rate in case
of SC population is quite alarming and therefore, National
Council of Educational Reserch and Training (NCERT) decided
to prepare some self-learning material for teachers so that they
consciously could address themselves to this problem.
The difference between the status of education of children
from general population and SC population at the elementa-
ry education is still alarming. The National Curriculum Frame-
work (2005) has categorically stated that “The basic concern of
education - to enable children to make sense of life and develop
their potential, to define and pursue a purpose and recognise
the right of others to do the same-stand uncontested and valid
even today. If anything, we need to reiterate the mutual inter-
dependence of humans, and, as Tagore says, we achieve our
greatest happiness when we realise ourselves through others.
Equally, we need to reaffirm our commitment to the concept of
equality, within the landscape of cultural and socio-econom-
ic diversity from which children enter into the portals of the
school” (p. 2).
You will agree that the education system does not
function in isolation from the society of which it is a part,
Hierarchies of Caste, economic status and gender relations,
cultural diversity as well as the uneven economic development
that characterise Indian society also deeply influence access to
education and participation of children in school (NCF- 2005, p.
9). Thus, it is found that children belonging to disadvantaged
population including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes,
rural poor and other such groups become very vulnerable.
India, as a country, which has a wide range of diversity in
terms of caste, creed, culture, socio-economic status, has to
deal with global market forces, increased competitiveness,
inadequate public funding for education, increased competitive
4 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...
envrionment and high level of parental aspiration which puts a lot
of stress on the learner. The 73rd, 74th and 86th Constitutional
amendments are the landmark for Right to Free and Compulsory
Education for the age group of 6-14 years, popularly known as
RTE Act, 2009 which has provided increased opportunities to
local community to participate in decision-making in educa-
tion and school management. To quote from NCF (2005), open-
ing the concept of knowledge to include new areas of knowl-
edge and experience, inclusivity in selecting learning tasks,
pedagogic practices that are to promoteing participation, build-
ing self-compliance and critical awareness, and an openness to
engaging with the community to explain and share curricular
decisions are some of the ideas which have been addressed by
the National Curriculum Framework. How to implement them
is a real challenge. Some day when we decide to review the
progress achieved against the parameters decided by the Frame-
work, we would have to address them in totality. The pedagogic
approach along with the total school management calls for
orientation and training of all of us as teachers to ensure
participation and learning by all. Diversity is not a limitation of
our system rather it enriches the ethos of our classroom.
3. Objectives
The basic objective of this module is to create awareness and
knowledge in its users (teachers, teacher-educators) about the
rationale of the specific efforts made by NCERT to equip teach-
ers with required competencies through self-learning material
so that teachers become aware about their responsibilities to
adopt proper strategies to teach all children in an appropriate
environment and develop skills and knowledge to educate/teach
children from scheduled castes in a more respectable, justified
and dignified manner. After going through this module, teach-
ers/users will be able to:
●● understand the philosophy, rationale and aim of
producing this mateial, have understanding about who
constitute Scheduled Castes and appreciate its useful-
ness for educating children from scheduled castes.
●● acquire knowledge about various provisions made in the
Constitution of India and National Policy of Education
about provisions, directions for eduction of children from
scheduled castes.
●● understand the present policy, programmes and Schemes
for education of scheduled castes.
POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 5
 ●● understand and appreciate present educational scenario
vis-a-vis education of children from scheduled castes.
4. Education of Scheduled Castes
As has been mentioned earlier, the Constitution of India has
made several provisions and amendments which are helpful for
ensuring social equality and human rights. After independence,
three major commissions were set up. While Radha Krishnan
Education Commission (1948) dealt with the whole school
education system, Kothari Commission has also given a
comprehensive vision of equalisation of educational opportunity
in Chapter VI (p.108, para 6.01). It says, one of the important
social objectives of Education to equalise opportunity enabling
the backward or under-privileged classes and individuals to
use education as a level for the improvement of their condi-
tion. Every society that values social justice and is anxious to
improve the lot of the common man and cultivate all available
talent must ensure progressive equality of opportunity to all
sections of the population. This is the only guarantee for the
building up of an equalitarian and human society in which
the exploitation of the weak will be minimised. Likewise the
National Policy Resolution on Education (1968) stated that
strenous efforts should be made to equalise educational
opportunity. The commission had also made several
recommendations like free studentship for scheduled castes
for facilitating education of children belonging to this specific
group.
Besides various Commissions and National Policy of
Education, five year plans developed by the country also
made several provisions and programmes and schemes to
facilitate and promote education of scheduled castes with a
view to implement constitutional provisions. During first five
year plan and eight recommendations included opening of
Ashram Schools, pre- and post-metric scholarship, grants
for books and emphasis on Special Component Plan (SCP).
The Ninth plan has treated education as the most crucial
investment in human development and recommended
investement of 16.33 per cent of the total plan outlay for
special action plan. It has also emphasised on
minimum services for promoting educational
development with facilities of drinking water, sanitary facilities,
better nutrition through mid-day meals, health checkup
facilities and accessbility to schools. Continuing the

6 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...

effort, the Tenth five year plan had commited itself to
empowerment of the disadvantaged section of society through
various schemes viz., post-metric scholarship scheme, hostels
for girls and boys, local bank schemes, upgradation of merit of
SC/ST students, remedial coaching schemes, grant-in-aid to vol-
untary organisations and social development programmes for SC
girls belonging to low literacy districts. The working group for
Eleventh five year plan made several specific provisions for
free uniforms, footwear, funds for remedial teaching of SC/ST,
opening of more adult literacy centres for predominating SC/ST
inhabitated areas, inclusive education to take care of SC/ST,
to regulate fee structure of disadvantaged groups including
fee for higher education, implementation of reservation policy,
provision for special coaching for reserved category candidate
for clearing SET or NET examination etc. The draft of Twelth five
year plan focused on improving the quality of school education,
which means extensive and improved teacher training , upgrad-
ing curriculam and enforcing of accountability in teacher’s at-
tendence. It has also stated that there is a need to expand ca-
pacity of secondary and higher secondary schools which means
that specific efforts will have to be made under RMSA to attain
social and educational equity. The draft itself has the title Faster
Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth: An Approach to the
Twelth five year plan (August, 2011).
5. Introduction of the Scheduled Castes
At times, we are confused and use different terminology to
refer to Scheduled Castes. Dalits, Harijan, disadvantaged,
socially disadvantaged, untouchables (forbidden connotation)
are commonly used to refer to Scheduled Castes. Therefore, it is
necessary for us to understand what are Scheduled Castes?
The term which “Scheduled Castes” designates an
official rather than a sociological category, has its history in
the caste system of the country. The term signifies certain
constitutional and legal status conferred upon a number of castes
or communities united by their position as untouchables in the
hierarchical caste structure of traditional Hindu society (Jha
and Jhingran, 2005).
The caste system is the backbone of traditional Indian social
structure. Most castes originated as occupational groupings in
the past. In ancient and medieval times and even in the last
part of 20th Century caste determined the occupational sta-
tus and training given to members within a family unit. The
POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 7
 Shudras occupied the lowest position in caste hierarchy and
have traditionally been neglected throughout our long cultural
history. The inequality of opportunities institutionalised by the
caste system in the past, persisted for ages and consequently
the scheduled castes continued to be disadvantaged as far as
education was concerned. They have been victim of alienation,
poverty, illiteracy, disease and all sorts of exploitations and
superstitions. Although, since independence a lot of effort has
been made by central and state governments their, social, eco-
nomic and educational condition is still alarming. Now a days
a particular term, dalit is loosely used to mean as Scheduled
Castes of India.
Definition of Scheduled Castes and the Notification
The term “Scheduled Castes” is defined in Article 366 (24) of
the Constitution of India, as under:
“Scheduled Castes means such castes, races or tribes
or parts of or groups within such castes, races or tribes as
are deemed under Article 341 to be Scheduled Castes for the
purposes of this Constitution”
What is Article 341?
As per this Article 341-
1. The President may with respect to any State or Union
Territory and where it is a State after consultation with
the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify
the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within
castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of this
Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation
to that State or Union Territory, as the case may be.
2. Parliament may, by law, include in or exclude from the
list of Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued
under clause any caste, race or tribe or part of or group
within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid a
notification issued under the said clause shall not be
varied by any subsequent notification.

Q. Who are Scheduled Castes ?

In our country, scheduled castes have suffered from various

kinds of deprivations, biases and pre-conceived notions for a
long time and have been exploited in terms of bounded labour,
work in agriculture and as daily wagers. All scheduled castes
have been recognised socially, economically weaker section of

8 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...

the society and therefore, the development and upliftment of SC
population has been a serious concern of Government of India
since Independence. Various provisions and safeguards have
been made for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes chil-
dren. For your convenience these have been described below.
You should be able to appreciate their implications for educa-
tion of children from scheduled castes. This will also make you
aware of various aspects of education which need to be paid due
attention while teaching children of this group.
Q. Why they are Scheduled Castes ?

6. Reasons for Educational Backwardness

of Scheduled Castes Children
The continuance of educational backwardness of scheduled
castes is due to many factors. Certain factors are mentioned
below:
Poverty
It has been a major obstacle in educational development of SCs.
They are so poor and so much preoccupied with their struggle
for the basic necessities of physical life that, they fail to accept
education as a basic need of human life (Aikara, 1996). The
incidence of poverty amongst SCs still continues to be very high.
This is primarily due to the fact that a large number of SCs who
are living below the poverty line are landless with no produc-
tive assets and with no access to sustainable employment and
minimum wages (GOI, 2002). A large section of SC families,
especially in rural areas, depend upon agriculture and other
wage labour as major household occupation (Nambissan and
Sedwal; 2002). Census 2001 shows that 45.6 per cent of SC
population is agricultural labour as against 26.5 in case of gen-
eral population. Even their level of economic development has
been uneven in different states. Muralidharan (1997) found
inability of parents to meet educational needs of their children
in terms of books, notebooks, stationaries and so on is an
important reason for discontinuation of children from schools.
Opportunities to help SC families to increase their income and
bringing greater stability is important for increasing participa-
tion of their children in schooling.
Physical and Social Segregation
Studies conducted by Nambissan (2002) and Jha and Jhin-
gran (2002) show physical segregation of dalit habitations to
POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 9
 upper caste habitation resulting in physical discrimination. The
isolation of dalits is not limited to physical segregation alone.
Physical segregation has its roots in socio-cultural segrega-
tion, based on rules of purity and pollution and reflected in the
practice of untouchability. The Constitution of India (Article 17)
states that, “Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any
form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out
of untouchability shall be an offence punishable in accordance
with law”. Still untouchability is practiced in subtle forms,
especially in rural areas. The scheduled castes children are
reported to be still feeling discriminated against others within
the classroom situation. This gets expression mainly through
indifferent negative attitudes by teachers and hostile peer group
behaviour. Jha and Jhingran (2005) in their study found that,
“At some places dalit children are unnecessarily beaten, abused
and harassed by upper caste teachers. In some villages, the
teacher asks lower caste children to do a number of personal
tasks such as fetching firewood and if children do not oblige,
physical punishment is meted out to them. Sheer neglect of
dalit children by teachers by making them sit in the last row
and excluding them from all activities is also common.... Dalit
children also face hostile behaviour as children belonging to
upper castes generally bully and don’t allow to mix as equals”
(p. 129).
Lack of Easy Access to School
The availability of a school within a scheduled castes habita-
tion (in rural area) appears to be one of the most important
conditions for ensuring the enrolment of SC children. Accord-
ing to the Sixth All India Educational Survey (NCERT, 1998)
most of the SC children avail government schooling. The same
report shows that more than 91.3 per cent rural SC children
and 64.9 per cent urban SC children avail either government
or local body managed schools. Thus, their habitation needs to
be covered on priority basis under SSA. The access of school
within their own habitations, therefore, assumes tremendous
significance as far as their education is concerned. It does not
necessarily mean that access only ensures regular attendance
and retention of SC children. The regular functions of school
infrastructure, teacher attitude may affect. Sarva Shiksha Abhi-
yan ensures opening of primary schools or education guaranty
scheme centres in habitations within 0.5 km of distance. How-
ever, there is a large number of habitations in India which don’t

10 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...

yet have a school. Many of these habitations are inhabited by
the scheduled castes .
Inadequacy of Teachers and Teacher Preparation
A survey of teachers in low literacy districts noted the
under-representation of SC/ST teachers and reported that the
teachers come from more advantaged backgrounds than both
the general population and their students (World Bank, 1997).
Teacher-pupil ratios in schools attended by SC children have
been much higher than those in other schools meant for upper
caste villagers (NCERT, 2005).
Scheduled Castes have historically suffered social disadvan-
tages and educational and economic deprivation arising out of
the social context. Accordingly, special provisions have been en-
shrined in the Constitution for advancement of their interests.
7. Constitutional Provisions
The Constitution of India has clearly stated in its Pream-
ble that everyone has the right of equality of status and of
opportunity. The Directive Principles of the State Policy further
stress in Article 41 the right to work, to educate and to pub-
lic assistance in certain cases including disablement. In ad-
dition to Article 45, the Constitution lays down that free, com-
pulsory and universal primary education should be provided
to all children upto 14 years of age. Article 46 of the Consti-
tution of India commits the State to promote educational and
economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and
Weaker Sections. Thus, you will notice that all these Articles
and their implementation aim at providing quality education
to all including different disadvantaged groups. Even today,
after more than 60 years of independence, India is struggling
to fight against all kinds of biases of caste, religions, ideology,
gender etc. Education can play a significant role to minimising
and finally eliminating these differences by proving equality of
access to quality education and opportunity.
Equality of opportunity means that every individual will
receive suitable education at a pace and through methods
suitable to her/him and therefore, children from the disad-
vantaged and socially discriminated groups also suffering
specific challenges must be paid special attention.
Aldous Huxley has remarked, “if your aim is liberty and
democracy, then you must teach people the art of being
free and end of governing themselves.” In this context, after
Independence, considering the magnitude of India, being
POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 11
 acted as a democratic country, made several provisions under
different articles for the fulfilment of Social Justice (equity) and
equality for the sake of all disadvantaged groups in
which Scheduled Castes are a major listed group. The
Constitution has tried to minimise the discrimination and tried
to put these groups at par with others. Following are some major
provisions according to the Constitution of India for all-round
improvement of scheduled castes .
Article 14
The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law
on the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India
Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste,
sex or place of birth.
Article 15
It refers to prohibition of discrimination on ground of
religion, race, castes, sex or place of birth or any of them. This
necessiates that (1) States should not discriminate against
any citizen on any ground as mentioned in this Article. It
also means that nothing shall, (2) on grounds only of region,
caste, sex, place of birth or any one of them be subject to any
disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to (a) ac-
cess to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public
entertainments or (b) The use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats,
roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly
out of State funds or dedicated to the use of general public. (3)
nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent
the State laws making any special provision for advancement of
any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or
for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
This has implications for all of us as we have to treat all chil-
dren equally and in case, a child from weaker section or socially
disadvantaged group lags behind, special provisions and efforts
have to be made to bring her/him at par with other children.
Article 16
(1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in
matters relating to employment or appointments to any office
under the State.
(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex,
descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible
for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or
office under the State.

12 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...

(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent Parliament from
making any law prescribing, in regard to a class or classes of
employment or appointment to an office under the
Government of, or any local or other authority within, a State or
Union Territory, any requirement as to residence within that
State or Union Territory prior to such employment or appoint-
ment.
(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making
provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour
of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the
State, is not adequately represented in the services under the
State.
(4A) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from
making any provision for reservation in matters of promotion to
any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in
favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes which,
in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented in
the services under the State.
Relates to relaxation in Government jobs proportionately for
SC/ST. This article has implications for reserving posts in vari-
ous cadres for SCs and STs and does not have any direct im-
plication for classroom or teaching related issues. However, it
is important to note that none of us hold a negative attitude or
have pre-conceived notions about the competence and skill of
those, who are appointed against reserved posts.
Article 17
Abolition of Untouchability. Untouchability is abolished and
its practice in any form is forbidden The enforcement of any
disability arising out of Untouchability shall be an offence
punishable in accordance with law.
In fact, untouchability has already been abolished and its
practice in any form is forbidden. It is an offence punishable
in accordance with law and therefore, a teacher also should be
aware of it. In this context, it may not be out of places to quote
from position paper by National Focus Group on Problems of
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Children, 2007 brought
out by NCERT.
Some Studies have noted that SC children do not encourter
practices realted to Untouchability in Schools (Jodhka, 2000,
2002; Shah 2000). However, others point out to varied forms
of direct and subtle discriminations. Artis, E., C. Doobay and
K. Lyons (2003) find that in village schools of Gujarat, SC
POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 13
 children are forced to sit at the back, actively discouraged from
participating in class and are subject to food and water taboos.
Similar experiences exist for schools in North Karnataka..........
(p.27)
Article 19 (1)
All citizens shall have the right;
(a) to freedom of speech and expression;
(b) to assemble peaceably and without arms;
(c) to form associations or unions;
(d) to move freely throughout the territory of India;
(e) to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India;
and
(g) to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation,
trade or business.
Article 23 (2)
Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from imposing
compulsory service for public purposes, and in imposing such
service the State shall not make any discrimination on grounds
only of religion, race, caste or class or any of them.
Article 24
Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc. No child
below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any
factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
Provided that nothing in this sub clause shall authorise the
detention of any person beyond the maximum period
prescribed by any law made by Parliament under sub clause (b)
of clause (7); or such person is detained in accordance with the
provisions of any law made by Parliament under sub clauses (a)
and (b) of clause (7).
It is seen that children with poor socio-economic background
from all communities including scheduled castes are employed
as working children. Child labour is prohibited in any form. As
per RTE (2009) Act, all children need to be enrolled in schools
(on full time basis). Various provisons and facilities have been
made for facilitating their education (with emphasis on increas-
ing their enrolment, reducing their drop rate and bringing them
at par with other children in terms of achievement. Teachers
have to make conscious efforts to bring all children, including
street children and working children, who are out-of-school, to

14 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...

the school. Some of these children might have grown in age
and therefore, might feel uneasy to sit with younger children.
This could also result in their developing a complex. Several
national and state level organisations are in the process of
developing bridge courses and learning material to help them to
be placed in appropriate classes (as per their age) who either
remained out of the stystem or dropped out due to various reasons.
Studies have proved that if there is a mismatch between the
curricular expectations and children’s capabilities or the teach-
ing style of teachers does not match with the learning style of
students, there is a high probability of such students leaving
studies in the middle. We as teachers have to make conscious
efforts to adapt our teaching styles match with the learning
styles and culture of children. In case of scheduled castes this
acquires additional importance as several of them may be first
generation learners and may not have educated parents or re-
sources to cope up with the curricular load.
Article 29 (2)
No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational
institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State
funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any
of them.
Article 45
Provision for free and compulsory education for children. The
State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years
from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and
compulsory education for all children until they complete the
age of fourteen years.
Article 46
Promotion of educational and economic interests of Scheduled
Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections. The State
shall promote with special care the educational and economic
interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular,
of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall
protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
Article 330
(1) Seats shall be reserved in the House of the People for:
(a) the Scheduled Castes;
(b) the Scheduled Tribes except the Scheduled Tribes in the
autonomous districts of Assam; and

POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 15

 (c) the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of
Assam.
(2) The number of seats reserved in any State or Union
Territory for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes
under clause (1) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same
proportion to the total number of seats allotted to that
State or Union Territory in the House of the People as the
population of the Scheduled Castes in the State or Union
Territory or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State or Union
Territory or part of the State or Union Territory, as the case
may be, in respect of which seats are so reserved, bears to
the total population of the State or Union Territory.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (2), the
number of seats reserved in the House of the People
for the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of
Assam shall bear to the total number of seats allotted to
that State a proportion not less than the population of the
Scheduled Tribes in the said autonomous districts bears
to the total population of the State. In this article 332,
the expression population means the population as ascer-
tained at the last preceding Census of which the relevant
figures have been published: Provided that the reference
in this explanation to the last preceding Census of which
the relevant figures have been published shall, until the
relevant figures for the first census taken after the year
2000 have been published, be construed as a reference to
the 1971 Census.
Article 332
(1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes, except the Scheduled Tribes in the trib-
al areas of Assam, in Nagaland and in Meghalaya, in the
Legislative Assembly of every State.
(3) The number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes or
the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly nearly as
may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats
in the Assembly as the population of the Scheduled Castes
in the State or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State or part
of the State, as the case may be, in respect of which seats
are so reserved, bears to the total population of the State.
Article 334
Reservation of seats and special representation to cease
after forty years. Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing
16 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...
provisions of the part, the provisions of this Constitution relates
to –
(a) the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and in the
Legislative Assemblies of the States;
Article 335
Claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to services
and posts. The claims of the members of the scheduled castes
and the scheduled tribes shall be taken into consideration, con-
sistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration,
in the making of appointments to services and posts in connec-
tion with the affairs of the Union or of a State.
Article 338
(1) There shall be a Commission for the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes to be known as the National
Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes.
(3) In this article, references to the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes shall be construed as including refer-
ences to such other backward classes as the President
may, on receipt of the report of a Commission appointed
under clause (1) of article 340, by order specify and also to
the Anglo-Indian Community.
(5) It shall be duty of the Commission:
(a) to investigate and monitor all matters relating to the
safeguards provided for the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes under this Constitution or under any
other law for the time being in force or under any order
of the Government and to evaluate the working of such
safeguards.
(b) to inquire into specific complaints with respect to the
deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
(c) to participate and advise on the planning process of
socio-economic development of the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes and to evaluate the progress of
their development under the Union and any State.
(d) to make in such reports recommendations as to the
measures that should be taken by the Union or any State
for the effective implementation of those safeguards

POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 17

 and other measures for the protection, welfare and
socio-economic development of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes; and
(e) to discharge such other functions in relation to the
protection, welfare and development and advancement
of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as the
President may, subject to the provisions of any law made
by Parliament, by rule specify.
(9) The Union and every State Government shall consult
the Commission on all major policy matters affecting
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
8. Policies for Educational Development
of Scheduled Castes
India is a sovereign, secular and democratic republic. It is a
country of many cultures, castes, religions, customs and
traditions. Diversity is the way of life of Indian society. The
colonial rule during the British period had impact upon
equality of educational opportunities in India. One of the main
features of the British Policy on education in India was its
‘downward filtration theory’. McCauley’s minutes (1835), the
foundation of the British Policy on education in India, upheld the
supremacy of English and concentrated on the education
of the elite. The education of only the elite sections resulted
in the denial of education of the poorer and lower sections
including those from lower castes and thereby increasing
the inegalitarianism in education. However, the educational
institutions were open to all without any restrictions. In
Darwar case (1856) when an untouchable boy was refused
admission on the ground of withdrawal of other caste children,
the then Governor General as well as the Court of Directors of East
India Company sharply criticised it by categorically ruling, “no
untouchable child should be refused admission to schools
maintained by the government even is it meant closure of the
school” (Naik, 1975).
As has been mentioned earlier, the Constitution of
India has made several provisions and amendments which are
helpful for ensuring social equality and human rights. After
Independence, three major Commissions were set up. While
Radha Krishnan Eduction Commission (1948) dealt with the
whole school education system.
Kothari Commission is well known as the Education
Commission (1964-66) emphasised on equalising educational

18 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...

opportunities in Chapter VI (p.108, para 6.01). It says, “One
of the important social objectives of education is to equalise
opportunities enabling the backward or under-privileged
classes and individual to use education as a level for the
improvement of their condition. Every society that values social
justice and is anxious to improve the lot of the common man and
cultivate all available talent must ensure progressive equality of
opportunity to all sections of the population” (p.108; para
6.01; GOI). This is the only guarnatee for the building up of an
equalitarian and human society in which the exploitation of the
weak will be minimised”.
The National Policy on Education (1986) was
egalitarian and inclusionist in its approach. It laid special
emphasis on the removal of disparities and to equalise
educational opportunities by attending the specific needs
of those who have been denied equality so far. The revised
Policy Formulation and Programme of Action (POA, 1992)
recommended schemes and programmes for educational
development of SCs including other disadvantaged sections of
the country.
The Revised Policy Formulation and Programme of Action
(POA, 1992) envisaged a number of strategies accelerating the
rate of enrolment and retention of SC communities including
other socially disadvantaged sections. It discusses a number of
schemes; existing and new both like (i) post-matric scholarship,
(ii) pre-matric scholarship of those engaged in unclean occupa-
tions, (iii) book banks, (iv) Boy’s and girl’s hostels, (vi) Coaching
and allied schemes besides upgradation of merit of SC children
and reservation in educational institutions.
The POA (1992) also emphsised on opening primary and
upper primary schools in SCs habitations and hamlets;
provision for non-formal and distance education centres;
provision of adequate incentives in the form of uniforms, text-
books, stationary and mid-day meals and incentives to SCs par-
ents to send their children particularly girls to schools. The other
major recommendations include, provision of minimum level of
learning with standard teaching-learning materials and moni-
toring of the SCs development programmes through single nod-
al agency (pp. 9-10); Govt. of India).
The National Curriculum Framework (2005) emphasised on
addressing the disadvantages in education arising from
inequalities of gender, caste, language, culture and religion, not
only through policies and schemes but also through the design
POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 19
 and selection of learning tasks and pedagogic practices, right
from the period of early childhood (p. 5). The document also
stresses upon addressing the social context of education arising
out of hierarchies of caste, economic status, gender relations
and cultural diversity; by the curriculum framework both in
design and implementation (pp. 9-10).
Five Year Plans
Besides various Commissions and National Policy of
Education, the Five Year Plans have been envisaging
programmes under various sectors of development for the ben-
efit of disadvantaged sections, including SCs. The first plan
(1951-56), second plan (1956-61) and third plan (1961-66) em-
phasised on economic development of these sections. The fourth
and fifth plans (1969-78) envisaged for increasing standard of
living of the people through measures which also promote equal-
ity and social justice. The sixth plan (1980-85) launched Spe-
cial Component Plan (SCP) for SCs to ensure that these groups
receive their due share of funds/benefits from other develop-
mental sectors. The seventh plan (1985-90) strengthened the
SCP for SCs and provided substantial funds for SCs. Priority in
the seventh plan was given to the educational development of
SCs. The eighth plan (1992-97) aimed at intensifying the efforts
to bridge the gap between disadvantaged sections including SCs
and other sections of the society. The ninth plan (1997-2002)
emphasised on (i) Social empowerment, (ii) economic empower-
ment, and (iii) social justice for the development of SCs.
The tenth five year plan (2002-2007) emphasised on em-
powering the marginalised sections including SCs for raising
their social, economic and educational status. Some of the
major approaches by the plan are:
●● Due weightage and priority to programmes catering to
educational and economic development of SCs for ensur-
ing equitable distribution and growth with social justice.
●● Prioritising fulfilment of basic needs including primary
education.
●● Special effective interventions to ‘reach the unreached’
and thus, fil the exiting gaps between the status of the
SCs and the general population, with a focus on SC
women and the girl children.
●● Special efforts to fulfil the commitment through
Universalistion of Elementary Education (UEE) with a
special focus on low literacy pockets and on the
educationally backward SCs.
20 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...
 ●● Arresting problem of school dropouts and improving
enrolment/retention rates by ensuring easy access;
and provision of adequate support facilities like hostels,
creches and special incentives to poor students like
scholarships, free books, free uniforms, transport charges
besides compensation to families etc.
●● Taking steps to ensure provision of quality education to
equip the educationally backward SCs to enhance their
employment prospects and competitive abilities and thus
mitigate the problems of their marginalisation/depriva-
tion.
●● Emphasising on vocational education both at middle and
high schools to enable them (SC children) to enhance
technical and productive abilities.
The Working Group for eleventh five year plan made
several specific provisions for free uniforms, footwear, funds
for remedial teaching of SC/ST, opening of more adult litera-
cy centres for predominating SC/ST inhabitated areas, inclu-
sive education to take care of SC/ST, to regulate fee structure
of disadvantaged groups including fee for higher education,
implementation of reservation policy, provision of special
coaching for reserved category candidates for clearing SET or
NET examination etc. The draft of twelfth five year plan focus
on improving “the quality of school education”, which means
extensive and improved teachers training, upgrading
curriculum and enforcing of accountability in teacher’s
attendance. It has also stated that there is a need to expand
capacity of secondary and higher secondary schools“ which
means that specific efforts will have to be made under RMSA
to attain social and educational equity. The draft itself has
the title “Faster, Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth: An
Approach to the Twelth Five Year Plan” (August, 2011).
9. Programmes for Educational Develop-
ment of Scheduled Castes
So far various programmes for SC children are concerned
they are of two types: one, those programmes which are for all
childlren including those from Scheduled Castes and two,
which are exclusively for Scheduled Castes children. There is
another category of programmes of Ministry of Social Justice
and Empowerment which have incorporated special provisions
for Scheduled Castes.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhya-
mik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) are two major programmes of
POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 21
 education of Ministry of Human Resource Development, Gov-
ernment of India. SSA is a flagship programme of universalisa-
tion of education which aimed at all children completing eight
years of schooling by 2010. It also aimed at bridging all gender
and social category gaps at both primary and elementary edu-
cation levels by 2010 and universalise retention by 2010.
This calls for making educational provisions at secondary
and higher seconday level also as universalisation of elemen-
tary education is likely to create a demand for education at
the next level (secondary and higher secondary level) also. The
Right to Free and Compulsory Education for 6-14 age group Act
(2009) is another step to ensure that no child is left behind. This
Act, also ensures greater participation by community through
School Management Committees in education. The focus on
“quality” during the twelfth year plan and specific allocation
under SCP (Special Component Plan) are likely to improve stan-
dard of education of children from Scheduled Castes. There ex-
ists a mechanism through which reviews are held continuously to
ensure that the benefits of all the steps taken reach the target
group.
10. Schemes for Educational Development
of Scheduled Castes
Besides the constitutional provisions, the role of various five
year plans has been underlined for the Nation‘s all round
development of disadvantaged groups, in which special
provisions for SCs have also been recommended. Some such
provisions are:
●● Opening of residential schools/Ashrams
●● Pre- and Post-metric scholarships
●● Free textbooks and uniforms
●● Hostels for girls and boys
●● Book bank schemes
●● Upgradation of merit of SC/ST students
●● Remedial coaching schemes
●● Grant-in-aid to voluntary organisations
●● Social development programmes for SC girls belonging to
low literacy areas.
A Programme with a clear time frame, Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA) has also ensured educational development of
SCs through different provisions. The basic emphasis has
been given to cent percent enrolment, zero rejection and quality

22 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...

improvement of educational institutions. In this context, the
NCF-2005 has stressed on the specific curriculum context to
suit socio-cultural milieu of SC children.
Considering different policies, plan and recommendations
of committees and commissions, different schemes have been
developed from time to time to endorse the Human Rights and
constitutional provisions to resolve the educational problems of
children from SCs communities. The major schemes like DPEP,
Lok Jumbish, Operation Blackboard, Minimum Level of Learning
and DPEP, SSA, RMSA, etc. are measures taken for enhancing
the enrolment and quality of education. Some of the important
measures taken under these programmes are as follows:
●● Mid-day meal scheme
●● Educational Guarantee Schemes and Alternative and
Innovative Education
●● Community Based Monitoring
●● Interventions of Early Childhood Care and Education
●● Anganwadi and Balwadi
●● School and Teacher grant for all teachers
●● Incentive and Remedial/Coaching Schemes
●● Inservice Teacher Training, Orientation Programmes and
Workshops will be constituted
●● Grant-in-aids
●● Vocational education and training for skills development.
The Schemes and programmes for the welfare of
Scheduled Castes of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
of Government of India include Centrally Sponsored
Scheme of Pre-Matric scholarships, Central scheme of Rajiv
Gandhi Fellowship to pursue programmes of higher education,
Centrally sponsored pilot scheme of Pradhan Mantri Adarsh
Gram Yojana (PMAGY), Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana,
Post-matric scholarship, Pre-matric scholarship for children of
these engaged in unclean occupations, top class education for
SC children, self employment scheme for rehabilitation of man-
ual scavengers, Scheduled Castes sub plan, National overseas
scholarships, special educational development programmes for
Scheduled Castes girls belonging to low literacy areas, upgra-
dation of merits of SC children, free coaching for SC students,
National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corpora-
tion (NSFDC). National Safai karmacharis Finance and Devel-
opment Corporation (NSFDC) etc.

POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 23

 11. Conclusion
It may be summarised that educational progress of Sched-
uled Castes is inadequate. Millions of marginalised SCs are
not provided the basic equality of education. There have been
specific efforts by central, state governments and voluntary
organisations for improving conditions of education of these
sections to suffer inequalities in educational opportunities.
Economic deprivation, cultural prejudices, social practices and
lack of easy access to school, lack of provision of infrastructure,
teachers and teaching-learning materials have contributed
to the educational backwardness of SCs. Numerous schemes
and programmes have been launched for their educational
upliftment but the implementation aspect seems to be lacking.
As per RTE (2009) Act, all children need to be enrolled in
schools (on full time basis). Various provisions and facilities
have been made for facilitating their education (with empha-
sis on increasing their enrolment, reducing their drop rate and
bringing them at par with other children in terms of achieve-
ment). Teachers have to make conscious efforts to bring all
children, including street children and working children, who
are out-of-school, to the school. Some of these children might
have grown in age and therefore, might feel uneasy to sit with
younger children. This could also result in their developing a
complex in them. Several national and state level organisa-
tions are in the process of developing bridge courses and learn-
ing material to help them to be placed in appropriate classes
(as per their age) who either remained out of the stystem or
dropped-out due to various reasons. Studies have proved that
if there is a mismatch between the curricular expectations and
children‘s capabilities or the teaching style of teachers does
not match with the learning style of students, there is a high
probability of such students leaving studies in the middle. We as
teachers, have to make conscious efforts to adapt our teaching
styles match with the learning styles and culture of children. In
case of scheduled castes, this acquires additional importance
as several of them may be first generation learners and may not
have educated parents or resources to cope up with the cur-
ricular load. The statement of M.C.Chhagla, one of the coun-
try’s distinguished post independence education ministers was
that:
“We know the problems; we know the answers, or at
any rate most of them. In many cases we also know how to

24 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...

implement. What is lacking is the moral courage to start
implementations.”
Further, it is not enough to formulate policies and
programmes only, but also to evolve strategies to neutralise
the ideological, structural and familial impediments so that the
educational facilities are fully utilised.

POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ... 25

 REFERENCES

Artis, E., C. Doobay and K. Lyons. 2003, Economic, So-

cial and Cultural Rights for Dalits in India: Case Study on
Primary Education in Gujrat. Paper presented at the
Workshop on Human Rights: From Grassroots Courage to
International Influence, Princeton University. January 2003.
Jha, J. and D, Jhingran. 2002. Elementary Education for the
Poorest and other Deprived Groups: The Real Challenge of
Universalisation. Centre for Policy Reserach, New Delhi.
Ministry of Law and Justice. 2009. The Right of Children to Free
and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, No. 35 of 2009 Govern-
ment of India. 2001-2011 Censcus of India.
Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of
India. 1986. The National Policy on Education, New Delhi.
Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of
India. 1996. The Programme of Action, New Delhi.
Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of
India. 2011. Statistics of School Education 2009-2010, New
Delhi.
Ncert. 2007. Position Paper. National Focus Groups on
Problems of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Children.
Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.
1992. Programme of Action, New Delhi.

26 POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES FOR EDUCATIONAL ...

 MODULE 2

Quality Improvement of
Education of the Scheduled
Caste Children
Socio-cultural Issues and Problems

ABSTRACT

After 68 years of Independence, too many of India’s Citizens are

shackted by the lack of quality education that enables them to
be free and Independent. Our earlier generations taught to end
the injustice impaired by the British Raj. The freedom struggle
as thought of by its leadership desired to remove inequalities
based on sex, caste and creeds from the society. In India, equa-
tion was thought of as an important tool for achieving its. We
now need a second freedom movement that ensures equality
of rights and opportunity by all citizens of India particularly
for scheduled caste children who look for the access of getting
education. In this context has been constructed a module on
quality improvement of education of scheduled caste children
which discusses socio-cultual issues and problems. Therefore,
this module deals with the Educational policies, Education and
society, Curriculum development, School and reproduction of
inequality, Cultural capital and learning.
 CONTENTS

§
1. Introduction
2. Objectives
3. Educational Policies
4. Education and Society
5. Curriculum Development
6. School and Reproduction of Inequality
7. Cultural Capital and Learning
8. Technical Terms
9. References
1. Introduction
India’s national goals and the social and economic
objectives of the country’s development have been enshrined in our
Constitution.For achieving the constitutional objectives,
successive five-year plans have aimed at ushering in trans-
formation of Indian society from its traditional and agrarian
pattern to a modern and industrial one. Such changes cannot
be brought about by mere enactment of new legal and legislative
measures. For this, generation of a desirable set of attitudes,
skills and values among the people is perhaps more important.
The system of education can be a major instrument for bringing
about this transformation.
2. Objectives
●● To create a situation of inclusion in real sense.
●● To create requisite competencies among the teachers.
●● To address the issues of cultural diversity of the
children.
●● To utilise the cultural capital of the diverse groups.
●● To combat the issues of social reproduction in education.
●● To create an all-round learning environment for the
children.
3. Educational Policies
The central place which the National Policy on Education (NPE)
1986 (as revised in 1992) gave to the common core with other
components that are flexible as an essential condition for build-
ing the national system of education, needs greater attention in
the educational process. It lays stress on the removal of social
barriers and education for women equality. It is also desired in
the policy that awareness about tribal people should be genere-
atred through the educational process.
In the light of the importance of core areas, the study of
social sciences must find its due representation at the stage of
general education. Further, the NPE-1986 (1992) was formu-
lated after-reviewing the recommendations of the 1968 Educa-
tion Policy and it had been felt that the educational process has
lagged behind in transactions.
The 1968 Education Policy gave emphasis to promotion of
national progress, a sense of common citizenship and culture,
and to strengthen national integration. The stress was on the
need for a radical reconstruction of the education system and to

Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children 3

 improve its quality at all stages. The policy gave much greater
attention to science and technology, cultivation of moral values
and closer relation between education and life of the people.
In the National Policy on Education-1986 it is felt that the
general formulations incorporated in the 1968 policy have not
got translated into a detailed strategy for implementation. As
a result, problems of access, quality, quantity, utility, etc.,
have assumed massive proportions. The NPE-1986 states,
“India’s political and social life is passing through a phase which
poses the danger of erosion of long accepted values. The goals
of secularism, socialism, democracy and professional ethics are
coming under increasing strain.” It further states, “The com-
ing generations should have the ability to internalise new ideas
constantly and creatively. They may have to be inculcated with
a strong commitment to human values and to social justice.
All this implies better education”. It shows concern for the
social aspects of the child’s environment. Some of the concerns
expressed are, “To promote equality, it will be necessary to pro-
vide for equal opportunity to all not only in access, but also in
the conditions for success. Awareness of the inherent equality
of all will be created through core curriculum. The purpose
is to remove prejudices and complexes transmitted through
the social environment and the accident of birth”. Obviously,
the reference here is to caste, sex, religion and the practice of
untouchability in the society in India.
It appears that the policy framers felt that there is gap
between education and cultural traditions. “The existing schism
between formal system of education and the country’s rich
and varied cultural traditions needs to be bridged. The pre-
occupation with the modern technologies cannot be allowed to
sever our new generations from the roots in the India’s history
and culture. De-culturisation, de-humanisation and alienation
must be avoided at all costs.”
The major goals and roles of education may be further
elaborated seeing the same as a process of empowerment and
of becoming (for the individual, which, for the same reason, also
becomes) an instrument for social change.

Q.1 How does educational policy identify dehumaising issues

in school education?
Q.2 What are the linkages between education and society
regarding ideologies, traditions and values?

4 Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children

4. Education and Society
Gore and Desai (1967), while discussing the analysis of the
relationship between different segments of a social system, state
the importance of ascertaining the specific function or func-
tions performed by the system of education and the nature of
functional or dysfunctional consequences that it may have for
one or other aspect of larger system.
In ‘Towards an Enlightened and Humane Society’ (1990),
an effort was made to assess the relationship between different
segments of the society. It also highlighted some of the func-
tional and dysfunctional aspects of the present-day education
in the school.
“Present-day curriculum is full of content, of techno-infor-
mative data, much of it are neutral data, consisting of facts and
figures, theories, inventions and laws, etc. Several of these facts
are selected in and others are selected out. To that extent, there
is an open curriculum, the latter having as much or more influ-
nence on the students as the former. While one merely informs,
the other effectively forms opinions, mind-sets and values”.
“To illustrate: In the presentation of the history of India’s
freedom struggle, facts are mentioned leading one to conclude
that Independence was won without involvement of a large mass
of the people of India, particularly of the common and deprived
sections of society. Social studies lessons studiously avoid any
reference to the inequalities and unfair treatment that the SC/
ST and the minorities have been facing in free India. The stu-
dent does not learn from the curriculum of the educational,
social and economic disparities. Structures of the Government,
of the courts, etc., are given in great detail, but little provision
for legal literacy, namely to appreciate one’s rights and also of
one’s duties.
Till recently, modernisation (technological and industrial
development) has been the goal of Indian society. Yogendra
Singh (1998) observes: “The solution to the crisis of moder-
nity, whether in the developing or the developed world lies in
recognising the dual character of our cultural and existential
moorings. It necessitates a recognition of cultural pluralism,
strategy of consensus and reconciliation in human dealings
based on dialogue and other means of communicative inter-
actions. It also logically recognises the need for a meaning-
ful space within the ideology of disenchantment for values of
tradition”.

Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children 5

 Curriculum Development
Education is a sub-system of society. M.Young (1971)
observes that reality including educational reality is constructed
through social interaction rather than merely given, but those in
positions of power are able to determine largely what counts as
the ‘real’ world, including what counts as education and edu-
cational problems. Curriculum is seen as the reflection of the
dominant power structure in the society.
Taylor (1979) argues that fraternity, equality, social jus-
tice and promotion of individual identity are important for any
curriculum. Lawton (1979) suggests that the curriculum should
be looked at as a set of children’s rights. He states, “In a plural-
istic society, adults need to know a good deal in order to make
choices. So it is very difficult to imagine a set of aims for edu-
cation which would not include the promotion of personal au-
tonomy. The argument here would be that if children are faced
with the range of values and choices which, by definition a plu-
ralistic society offers them, then they must have some means of
rationally deciding among these choices. In order to make ra-
tional choices, they will need knowledge. The curriculum ought
to provide them with that essential knowledge.”
Everyone agrees that in our society, all people should be
able to read and write. But what should they be able to read
and write? Since the desire is for overall development in the
society, the children should be provided with mathematical
literacy, scientific literacy, social, cultural, legal and technologi-
cal literacy. For these literacies, reading, writing, listening and
speaking skills have to be developed. As a part of general edu-
cation, the literacy should aim at utility rather than preparing
for education in disciplines.
As we live in a social world, all pupils have a right to politi-
cal, social and economic literacy. The children leaving schools
at the age of seventeen or eighteen are generally ill-equipped to
make choices of a most complex and bewildering kind neces-
sary in our pluralistic society.
One significant issue in education is international un-
derstanding. In this context, Pike and Selby (1986) observe,
“As we gallop towards the 21st century, we are witnessing a
relatively advanced stage in the continuing and quickening
transformation of the world from a collection of many lands and
peoples to a system of many lands and peoples”. They forcefully
put the view that the curriculum must focus on encouraging

6 Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children

students in embracing other cultural viewpoints, to seek diver-
gent solutions to problems and to envision alternative futures.
This issue of other cultural viewpoints is of great signifi-
cance in the Indian context because of cultural diversity. It has
been continuously and constantly emphasised in all the reports
of the commissions and committees and has been important
part of the educational policies. The fact that increasing value
has been put on it in the country indicates that everything is
not well and, therefore, needs special attention.
Any curriculum for school education in this country should
encourage understanding and appreciation of the variety and
diversity in the Indian society and perhaps more significantly
the curriculum should address itself to social and cultural di-
versity, a wide variety in the geographical conditions and differ-
ent traditions. A common curriculum in our society, therfore,
must take notice of needs of scheduled caste and tribal children
accordingly.

Q. What should be the main objectives while developing school

curriculum?

School and Reproduction of Inequality

Sociologists hold the view that education as other institutions
of the society tend to reproduce social inequality in the soci-
ety. Social scientists used to accept the idea that education
promotes modernisation. The experiences from several devel-
oping countries indicate uneven, complex and contradictory
social processes that are generated by modern education (Dube,
1988).
The role of formal education is considered to be prominent
in the process of growing up as it is considered to be the means
by which values and attitudes commensurate with modernisation,
are internalised (Singh, 1973).
Rudolph and Rudolph (1967) feel that it is necessary to be
sensitive to the complexity of factors and processes that link
education with other social institutions. Further, education
itself and its impact are likely to be shaped by the specific
complex of socio-political, economic and cultural factors that
prevail in any society.
Many theorists see education as an instrument of social
reproduction. It is a means for inculcation or development of
values, beliefs, attitudes and skills required for the functioning
Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children 7
 of the society at large. Giroux (1983) describes how the process
of social reproduction takes place:
1. “The distribution of power in a society is generally
reflected by the interests of elites.
2. It is reflected in the knowledge that is legitimised and the
ideology that becomes dominant in society.
3. Schools tend to be integrally linked with the dominant
economic, political and cultural institutions which are
controlled by the elites who successfully use the school
system to reproduce and legitimate the existing structural
features of society, including its production and social re-
lations”.
However, under certain situations as observed by
Desai (1966) and later in a different context by Bachchus (1990)
education provides an opportunity for development of mod-
ern ideas of the world. Education often extends beyond the
narrow mechanical function of reproducing the type. For some,
it provides for the opening of new possibilities, a greater belief
in their own abilities, a willingness to act outside the traditional
boundaries of conformity and also helps to modify or change
their consciousness and interpretation of reality.
Chanana (1990) observes, “The parameters of a social para-
digm which delimit women’s role as well as the functions of
formal education should be critically examined.....the content
and process of education have to be evaluated since they tend
to reinforce the traditional gender ideology and fail to generate
change.”
Velaskar (1990) states that schooling has brought about
only a marginal dislocation of traditional structures of inequal-
ity. It has also created and strengthened new inequalities. The
education system has functioned as a mediator of class, caste
and gender inequalities. Regarding reproduction of social in-
equality Velaskar concludes that it takes place through:
1. The denial of basic minimum facilities to the disadvan-
taged and depressed while actively promoting the expen-
sive and exclusive interest of the minority of new and old
dominant sections.
2. A curriculum rooted in technocratic rationality and one
which places a value on high science directly serves the
needs of an emergent, inequitous, capitalist economy. The
curriculum also suits the capacity nurtured by the upper
strata, thus giving them a head start in eduction. Mental
labour is glorified while manual labour is disqualified.
8 Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children
 3. Imposition of a dominant culture curriculum not only
projects the knowledge, values, norms, linguistic styles,
world views, and meanings of the middle and upper class-
es, but also projects them as being intrinsically superior
and valuable as compared to the culture of subordinated
groups.
4. There is segregation of children in schools of different
quality on the basis of class and gender and through pro-
viding class, caste and gender-specific opportunities and
experiences within education Channeling actually takes
place at the post-secondary level but schools function as
preparatory areas”.
Velaskar suggests that there is need for much more re-
search to assess how inequalities are actually realised through
the process of school education. The operation of the hidden
curriculum through which dominant images are accepted, re-
sisted or rejected, need to be studied further. The dynamics of
the reproduction of inequality through curriulum besides oth-
ers will provide insights for the formulation and promotion of
alternative ideologies and pedagogies.
Khullar (1990) observes, “Although there have been efforts
to secularise education in India, religion enters from the back
door. Textbooks written by State bodies have been noted to be
biased in the representation of religions in India”.
“There have been some attempts to foster secularism through
education, the level of policy and even curriculum formulation
in India. This, however, remains an area riddled with antiquity.
On the one hand, there are values that counter caste and com-
munalism. On the other hand, caste and communalism are
reasserted and reinforced through knowledge and interactional
patterns institutionalised in the school. Textbooks written by
State bodies and used in State-run schools continue to com-
municate these values.”
Beteille (1991) argues that school has emerged as a major
institution for mediating relationship between the family and
the new occupational system, and it also plays a major part in
the reproduction of inequality.
Beteille further observes, “It is of course well known that
schools differ vastly in their quality and much public animosity
is directed against the elitist character of the Indian school sys-
tem. But those who are most articulate in their criticism of the
system take good care to select the best schools for the educa-

Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children 9

 tion of their own children. The moral implications of this con-
tradiction, by no means unique to Indian society, are not always
clear. There is no doubt that the Indian school system leaves
much to be desired, and a great deal can be done to expand
the opportunities for better schooling in the interest of children
who are now effectively denied such opportunity because their
families are devoid of all resources.“
Social institution such as the family or the school reproduce
themselves partly through the conscious actions of individu-
als who desire their continued existence. But besides these,
there are social patterns whose reproduction is the unintended
consquence of action directed at other ends.

Q.How does reproduction of inequality take place through school

education?
Q. Identify reproduction of images of caste inequality in language
textbooks?

7. Cultural Capital and Learning

Curriculum in India not only reproduces social inequality, the
mechanism puts pupils in unequal conditions of educational
competition. Curriculum becomes hostile for most children
who are in rural and tribal areas or belong to lower social and
economic categories. Though it advocates undifferentiated
curricula for boys and girls but it takes care of the needs of
boys ignoring the needs of girls. Thus, there is an unneces-
sary and undesirable curriculum load. For example, sciences
and mathematics are compulsory for both boys and girls. But,
in our tradition, the roles that girls are made to play are not
included in the curriculum, thus saving boys from doing those
roles.
Curriculum load can be seen in three different ways: (i)
heavy weight of the school bag–heavier than what children can
carry easily, (ii) large size of curriculum difficult to be covered in
the available time in the school, and (iii) level of content–difficult
to be understood by the children. The issue of Cultural Capital
of the learners.
There is one more, and perhaps more important dimension
of the curriculum. This is of visible numerical minority and of
the invisible numerical majority (the categories of the of Sched-
uled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Minorites). Visible numeri-
cal minority is of children belonging to middle and upper class

10 Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children

urban familities. The invisible numerical majority is of children
from lower class urban areas and rural scheduled caste, tribal
and hill areas.
Education should not be seen in a static model. Like soci-
ety, education also must follow the model of dynamic equilib-
rium. There are pressures from new subjects and new areas
to find place in curriculum for general education. For giving
place to new areas, some of the old areas have to be dropped.
The vested and the discipline interests find it difficult to leave
the old content, thus adding new things, increasing the size
of the curriculum. Therefore, all content included for studies
must answer atleast three questions: (i) For whom it is needed?
(ii) Why it is needed? and (iii) Will it serve the purpose of all or
most of the children who have to receive it compulsorily? These
questions need to be answered from the point of the socially
disadvantaged groups.
Curriculum framework and approaches of education require
some content areas to be included in the courses. Sometimes,
it is difficult for the children to understand some of these things
because of the diversity of Cultural Capital. Take the example of
family being included in the primary classes. All children come
to school with some notions of family, whether nuclear, joint or
extended. They also come to school with a pre-learnt kinship
terminology along with values and emotions attached to the re-
lationships referred to by these terminologies. These also vary
according to the caste and the community, the child belongs to.
The child many times does not distinguish between cousins and
brothers/sisters which the school makes them aware of. Thus,
most children feel lost when they find that family in the books is
different then what they have learnt at home. The diverse Cul-
tural Capital makes it difficult for many children to understand
what is family as transmitted through formal education.
In higher classes, similarly, the child finds description of
social, cultural and physical environment different than
their own environments. For understanding certain things,
examples are given in the textbooks. If the examples are drawn
from an environment different from the child’s, the child tries
to understand the example before making an effort to under-
stand the content. Thus, they are unable to understand a lot
that is included in their courses. This becomes a serious issue
particularly for the children belonging to lower income groups
and schedulde caste as the exemples are generally drawn from
upper caste, middle class urban environment.
Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children 11
 Even the language of education (meaning of instiction) in
schools does not take care of the needs of the children from
weaker sections of the society. The NFG Paper (2007) explains
that not only the schools provided in the areas dominated by
SC/ST population lack in infrastucture, the education itself
follows the traditional Brahaminical model bringing in hierarchy
in the subject areas. Thus, justifying hierarchy as normal even
in the field of knowledge. The language used in school is gener-
ally not of the disadvantaged children. Where the language of
education is same, the vocabularly used is of upper caste, class
groups ignorning the vocabulary of lower caste class groups.
Standard language generally means sanskritised language.

Q. Identify the examples from a school textbook which gener-

ally do not from part of the social and physical environment of the
scheduled caste child?

8. Technical Terms
Alienation: Broadly speaking, alienation denotes the estrange-
ment of the individual from key aspects of his or her social
existence. Alienation has been used to describe a wide variety
of phenomena. These include any feeling of separation from,
and discontent with society, feelings that there is moral break-
down in society, feelings of powerlessness, the impersonal,
de-humanised nature of large scale and bureaucratic social
organisations.
Cultural Capital: In the educational field, success is largely
detailed by the extent to which individual has absorbed the
dominant culture or how much Cultural Capital they have got.
It means the sum total of knowledge, experiences, languages
the individual has.
Cultural Reproduction: This term was introduced as seeing the
function of the educational spleen to reproduce the culture of
dominate classes, thus helping to ensure their continued domi-
nance. As all living beings reproduce themselves, the societies
also tend to reproduce themselves resisting changes in norms,
values, mores and customs.
Culture: It is used as a collective noun for the symbolic and
learned aspects of human society including language, cus-
tom and convention by which human behaviour can be distin-
guished from that of other primates. All knowledge and other
aspects including material and non-material created by human

12 Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children

beings are included in culture.
Dysfunction: A social activity or institution has dysfunctions
when some of its consequences impede the working of another
social institution or activity. Any particular activity may have
dysfunction for one other activity.
Minority: Social minority is regarded as a political rather than
a numerical concept. The groups which do not have proportion-
ate share in social, economic and political power in a given soci-
ety are considered minorities. They may be religious, linguistic
or ethnic groups.
Paradigm: Scientists work within paradigms, which are general
ways of seeing the world and which dictate what kind of scien-
tific work should be done and what kind of theories are accept-
able. It also denotes schools of thought in social analyses.
Pluralism: It asserts the desirability of diffusing widely among a
variety of associations—religious, economic, professional, edu-
cational and cultural. Pluralism, in modern time, refers to social
organisation, whether societies or smaller collectivities in which
power is diffused among various groups and institutions.

Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children 13

 REFERENCES

BACHCHUS, M.K.1990. A Critical Review and Analysis of

Early Development in Education in British West Indian Col-
onies. Sociological Bulletin, 39, 182.
BETEILLE, ANDRE.1991. The Reproduction of Inequality:
Ocupation, Caste and Family. Conributions to Indian Sociol-
ogy, Sage. New Delhi.
CHANANA, KARUNA.1990. Tradition, Modernity and Women’s
Education. Sociological Bulletin, 39, 182.
DESAI. A.R.1966. Social Background of Indian Nationalism.
Popular Prakashan, Bombay.
DUBE, S.C.1988. Modernisation and Development: The
Search for Alternative Paradigms. Vistar Publications. New
Delhi.
GIROUX, HENRY A.1983. Theory of Resistance in Education.
Harvard Educational Review, 53.3.
GORE, M.S. and I.P. DESAI.1967. The Scope of Sociology of
Education in India. M.S.Gore, I.P. Desai, Suma Chitnis.
(Eds). The Sociology of Education in India. NCERT. New
Delhi.
KHULLAR, MALA.1990. In Search of Relevant Education.
Sociological Bulletin, 39, 182.
LAWTON, DENIS. 1979.Towards a Worthwhile Curriculum.
Colin Rechards. Ed. Poor and the Curriculum: Issues in
Curriculum Studies. Nafferton Books, Nafferton.
Ministry of Human Resource Development. Department of
Education. National Policy on Eduction-1986. New Delhi.
Ministry of Human Resouce Development. Department of
Education.1990. Towards an Enlightened and Humane
Society, New Delhi: NFG 2007. Position Paper of National
Focus Group on Problems of Scheduled Caste and Sched-
uled Tribe Children, NCERT, New Delhi.
PIKE SELBY. 1986. Global Education. J.J. Wellington. (Ed.).
Controversial Issues in the Curriculum. Basil Blackwell.

14 Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children

 RUDOLPH, L.I. and S.H. RUDOLPH.1967. The Modernity of
Traditions: Political Developments in India.
SINGH, YOGENDRA.1973. Modernisation of Indian Tradition.
Thomson Press. Faridabad.
SINGH, YOGENDRA 1998. A Life World of Disenchantment.
Sociological Bullettin, 47.2.
TAYLOR, WILLIAM. 1979. Power and Curriculum. Colin Rich-
ards (Ed.). Power and the Curriculum: Issues in Curricu-
lum Studies. Nafferton Books, Nafferton.
VELASKAR, PADMA. 1990. Unequal Schooling as a factor in the
Reproduction of Social Inequality in India. Sociological Bul-
lettin, 39,182.
YOUNG, M. (Ed).1971. Knowledge and Control. Collier, Lon-
don.

Quality Improvement of Education of the Scheduled Caste Children 15

 MODULE 3

Equity, Equality and Non-Discrimination

of Children from Scheduled Castes in
School
Classroom Discrimination and its
Implications

ABSTRACT

This module provides an overview about constitutional and

legel safegards discrimination and affirmative action for eductional
improvements of scheduled castes. Present module highlights the
concepts of equity, equality, inclusion, exclusion on the castes based
and untouchability based social exclusion etc. For removing of
existing different forms of discriminations and spheres of exclusion-
classroom, seating arrengements, interaction, participation, school
fuctions and games, peer realtions, facilities etc. The teacher’s role for
effective implementation of equity, equality and non-discrimination in
the classroom and creating inclusive educational atmoshphere in the
school. This module is also suggested for a oneday teacher’s training
workshop on non-discriminatory practices in classroom for changing
of attitudes towards children’s belonging to scheduled castes.
 CONTENTS

§
1. Introduction

2. Objectives

3. The Backdrop

4. Concepts of Equity, Equality and Exclusion

5. Concepts of Exclusion

6. Spheres of Exclusion

7. The Role of the Teacher

8. One-day Teacher’s Training Workshop for the Promotion of

Non-discriminatory Practices in the Classroom
9. Conclusion

References

Appendices
1. INTRODUCTION
Public services lay the groundwork for human capital accumu-
lation like education, health, nutrition and well-being. They are
public goods supplied by the state or state-supported/recog-
nised public institutions that are intended to be accessible to
people on an equitable basis.
There is a growing body of knowledge, which makes clear,
though this equitable access is often far from the case. Where
children from the scheduled castes group go to school with
young people from higher-caste backgrounds, they often face
subtle forms of discouragement and ostracism that make school
a painful place to be. Studies have documented discrimination
in various spheres within schools (inside school and classroom)
taking the following forms: differential treatment by the teacher
towards the SC students in providing academic support, differ-
ential access to participation in the classroom due to caste prej-
udices, not being accepted as friends by their peers because of
their caste, discriminatory access to the playground, discrimi-
nation during mid-day meals and to drinking water, not allowed
to take water themselves where ‘running water’ is not available
in schools through taps (and hand pumps) and drinking water
is ‘stored’ in earthen pots, jars or served in glasses.
Similarly, in the higher educational institutions, discrimina-
tion in various spheres takes the following forms: discrimina-
tory attitude of the teachers towards students from the sched-
uled castes group in the classroom, for example, by identifying
students by their ‘reserved category’ status in the classroom
and not giving enough time for advice and counselling when
requested by the students from this group. Colleges with board-
ing facilities are like home for students - the SCs students face
humiliation and caste-based ragging in the hostels and they
find themselves seated separately on the basis of caste in the
hostel mess for lunch.
When the exclusionary practices in educational institu-
tions are widespread, they can easily become catalysts for
the kinds of drop-out patterns that have been plaguing SC
children. Moreover, they contribute to inequalities mastering
basic skills; substantial differences exist in reading and arithme-
tic skills between children from different caste, ethnic and reli-
gious backgrounds in India. These differences persist even after
controlling for current school enrolment, grade completion and
parental socio-economic status. Such types of discrimination

Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 3
 have adverse consequences on the mental health of students.
Recent suicides by college-level students are an outcome of dis-
criminatory access to education, which needs to be addressed
through legal framework and policies that promote non-dis-
criminatory access to education. Such legal safeguards have
been implemented by the State which will be discussed in the
following sections. Further, in an effort to promote non-discrim-
inatory access and help in the creation of an educational envi-
ronment defined by equality of access and opportunity, as well
as by trust and comfort for all children, a training module is
developed by National Council of Educational Research and
Training (NCERT) for public school teachers. This training mod-
ule will address the aforementioned forms of discrimination stu-
dents from the scheduled castes group face in the school, and it
proposes strategies and solutions to eliminate these practices.
The teacher training module should address both teachers’ own
caste prejudices and also propose various ways through which
equal treatment can be ensured in the everyday classrooms.
As non-discrimination and equality are not concepts that once
learned get automatically get implemented in professional life, a
training module for teachers on non-discrimination in schools
should develop methods to counteract discrimination in every-
day activities on continuous basis.
2. OBJECTIVES
This module has been proposed to achieve the following objec-
tives:
1. To strengthen the ongoing process of creating an
educational environment defined by equality of access and
opportunity for all students.
2. To sensitise the teachers on issues of caste-based discrim-
ination inside the classroom and school.
3. To create a fearless, barrier-free environment for equal
participation and to cater to the diversified needs of the
children.
4. To sensitise teachers on the need for affirmative action for
children from the scheduled castes group.
3. THE BACKDROP
Caste-based discrimination as it is seen in Indian schools has
its roots in the notion that each caste is supposed to be involved
in a certain type of work, as stipulated by the concept of Var-
na discussed in the Manusmirti. Historically, the aptitude for
various kinds of jobs is decided by one’s caste at birth, and not
4 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
based on individual abilities. As a result of this, socio-religious
injunction, many people continue to believe that it is the social,
moral and religious duty of scheduled castes to serve the up-
per castes; hence they should make no attempts to gain equal
rights and to climb up the social and economic ladder. Since
education is considered one of the most effective ways to better
a person’s social and economic standing, scheduled castes (also
called Dalits) are marginalised in the education sector, and they
struggle to have non-discriminatory access to schools. To allevi-
ate this problem, the Government of India has introduced a va-
riety of different programmes and schemes—to provide and fa-
cilitate educational access for the scheduled castes group which
would eventually allow them to gain employment in higher-level
jobs.
Indian Constitution and Legal Safeguards against Discrimi-
nation
The government approach towards SCs and STs draws primar-
ily from the provision in the Indian Constitution. The Consti-
tution guarantees ‘equality before the law’ (Article 14) (over-
turning the customary rules of the caste system). Thus, the
Constitution makes provisions to promote political, educational
and economic interests of SCs and STs; protects them from so-
cial injustice and all forms of exploitation (Article 46); provides
special measures through reservation in government services
and seats in democratic political institutions (Articles 330 and
335). The Indian Constitution abolished the practice of untouch-
ability and discriminations that arise out of untouchability (Ar-
ticle 17). It also provides for the establishment of a permanent
body to investigate and monitor social and economic progress
of SCs and STs annually and to set up a monitoring mechanism
at the central and state levels. The Directive Principle contained
in the Article 46 of the Constitution states that:
‘The state shall promote with special care the educational and
economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and in
particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes,
and shall protect them from all social injustice and all forms of
exploitation.’
Though the Directive Principles of State Policy are not en-
forceable by any court of law, they are nonetheless fundamental
in the governance of the country and delineate the duties and
obligations of the state to apply these principles while execut-
ing and amending laws (Article 37). The Directive Principles

Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 5
 set before the state are the ideals for the social and economic
democracy in the country.
Legal Safeguards
In accordance with the constitutional provisions, a number
of measures have been initiated by the government to provide
protection against discrimination. The government provided
legal safeguards against discrimination to the SCs and STs. The
legal safeguards include the enactment of the Un-touchability
Offence Act, 1955, under which the practice of untouchability
and discrimination in public places were treated as an offence.
In 1976, the Act was reviewed in order to make it more strin-
gent and effective and was designated as the Protection of Civil
Rights (PCR) Act. The PCR Act provides penalties for refusing
access to SCs to places of public use. Considering the fact that
the normal provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the PCR
Act were inadequate to provide safeguards to the SCs and STs
against several crimes, an additional act was enacted in 1989
named of Scheduled Castes and the Schedules Tribes Preven-
tion of Atrocities (POA) Act. The POA Act was specifically en-
acted to prevent atrocities against SCs and STs.
The University Grants Commission has, at the higher edu-
cation level, taken steps to safeguard students from discrim-
ination: it has enacted a regulation called ‘The Promotion of
Equity in Higher Educational Institutions Regulation’, 2012.
At the heart of this regulation are the objectives:
●● To prohibit discrimination on the basis of caste, ethnicity,
gender and disability.
●● To provide a level-playing field by creating equal opportu-
nity cells and by appointing anti-discrimination officers in
institutions across the country.
University Grants Commiosion (UGC), Grievance Redressal
Regulations, 2012 and All India Council for Technical Edu-
cation, Establishment of Mechanism for Grievance Redressal
Regulations, 2012 are further attempts by the State for redres-
sal, in the form of Ombudsman for redressal of grievance of
students in case of violation of equality of rights.
School Education
At the school-level, the State has made education a Fundamen-
tal Right guaranteed by the Constitution. This has been done
through the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Educa-
tion (RTE) Act, 2009.

6 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
 The RTE Act not only makes education free and compulsory,
but also promotes non-discriminatory school environment, in-
cluding participation inside classrooms. These impact a wide
range of discriminatory practices such as:
●● Teachers announcing student’s affiliation to a particular
community, caste or tribe.
●● Teachers discriminating among students at mid-day meals
and sports facilities.
Administrative guidelines have been issued to all the states
to establish systems to address discrimination complaints
within 60 days of their being filed. Further, the Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA) framework with norms for planning interven-
tions has been revised to correspond with the provisions of the
RTE Act.
Affirmative Action Policies
The limitation of the legal provision is that it provides safeguards
against discrimination at present, but lacks elements which are
necessary for economic, educational and political empower-
ment of the excluded groups and to overcome the consequenc-
es of exclusion and discrimination of the past. Therefore, the
Indian Government developed policies for economic and educa-
tional development of the SCs, STs and of late for Other Back-
ward Classes (OBCs), and consequently their political represen-
tation in the governance of the country.
Population-based Representative Affirmative Action
Policies for the State Sector
Under Affirmative Action policy for education, the provision
relates to non-discrimination in educational institutions, equal
representations and measures for education promotions.
Article 15(4) in the Constitution states that: ‘Nothing in this article
shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the
advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes
of citizens or for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes’.
Article 29(2) provides protection for admission and against
discrimination in any educational institution maintained by the
State or receiving aid out of the State funds on grounds only of
religion, race, caste, language or any of them. In pursuance of
this provision, seats in State educational institutions (schools/
colleges/universities/research institutions) are reserved in pro-
portion to their population. These also include measures such
as capacity-enhancement of SCs and STs students and giving
them scholarships and financial assistance.
Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 7
 Targeted Schemes for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes
Besides population-based representation which is the basis of
affirmative action policy in employment, education, and politics,
the State has also developed various special schemes which
exclusively focus on the SCs and STs or poorer groups among
them to address the specific problems. The schemes for private
entrepreneurs from the SC and ST social groups, schemes for
scavenging community, including fellowship/scholarship are
some of the examples of group and issue-focused affirmative
action policies for SCs and STs.
General Policies with Preferential Measures Embedded into
General Schemes
In addition to the population-based representation and targeted
schemes type of affirmative action policy discussed above, the
State has also used general schemes (schemes developed for all,
including the SCs and STs), to provide a fair share in the gen-
eral schemes which are developed for all including the SCs and
STs. These general schemes include various services related
to employment, food security, health, education, forest, drink-
ing water and other social needs provided by the government
directly or through government approved agencies. Major por-
tion of these general schemes fall under anti-poverty schemes
and are targeted for the poor. The government has laid down
the guidelines that SCs and STs would receive fair share in the
supply of these services, so that they also benefit equally. Thus,
administrative guidelines for SCs and STs which mentioned fair
share to them are embedded in the general guidelines. This is,
in fact, an affirmative action policy in informal form which is
intended to secure a fair share to the SCs and STs which other-
wise may not accrue to them due to discriminatory working of
non-market institutions.
Affirmative Action Policy for Private Sector
The affirmative action policies discussed above is confined to
the government sector and excludes the vast private sector.
Thus, the State focus affirmative action policy excludes the
employment and educational institutions run by the private
sector. It is necessary to recognise that government employment
accounts for a very small proportion of the total employment

8 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
and therefore, affirmative action policy in State employment
covers a small proportion of total employment. Since there is no
affirmative action policy for private sector, the SCs and STs are
exposed to the possible discrimination in hiring by the private
sector. Same is the case in education sector. Recent estimate
for higher education shows that about one-third students are
enrolled in private education institutions. It is precisely because
of this that SCs and STs demanded affirmative action policy for
private sector in employment and education. Finally, in 2008,
the government had developed an affirmative action policy for
the private sector. These policies include self-accepted codes
which the three association of industries (Associated Chamber
of Commerce, Indian Chamber of Commerce and Federation of
Indian Chamber of Commerce) have accepted under which the
members promised to developed policies for ‘four Es’, namely
to enhance employability, education, self-employment (private
entrepreneurship) and employment of SC and ST social groups.
The affirmative action policy for private sector is focussed on
the capacity enhancement and promotion without any share
and representation in private employment and private educa-
tion institutions.

1. What are the Constitutional Provisions for educational

empowerments of the Scheduled Castes?
2. What are the States legal safeguards to protect SCs from
discrimination?

4. CONCEPTS OF EQUITY, EQUALITY AND

EXCLUSION
Equity
Equity denotes a condition where everyone has access to
resources and opportunities to realise one’s potential with a
particular attention to groups or categories of people who are
historically marginalised (such as women, scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes). Equity as a condition has therefore, two out-
comes – equity as equality of opportunity and equity as equality of
results (Varghese, 2011). The caste and ethnicity are important
sources of disadvantage and discrimination in India. Therefore,
Government of India has been formulating and implementing
caste and ethnicity-based affirmative policies and actions to
promote equity as described in the beginning of the module.

Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 9
 Equality and Non-Discrimination
Equality and non-discrimination are the core principles of hu-
man rights law. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) proclaims in article 1 that ‘All human beings are born
free and equal in dignity and rights,’ and article 2 explains that
in order to achieve this equality, the norm of non-discrimi-
nation must be upheld, ‘everyone is entitled to all the rights
and freedoms setforth in this Declaration, without distinc-
tion of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status…’ legal obligations to end discrimination
and ensure equality are central to all of the major human rights
treaties adopted since UDHR.
The Constitution of India under article 14 and 15 guaran-
tees every citizen of India equality before law and prohibits dis-
crimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of
birth. However, empirical evidence indicates that discrimination
on the basis of caste, creed and religion has not been completely
eliminated. The forms of discrimination/untouchability are not
practised openly as before but their forms have changed. In the
education sector, for example, caste-based discrimination can
be noticed. In school’s SC children are many times discriminat-
ed on grounds of caste, where they face discrimination by their
teachers within the classroom, by peers in class and in school.
Thus, it is in school that the basic foundation years are moulded
and identity-building also takes place. Thus, it is necessary that
in school, especially children from the scheduled castes chil-
dren should be treated equally like all other children in school
and the teacher should take the responsibility for treating every
child equally and practice non-discrimination.

1. What is equity?
2. What is equality?
3. What is non-discrimination?

5. CONCEPTS OF EXCLUSION
In social science literature, there is a general agreement on the
core features of social exclusion (Buvinic, 2005). Social exclu-
sion is defined as a social process that involves denial of equal
rights and opportunities, which others enjoy, resulting in the
inability of individuals from excluded groups to participate
in the basic political, economic and social functioning of the

10 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
society that, in turn, results in high human poverty and depri-
vation among them. The concept of social exclusion is essen-
tially a group concept. Amartya Sen (2000) has brought in more
clarity to the general concept of social exclusion; he has drawn
distinctions between ‘unfair exclusion’ and ‘unfair inclusion’.
Sen’s concept of unfair exclusion implies that not all exclusions
are unfair. Not all exclusions are social exclusion. Theoreti-
cally, it is reasonable to assume that only those exclusions that
exclude people from having access and entitlement to certain
social groups where such denial of access violates the recog-
nised and accepted principles, rules, norms and practices of
fairness can be considered as ‘unfair exclusion’. Similarly not
all inclusions are unfair—only those inclusions that provide ac-
cess and entitlement to persons from certain social groups but
on different terms and conditions—different from that of the
accepted principles, rules, norms and practices of fair inclusion
(as well as different from those used for other persons) maybe
unfair inclusion. Sen’s concept of unfair inclusion is similar to
the concept of discrimination that is used in social science lit-
erature, particularly in the discipline of economics, as a form of
market discrimination.
Two other dimensions involving the notion of exclusion need
to be recognised— it involves ‘societal institutions’ of exclusion
(which operate through inter-social relations), and it involves
their ‘outcome’ in terms of deprivation. In order to understand
the dimensions of exclusion, it is necessary to understand the
societal inter-relations and institutions that are instrumental in
bringing exclusion of certain groups into multiple spheres—civ-
ic, cultural, political and economic. Thus, insights into the soci-
etal processes (rules and customs governing social relations) are
as important as the outcome in terms of deprivation for groups
that face exclusion (Thorat, Haan and Sabharwal, 2014).
This concept of social exclusion clearly makes a distinc-
tion between group exclusion and exclusion of an individual. In
‘group exclusion’, all persons belonging to a particular social/
cultural group are excluded, based on their group identity and
not their individual attributes. Exclusion of an ‘individual’ is
fundamentally different from exclusion of a ‘social group’. In-
dividuals (both from excluded and from non-excluded groups)
often get excluded from access to economic and social oppor-
tunities for various reasons specific to them (and not because
of their group, social or cultural identity). Individuals, for in-
stance, may be excluded from employment owing to lack of
Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 11
 requisite education and skills; individuals may face exclusion
in access to education because of lack of requisite minimum
qualification or merit or high education costs; individuals may
get excluded from access to input and consumer markets be-
cause of lack of income and purchasing power. It is important
to note that, conceptually speaking, exclusion of an individu-
al has necessarily no connection with the social and cultural
identity of a person. On the other hand, in the exclusion of
a social group, variables associated with social and cultural
identities such as caste, ethnicity, religion, gender, colour and race
become important and result in exclusion of all persons belong-
ing to specific social groups. Thus, the group characteristics of
exclusion are based on social and cultural identities and not on
individual attributes.
Caste-based Social Exclusion
In India, exclusion revolves round the social inter-relations
and institutions that exclude, discriminate, isolate and deprive
some groups on the basis of their group identity like their caste,
ethnic and religious identity. Historically, the caste system has
regulated the social, economic and political life of not only the
Hindu society but also non-Hindu societies through a spill-over
effect of the caste system (Thorat, Haan and Sabharwal, 2014).
Theoretical formulations by social scientists have recog-
nised that in its essential form, caste as a system of social
and economic governance or organisation is determined by
certain customary rules and norms that are unique and distinct
(Akerlof 1976; Ambedkar, 1936, 1987; Scoville 1991, 1996;
Lal, 1988 as cited in Thorat and Sabharwal, 2015). The organi-
sational scheme of the caste system is based on the division of
people into social groups (or castes) in which the civil, cultural
and economic rights of each individual caste are predetermined
or ascribed by birth and made hereditary. The assignment of
civil, cultural and economic rights among castes is, however,
unequal and hierarchical. The most important feature of the
caste system, however, is that it provides for a regulatory mech-
anism to enforce social and economic organisation through the
instruments of social ostracism (or social and economic penal-
ties). The caste system is reinforced further with justification
and support from philosophical elements in the Hindu religion
(Ambedkar, 1936, 1987; Lal, 1988 as cited in Thorat and New-
man, 2010).
12 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
 The caste system’s fundamental characteristics of fixed
civil, cultural and economic rights for each caste with restric-
tions on change implies ‘forced exclusion’ of some castes from
equal rights, which other castes enjoys. Exclusion and discrimi-
nation in civil, cultural, and particularly in economic spheres
(such as occupation and labour employment) are internal to
the system and a necessary outcome of its governing principles.
In the market economy framework, restrictions would operate
through denial of access to various markets such as land, la-
bour, credit, and services necessary for any economic activity.
Labour being an integral part of the production process of any
economic activity would obviously become a part of market dis-
crimination. Exclusion of some castes would also cover other
spheres such as education, health, housing and similar social
needs. This implies that the caste system involves negation of
not only equality and freedom, but also of basic human rights,
particularly of the low caste/‘untouchables’ (scheduled castes
or Dalits) and thereby impeding personal development.
Untouchability-based Social Exclusion
In the traditional scheme of the caste system, the
untouchables who are at the bottom of the caste hierarchy suf-
fered the most from unequal assignment and entitlement of rights.
They were denied right to property, occupation (except so-called
polluting occupations and manual labour), education, civil and
cultural rights. It is necessary to recognise other channels through
which untouchables faced denial of rights and entitlements. The
graded inequality in rights implies that every caste except the
caste located at the top of caste hierarchy, the Brahmin caste,
suffered from exclusion in terms of denial of some rights,
although the type of rights denied vary depending on the social
location of the caste in the caste hierarchy (Ambedkar, 1987).
Thus, like other lower castes, the untouchables also suffered
from denial of certain rights. However, the untouchables also
suffered from the notion of ‘untouchability’, which is unique
to them (from which other castes do not suffer). On account
of this unique stigma of untouchability, the untouchables are
considered to be impure and polluting, and they have suffered
from physical and social segregation and isolation. Physical
and social isolation is unique to the caste system. The isolation
and segregation lead to non–freedom and restriction on physi-
cal and social mobility resulting in denial of equal access in
various spheres of society, culture and economy. In this sense,

Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 13
 the untouchable suffered from double denial, namely, denial of
equal rights, which are clearly specified in the customary laws
of the caste system and denial of rights owing to their untouch-
able status involving ‘forced non-association’ and lack of par-
ticipation in various spheres of society, culture and economy.
The lack of participation in the communal life of society result-
ing from the notion of untouchability is widespread in Indian
society, insofar as it involves restrictions on physical and social
mobility, which take various forms and dimensions (Thorat and
Sabharwal, 2015).

1. What is meant by the terms Unfair Inclusion and Unfair

Exclusion?
2. What is meant by Group Exclusion? Give an example of
exclusion.
3. What is specific about Untouchability-based Social
Exclusion in India?

6. SPHERES OF EXCLUSION
The following section will outline the various spheres in
which children from the Scheduled Castes group encounter
discrimination in schools. The observations presented in this
section are based on the following studies: (a) The Probe Team
Report on Basic Education in India, 1999; (b) Rekha Kaul’s study
on Accessing Primary Education, 2001; (c) P.V. Abdulrahim’s
report on the Education of Ex-untouchables (Dalits), 2009; and
(d) Geetha Nambissan’s study on Exclusion and Discrimination
in Schools, 2010.
Classroom
(a) Seating Arrangements: The first sphere of exclusion is
the classroom itself. Here lower caste children and Dalit
students, in particular, are usually seated on the ground,
while upper caste children are given chairs. Moreover
lower caste students are generally told to sit at the back
of the classroom, whereas students from other castes
are allowed to sit up front (Nambissan, 2010).
(b) Teacher-student Interaction: Some of the forms of
discrimination observed between teacher–student
interactions are as follows:
●● During classroom teaching-learning process teach-
ers keep on abusing SC children verbally.

14 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
 ●● Sometimes address them by their caste names.
●● Maintain distance from SC children.
●● Do not give individual attention.
●● Not correcting homework/assignment of SC
children.
●● Not giving moral and emotional support.
●● Not answering the questions.
●● Does not ask questions to SC children.
(c) Classroom Participation: Some of the forms of
discrimination faced by SC students in classroom
participation are as follows:
●● Not appointed class monitor/leader.
●● Perform mental and physical task such as sweeping
and other physical work.
School-wide Functions and Games
Some of the forms of discrimination faced by SC children during
school functions and games are as follows:
●● Non-participation in school functions and games.
●● Non-involvement in serving and in distribution of com-
munity lunch.
●● Denied access to lead in school ceremonies and
assemblies.
Peer Relations (Student to Student)
In the school context upper caste children sometimes refuse
to sit or play with SC children. In addition they won’t visit the
homes of Dalit children and also don’t invite them into their
own homes. Sometimes peer address children by their caste
names.

1. What discriminatory practices do Dalit children face from

their peers in the school context?
2. What types of discrimination do Dalit children face from
school teachers?

7. THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER

In the school context, the teacher should take up the
following responsibilities in relation to children from the
scheduled castes group:
1. The teacher should ensure that all children feel safe and
accepted in the classroom.
Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 15
 2. The teacher should attempt to relate to the experiences of
every child, regardless of caste status.
3. The teacher should come up with a non-discriminatory
seating arrangement in the classroom.
4. The teacher should build up and raise all children’s
self-confidence regardless of caste.
5. The teacher should encourage team work between all stu-
dents regardless of caste.
6. The teacher should carefully prepare all students for
exams and athletic competitions.
7. The teacher should encourage interaction between all stu-
dents (including SCs) and the community.
In view of the discriminatory practices against SC
students in schools the sensitisation of teachers to the harm
of such mistreatment and exclusion becomes particularly
important. It is hence necessary that all teachers not only be
made aware of the ways discrimination may occur and also
that they make a conscious effort to stop such behaviour.
However, a teacher’s role goes beyond mere regulation of personal
behaviour. In addition, teachers also have a responsibility
to make SC students aware of their rights and encourage all
students to express themselves freely and develop their skills.
Therefore the following plan has been developed that aims
to create in all Indian public school teachers a sense of com-
mon human dignity and respect, as well as a capacity for active
change towards non-discrimination in the classroom.
Classroom Methods for the Provision of an Inclusive
Educational Atmosphere
This part of the module will focus on solution seeking
strategies. Frequently workshops on non-discrimination fail to
have long-term effects because they don’t address the issue of
change on a day-to-day basis. Hence, the workshop will conclude
with a discussion and brainstorming sessions on solutions and
anti-discriminatory manoeuvres that can be introduced into
everyday life in the classroom.
This session could take on various formats depending on
the preference of the trainer. One way would be to start with a
presentation on various methods that have been previously
identified and are listed above. Another option would be to be-
gin by brainstorming and collecting ideas with the whole group
first. In this scenario, the trainers would only make additions in
the end in case they felt like something had been left out.

16 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
 In-classroom
“Dhaai Akshar Prem ke—Two and a
practices counter-
Half Words of Love”
acting discrimina- The new semester had started and it was
tion include but already the third month. Students had start-
are not necessar- ed preparing for their first term exams. All
ily limited to the teachers were concerned about the educa-
following spheres of tional level of the students. Since I was the
interaction: class teacher, I had dual responsibility of
the students. The first concern was regard-
Inclusive Seating ing my subject (geography) and secondly,
Arrangements as a class teacher. One day, other subject
teachers complained about a particular
Since studies have
student who had not been attending their
reported that chil- classes on a regular basis, at that moment I
dren from the mar- did not take any immediate action. I did not
ginalised commu- have any prior clue about these allegations
nities mostly sit in bestowed upon this particular student, yet
the very back row of I assured the other subject teachers that I
would look into the matter myself. From that
the classroom. This
day onwards, I started to keep an eye on that
means that they may student (Tej Singh) and his whereabouts. He
have a harder time would be present in my classes on a regular
listening and basis.
participating in les- One day I found him loitering in the
sons and maybe school grounds while other subject classes
were going on in the classroom. I called him
easily overlooked
and in strict words asked him why he was
by the teacher. not attending his classes and was outside?
Hence, a more Instead of answering my question, with a
inclusive class- lot of hatred and apprehension in his eyes,
room atmosphere he looked at me and spitted angrily on the
could be created by ground and left. I then realised that there
must be some particular reason behind his
designing alter-
anger and frustration.
native seating Next day I spoke to his friends and started
arrangements. enquiring about him. I even visited his house
●● A U-shaped and found out that he was an orphan child
seating ar- since his parents had expired and he was liv-
rangement ing with his elder brother and sister-in-law
(bhabi). He could neither afford textbooks on
with the various subjects nor could he afford exercise
teacher’s desk copies/notebooks on different subjects to do
at its centre his homework which the subject teachers
would give all expected from him. Every day he came to
students equal class with a single notebook. Each sub-
vision of and ject teacher expected him to do his home-
access to the work in separate notebooks, but Tej Singh
could not afford to buy separate copies for
teacher.

Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 17
 ●● Alternatively a
hexagon with various subjects. Whenever he asked for
money to buy notebooks or textbooks he
the teacher’s
was abused and his sister-in-law refused
desk constitut- to give him money. His mental condition
ing one of the was such that he was about to leave school
sides would be very shortly.
another option I affectionately explained to him and
for an egali- made him understand that he should con-
tarian seating tinue with his studies. Later, I helped him
arrangement. to get textbooks, notebooks and stationary
●● Teachers could from the school. Constantly I kept appre-
ciating and encouraging him for his work
also think of
and studies and that gave him confidence
additional in- and courage and he developed a keen inter-
clusive seating est in his studies. The result was that he
arrangements completed his graduation with first division
that integrate marks and presently he is a teacher as well
math symbols as the principal of a school.
into the class-
room. This will
make the environment non-discriminatory and teaching-
learning process more fun for the students.
Teacher-students Relations
●● In order to address the issue of implementation of anti-
discriminatory practices in the classroom and make sure
that the insights gained in the previous exercises weigh in
on future classroom behaviour, the teachers participating
in the workshop should compile a common list of manda-
tory rules and practices for the classroom. This list will
then serve as a guiding document for all student-teacher
relations and should be an every teacher’s constant com-
panion.
Based on the aforementioned background studies on the
forms of discrimination still faced by the children from the
scheduled castes group in school, such a list should include
but not be limited to the following practices:
1. Before starting, the class can take an Oath of Respect
which could include promises like – Respect differences,
Equal Opportunity to all, Caring for All, No Hierarchy etc.
This could be written on a chart paper and posted on the
wall as a reminder. Children and teacher can make this
promise everyday before starting the class.
2. All children should either be seated at equal distance from

18 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
 the teacher or be part of a rotating seating arrangement
through which every child receives the opportunity to sit
up front on a regular basis.
3. Teachers should take care to encourage all children to ask
questions about the covered material.
4. Teachers should make sure to check every child’s home-
work.
5. Teachers should provide constructive criticism to all
students. Criticism should be expressed respectfully and
consideration for children’s insecurities without abusive
language or public embarrassment.
6. Teachers should ensure that friendly interaction between
children from different castes and differing religious and
ethnic backgrounds take place.
7. Teachers should draw up a schedule for lunch duty.
The teacher in-charge should ensure equal treatment of
Dalit children in the serving process, both with regards
to quantity and to the manner in which the children are
treated.
The above list is by no means exhaustive, but merely men-
tions a number of ways that should definitely be included in the
guiding document for ensuring a non-discriminatory environ-
ment in the classroom. For the purpose of training, the teach-
ers should develop this document through a brainstorming ex-
ercise, as personally developed ideas tend to have more power
over people’s behaviour than rules imposed from the outside.
Peer Relations
●● Buddy System:
One way to make Pratibha Ki Pehchaan:
sure that chil- Acknowledgement of a True
Talent
dren from all
castes truly in-
There was a Dalit boy who was a first
teract with each generation learner in his family. He
other on a daily kept failing continuously in all his
basis would be to exams in high school and his
introduce a so- teachers had lost hope that he would
called buddy never be successful in passing his higher
system. Ac- secondary exams. At home, even his
cording to this parents thought on similar lines. In
system, the teach- the day time instead of attending his
classes he would be playing football
er pairs up stu-
in the grounds and in the evening he
dents who have

Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 19
 varying academic
would be selling peanuts in front of a
and extra-cur- cinema hall. Thus, the crucial ques-
ricular strengths tion was, when would he then study?
and are from His situation was such that he was not
different caste ready to change his daily routine even
b a c k g r o u n d s . after his father and teachers kept ask-
These pairs or ing him to refrain from what he was do-
‘buddies’ are then ing at that time and concentrate on his
required to ar- studies.
The good and positive thing about
range a manda-
him was that he was a very good foot-
tory meeting or baller, and based on this talent, he had
‘buddy session’ started taking part in national level
once or twice a football matches and competitions.
week, where they This talent was neither recognised nor
help each other nurtured by either his teachers or his
with homework family members. They were of the opin-
or engage in ath- ion that he should first concentrate on
letic activities to- his studies and forthcoming board ex-
gether. ams, and then only he would be able to
succeed in life.
●● For example, a One of his teachers had faith in his
teacher could talent. He would be able to win the con-
pair up a lower fidence of his parents and other teach-
caste student ers only if he managed to clear his board
who is very strong exams successfully. That particular
in Mathematics teacher started guiding and coaching
but weak in Eng- him on those subjects in which he was
lish with an up- weak and lacked knowledge. But he
per caste child never stopped the boy from playing foot-
ball. At the end, the student successful-
whose academic
ly cleared the board exams and due to
preferences are his talent in football he acquired a job
reversed. Alterna- in State Bank of India, under the sports
tively one could quota. Continuous encouragement and
also pair up a favourable opportunities helped him
student who does become a national level football player.
very well in physi- He participated in various national and
cal and creative international level matches and compe-
activities but is titions.
weak in academ-
ics with someone who excels in that area but does not
feel comfortable in activities requiring physical or creative
input. In all pairings, the teacher would have to pay atten-
tion to pupil’s individual abilities and caste backgrounds
and pick buddies accordingly.
20 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
 ●● A system like this could result in the development of
friendships across caste and religious boundaries that is
unlikely to take place otherwise. It would also help both
buddies to excel in all aspects of the school curriculum.
Most importantly, however, one-on-one contact like this
might eliminate some of the stereotypes children from high
and low castes have about each other and cause them to
see each other as human beings and individuals.
●● The teacher could establish mandatory sessions of com-
mon play/talking time at the beginning of breaks. The
teacher could put a different student in-charge each time
and ask her /him to think of a game everyone could play
together. This will allow everyone a chance to take charge,
as well as for students to mingle and lose their fear of
physical contact.
●● The teacher should introduce a weekly reflection hour, in
which students think about and share their own preju-
dices and the ways in which they may have previously
discriminated against fellow students. For this exercise,
students should sit in a circle and be able to look at each
other. During the conversation, the teacher needs to
ensure a peaceful environment and insist on polite lan-
guage. Once a student is done sharing, he should be en-
couraged to apologise to the students she/he may have
intentionally or unintentionally insulted or hurt. It is not
sufficient to conduct such an exercise once. Rather this,
reflection hour should be a regular occurrence, preferably
on a weekly basis to ensure that children gradually be-
come aware and keep thinking about their discrimination
and their own behaviour.
●● Teachers should assign random seating by lottery and
repeat the process every couple of months so children
are forced to get to know and to engage in contact with
everyone in the class.
●● In order to help upper caste children understand how it
feels to be discriminated against the teacher could play
a number of games with students that help make stu-
dents aware of the evils of discrimination. A number of
suggestions are included in Appendix-3.
Reflection Questions for Students
1. What have the previous exercises taught you about your own
discriminatory attitudes?
2. What have you learned about the effects of discriminatory
behaviour on the victims through the previous activities?

Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 21
 8. ONE-DAY TEACHER TRAINING WORKSHOP for
the promotion of non-discriminatory
practices in the classroom
The aim of this workshop is to create awareness in school
teachers of what constitutes discriminatory behaviour in the
classroom. We hope that this awareness will form the basis for
increased reflection on matters of discrimination and ultimately
lead to the implementation of day-to-day counteractive class-
room practices and exercises, as we believe that discrimination
is an issue that has to be tackled continuously and a new every
day.
Participants
In order to successfully execute the outlined module, the
following set up is desirable:
1. Not more than 15:20 teachers/participants should be in a
training group at one time.
2. At least 2:3 trainers/ facilitators for each group of partici-
pants.
3. A big space should be provided that allows for small group
work, as well as for large group discussion and exercises.
4. Pens, markers, flash cards and poster paper should be
provided.
Outreach
In order to guarantee that teachers implement recommenda-
tions in the offered module, participation should be ensured in
one of two ways.
1. One option would be to make the module mandatory for
all teachers by state law. This route would require strong
support from the government both in terms of issuing and
implementing the module.
2. Another way of ensuring teacher participation in the mod-
ule would be to provide incentives. For example, it could
be made to fulfil a requirement in teacher’s education or
be prompted as an additional job qualification.
Part I
The teacher training module on discrimination in the classroom
will feature an introductory session on Human Rights concepts
and guidelines to inspire teachers to begin thinking of students;
teachers and everyone else as forming a common humanity,
discourage categorisation in terms of caste or religion and pro-
mote mutual respect:
22 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
 (a) As a first step towards achieving this goal the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights should be reviewed. As the
entire document is very long and it would be too time
consuming to go through every article one by one, atten-
tion should particularly be paid to articles 1, 2, 4 and 5,
which deal with issues of a universal human dignity and
equality.
(b) Since, education at the public school level primarily con-
cerns children, the UN Declaration of the Rights of the
Child should also be reviewed with particular emphasis
on articles 6, 7, 9, 10. (See Appendix 4)
(c) After the review of the above articles the module, trainer
should stress once more the universal applicability of
the aforementioned notions regardless of people and es-
pecially children’s religious background, caste member-
ship, ethnicity, regional belonging, abilities etc.
(d) In an effort to relate these issues to the Indian context
the trainers might consider mentioning and/or quoting
a number of prominent Indian figures who have specifi-
cally stressed the special value of children in society and
their entitlement to a happy fulfiling life. Example:
‘If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on
a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children’
(Mahtma Gandhi).

1. What does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

state about common human dignity and equality and what
articles are significant in this context?
2. Which articles from the UN Declaration on the Rights of the
Child are particularly important in the school context?

Part II
After this general introduction on the Human Rights
Framework, an effort should also be made to confront
teachers with their own prejudices and discriminatory behav-
iours. In order to do this, two different methodologies can be
employed.
(a) First of all, the training session should start out with an
association exercise, with the aim of revealing ingrained
and unquestioned assumptions and discriminatory
attitudes with regards to marginalised communities. One
possible approach is described below:
Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 23
 The trainers will write various terms on to the board,
such as: ‘last row,’ ‘prefect,’ ‘school cook’, etc. Then the
teachers, or in this case the participants, will be asked
to tell the trainer and everyone else in the workshop
what kinds of people, things or situations they associate
with the various words and phrases presented to them.
Their associations will be noted down in columns under
the respective terms. Such an exercise is likely to make
explicit some inherent prejudices and assumptions
about class hierarchies, student’s roles, as well as their
intellectual capabilities.
Throughout this exercise, the trainer should note down
any potentially or explicitly discriminatory attitudes
that may be inherent in these statements. Afterwards
when everyone has had their turn to talk, the trainer
should present his own observations to the teachers and
facilitate a discussion, in which he addresses the various
stereotypes that have become apparent in the previous
exercise. Over the course of such a discussion, it may
become obvious that certain assumptions really are
unconscious ones and that many teachers don’t under-
stand the harmful consequences and effects of their behav-
iour. On the other hand, trainers could also discover the
opposite that some teachers are very aware of their own
discriminatory behaviour and feel that it is justified on
the basis of religion, tradition etc.
In this case, it would be important to convey that
personal beliefs of this kind don’t have a place in the
classroom. Therefore, the session should be concluded
with a discussion on the constitutional significance on
the right to education, the abolishment of untouchability
and a repetition of the right of the child and the concept of
common human dignity.
A list of words that could potentially be used by the trainers
in this exercise can be found in Appendix-1
(b) The second exercise will confront discriminatory
behaviour in a more direct manner, in order to lead up to
a discussion about possible solutions.
The trainers will divide the teachers into small work-
shop groups and give each group some flash cards and
markers. They will be asked to brainstorm on classroom
situations in which they may have demonstrated dis-

24 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
 criminatory behaviour in the past and write it down on a
flash card. After collecting as many as possible of these
scenarios, they will then be asked to think of ways to
correct and counteract these habitual behaviours and
how to enact them in the classroom. For example, one
type of discriminatory behaviour could be ‘seating lower
caste students in the last row,’ while a potential method
of addressing this problem would be ‘to come up with al-
ternative, more inclusive seating arrangements’ (for fur-
ther details refer to Appendix -2).

Reflection Questions for Teachers

1. What have the previous exercises and discussions taught
you about your own discriminatory attitudes?
2. What have you learned about the effects of discriminatory
behaviour through the previous activities?
3. What have you learned about possible solutions to the
problem of caste-based discrimination in the classroom?

Part III
Wrap-up Discussion
As a concluding exercise the trainers should initiate a final
reflection round. In this round, everyone will be encouraged
to share the insights they gained about their own behaviour,
about Human Rights and about effective approaches to anti-
discrimination, as well as the doubts that remain and the criti-
cisms participants wish to voice regarding the approach taken
in the workshop.
This round will ultimately serve as a learning tool for both
the teachers participating in the workshop, as well as for the
trainers. Based on the feedback trainers will get an idea of what
approaches are effective and which ones are not. These insights
can then be incorporated into future session.
9. Conclusion
The module outlined above aims to elucidate some of the most
pressing issues related to the education of children from the
scheduled castes group today. It hopes to give an overview
of the main forms of discrimination experienced by these
students and provides some insight into the reasons behind
discrimination of scheduled castes in school.
In order to counteract such discriminatory practices, the
authors regard it as crucial that training initiatives don’t merely

Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 25
 prescribe behavioural rules and issue prohibitions, but attempt
to address deeply ingrained attitudes towards social hierar-
chies. Hence, the teacher-training module proposed begins and
ends with a discussion format that stresses the values of partic-
ipation, mutual respect and collective solution seeking. It also
encourages participants to think for themselves by developing
their own methods to address discrimination and tries to pro-
mote empathy by introducing exercises that forces teachers and
upper caste students to put themselves in the shoes of those
who get discriminated. There are positive examples that indicate
mixed peer groups formed in educational institutions and social
mobility of children from scheduled castes and schedule tribes
social groups once the prejudice is addressed and knowledge on
the value of diversity communicated to students. By addressing
teachers’ own prejudices and by presenting small alterations
that can be made to the everyday school life, the authors of
this module wish to foster an environment in which the issue
of non-discrimination is always present and always promoted.
Ultimately, we hope that this will lead to incremental change in
attitudes that will continue to grow over generations.

26 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
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Buvinic, Mayra. 2005. ‘Social Inclusion in Latin America’. In
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Buvinici and Jacqueline Mazza. Johns Hopkins University
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Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 29
 Appendix -I
Potential list of words to be used by trainers in fostering
teachers’ awareness of their own Prejudices and Discriminatory
Behaviours:
●● Intelligent/Talented
●● Weaker Students
●● Water Pot
●● Last Row
●● Weaker Student
●● Food
●● Serving Food
●● Broom
●● Study
●● Class Officers
●● Wisdom
●● Impure
Appendix -II

Exercises on Discrimination for Teachers

Action Point 1: Potential Reasons for Learning and Adjustment
Difficulties for SC Children
Ask teachers to prepare a list featuring the main reasons for
learning and adjustment difficulties among SC children in schools. For
example such a list could look like this:

Reason 1: Reason 4:

Reason 2: Reason 5:
Reason 3: Reason 6:

Etcetera

Potential reasons could include lack of confidence, fear of bullying,

poor economic status, hesitation to approach upper caste classmates,
irregularity of attendance for domestic reasons, language barriers,
stress etc.
It is likely that for most SC students several of the
aforementioned reasons will apply simultaneously. As a result, it
becomes increasingly difficult for them to adjust and thus to make
academic progress.
Action Point 2: What are the main obstacles SC children are
experiencing in terms of adjustment and learning in the classroom?

30 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
Ask teachers to make a list featuring the main obstacles SC
children are experiencing in terms of adjustment and learning in the
classroom. For example, such a list could look like:

Reason 1: Reason 4:

Reason 2: Reason 5:
Reason 3: Reason 6:

Etcetera

Potential reasons could include problems with reading and writing

due to lack of attention from previous teachers, lack of support from
parents with regards to school work, distraction of domestic work,
exclusion from extra-curricular activities.

Appendix -III
Ideas for in-class activities fostering student’s
reflection on their own Prejudices and Discriminatory Attitudes
1. Colour Groups
The Colour Groups game teaches kids how discrimination feels, based
on circumstances out of their control. Divided into three random
groups, each group’s assigned a colour on which treatment is based:
One gets royal treatment, one gets treated the same as always and one
is ostracised. For example, the first group receives a special treat on
their lunch tray, while the second gets the regular meal and the third
group has to eat at a table by themselves and clean up everyone else’s
tables at the end of lunch. Afterward, the groups sit together and dis-
cuss whether it was fair that one group got preferential treatment; if
one group deserved less; and how it made them feel when their friends
got more/less than they did.
2. Mask your Difference
In this exercise, each child receives a paper plate with eyeholes and a
napkin to drape over their head. The children cover their faces with the
masks, put the napkin over their hair and walk around the room look-
ing at each other silently. After decorating the masks, they again walk
around without speaking. When the exercise is complete, the children
discuss the difference between the two experiences, exploring what
it felt like when everyone looked the same; if anyone felt special or
unique; if it was it boring to look exactly alike. They can compare how
it felt when they saw everyone’s unique mask and how it was different
from the first round. The goal of this exercise is to open up a discus-
sion about differences in human culture: What makes us the same?
What makes us different? How does difference feel?

Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 31
 3. The Privilege Line/ The Discrimination Line
All children will be asked to stand in one straight line. Then the
teacher will pose a number of questions to the group that can be
answered with yes or no. These questions will relate to issues of
economic and social discrimination. For example, one of the questions
could be: ‘Have you ever been prevented from drinking water from
the common water source?’ or ‘Have you ever been overlooked by a
teacher when wanting to ask a question about the homework?’ etc.
Every time a child answers a question with ‘yes’ he/ she must take one
step forward, while everyone who answers ‘no’ mist remain where they
are. Slowly vast discrepancies will emerge with some children moving
further and further away from the line, while others very rarely have
to take a step forward.
After about 15-20 questions the game should be ended. A
discussion should then follow about people’s observations and the
implications of these observations. For example, the students who had
to take many steps should be asked about their feelings about the
matter and about the reasons they believe to lie behind their obvious
disadvantage. Similarly those children who hardly moved at all should
be questioned about their feelings and why they think others are faced
with so many more disadvantages?
Hopefully this game will instill in upper caste children an aware-
ness of their own privilege and create a feeling of empathy. However,
the game needs to be executed carefully and sensitively so as not to
hurt any one’s feelings.

Appendix -IV
In this section, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Articles 1,
2, 4 and 5 may be listed down and UN Declaration of the Rights of the
Child Articles 6, 7, 9 and 10 may be attached for ready reference and
for reading and understanding of the issues.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act
towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2 : Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms setforth in
this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour,
sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social
origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction
shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or interna-
tional status of the country or territory to which a person belongs,
whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing, or under any
other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 4 : No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the
slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

32 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment.
UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child
Article 6: The child, for the full and harmonious development of
his personality, needs love and understanding. He shall, wherever
possible, grow up in the care and under the responsibility of his
parents, and, in any case, in an atmosphere of affection and of moral
and material security; a child of tender years shall not, save in ex-
ceptional circumstances, be separated from his mother. Society and
the public authorities shall have the duty to extend particular care to
children without a family and to those without adequate means of sup-
port. Payment of State and other assistance towards the maintenance
of children of large families is desirable.
Article 7: The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free
and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages. He shall be given
an education which will promote his general culture and enable him,
on a basis of equal opportunity, to develop his abilities, his individual
judegment, and his sense of moral and social responsibility, and to
become a useful member of society.
The best interests of the child shall be the guiding principle of those
responsible for his education and guidance; that responsibility lies in
the first place with his parents.
The child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation, which
should be directed to the same purposes as education; society and the
public authorities shall endeavour to promote the enjoyment of this
right.
Article 9: The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect,
cruelty and exploitation. He shall not be the subject of traffic, in any
form. The child shall not be admitted to employment before an ap-
propriate minimum age; he shall in no case be caused or permitted to
engage in any occupation or employment which would prejudice his
health or education, or interfere with his physical, mental or moral
development.
Article 10: The child shall be protected from practices which may fos-
ter racial, religious and any other form of discrimination. He shall be
brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among
peoples, peace and universal brotherhood, and in full consciousness
that his energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his
fellow men.

Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled Castes in School 33
34 Module on Equity, Equality and Non-discrimination of Children from Scheduled stes in School
 MODULE 4

Right to Education Act, 2009

and Children from Scheduled
Caste Communities

ABSTRACT

The Scheduled Castes are one of the socially and educationally

backward communities of India. The Right to Education Act, 2009 is
one of the major steps of Government of India towards ensuring mas-
sive educational participation of children of all population groups
in an effort to make India hundred per cent literates. This module
has tried to highlight these components of RTE Act, 2009 which can
facilitate access retention and completion of elementary education
specifically for the children of disadvantaged groups such as Sched-
uled Castes. The module has been divided into eight sub-headings
after introduction. The first half of this module focus in the issues
introduced in the education of the children of scheduled castes. This
second half of the module concentrates on how RTE Act, 2009 fixes
the responsibility of the each stakeholder in ensuring educational
participation of all children of disadvantaged groups.
 CONTENTS

§
1. Introduction
2. Private and Government Schools
3. Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009
4. Scheduled Castes and their Educational Scenario
5. Observations in Position Paper of National Focus Group on
Problems of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Children (2007)
6. Observations of Some of the Research Studies regarding
Education of Children from Scheduled Castes
7. Impact of RTE Act upon the Education of Children from
Scheduled Castes
8. Chapter-wise Implications of RTE Act, 2009 for the Education of Children
from Scheduled Caste Communities:
Chapter-1
Chapter-2
Chapter-3
Chapter-4
Chapter-5
References
Annexure -1
Annexure -2
1. Introduction
The development of any nation depends on its educational
system and it is proved that education is the key to human
progress and social change. Education is a powerful tool for the
empowerment of individuals. It helps in developing confidence
in individuals and community as a whole, about their own
capacities, inherent strengths to shape their lives.
Since Independence, India has made impressive progress in
terms of growth of educational institutions at different levels,
physical access to schooling for children, and diversification of
educational programmes. Today, 18 crore children are taught
by almost 57 lakh teachers in more than 12 lakh primary and
upper primary schools across the length and breadth of the
country.
The Government of India’s various programmes and schemes,
such as, the Operation Blackboard, Bihar Education Project, Lok
Jumbish, District Primary Education Programme, and the last
of these being the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), have led to over
98 per cent of our children estimated to have access to primary
schooling within one kilometer of their habitation, and almost
92 per cent to an upper primary school within three kilome-
ters of their habitation. Gross enrolment ratios have increased
significantly across all social categories, drop-out rates at
primary level have decline, and transition from primary to upper
primary stage has improved. The Mid-day Meal programme
which originated in Tamil Nadu in 1982, is currently imple-
mented in most states of the country. The research studies have
observed that the mid-day meal scheme had an immense posi-
tive impact in terms of higher enrolment and attendance levels
(Dreze and Goyal, 2003).
This massive expansion of education, in terms of
physical access has, however, by and large, not been reinforced
by adequate curricular inventions, including teaching-learning
materials, training designs, assessment system and classroom
practices, or even suitable infrastructure. Physical expansion
has also not adequately addressed the problem of social ac-
cess. An alarming 46 per cent children, largely girls and SC/
ST children drop-out before completing the elementary stage of
education. The country’s expectations in respect of overall
coverage, equitable distribution and quality of education have
largely not been fulfilled.
If we look back into the history of India, education was
never in reach of its entire people. Unequal access to education
Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 3
 has been rampant in India. This is because our social system
is stratified into manifold layers based on class, caste, gender
and religion. Unequal social, economic and power equations,
which persist, deeply influence children’s access to education
and their participation in the learning process. This is evident
in the disparities in education access and attainment between
different social and economic groups. Thus children, particu-
larly girls, belonging to SC, ST and Muslim minority communi-
ties, and children with disabilities, especially those from poor
families, are educationally most vulnerable.
2. Private and Government Schools
Even as the education system seeks to reach out to
every child by widening access and providing school
infrastructure and teachers, the issue of quality presents daunt-
ing challenges. Indian education system is known for its ineq-
uitable character – there are high fee charging schools cater-
ing to the rich and privileged and ordinary government schools
with extremely insufficient facilities to which the masses of peo-
ple living in rural areas and urban slums send their children.
There is a range of government and private schools between
these extremes. Time has come to make a decisive intervention
to change this situation so that all children irrespective of their
religion, caste, class, gender and location get an education of
comparable quality.
3. Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009
In August 2009, Parliament passed the historic Right of Chil-
dren to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. The
new law must be seen from the perspective of children. It
provides a legal framework that entitles all children between
the ages of 6-14 years to an education of reasonable quality,
based on principles of equity and non-discrimination. It pro-
vides for children’s right to free and compulsory admission, and
completion of elementary education. More importantly, it pro-
vides for the child’s right to education that is free from fear,
stress and anxiety. There are several provisions in the Act,
including for example, provisions prohibiting corporal punish-
ment, detention and expulsion. The most important aspect,
however, is to ensure that the teaching-learning process is free
4 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
from stress and anxiety (Sec.29), with obvious implications for
curricular reform. Testing and school grading systems need
to be reviewed to motivate children to deepen and widen their
learning. The RTE Act also lays down the responsibilities of
teachers. Teacher accountability systems would need to ensure
that children are learning and that their right to learning in
an environment that is free from stress and anxiety is not vio-
lated.
The RTE Act provides for:
●● The right of children to free and compulsory education till
completion of elementary education in a neighbourhood
school.
●● It clarifies that ‘compulsory education’ means obligation
of the appropriate government to provide free elementary
education and ensure compulsory admission, attendance
and completion of elementary education to every child in
the six to fourteen age group. ‘Free’ means that no child
shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or ex-
penses which may prevent him or her from pursuing and
completing elementary education.
●● It makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admit-
ted to an age-appropriate class.
●● It specifies the duties and responsibilities of appropriate
Governments, local authority and parents in providing
free and compulsory education, and sharing of financial
and other responsibilities between the Central and State
Governments.
●● It lays down the norms and standards relating to, inter
alia. Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTRs), buildings and infra-
structure, school working days, teacher working hours.
●● It provides for rational deployment of teachers by ensur-
ing that the specified pupil-teacher ratio is maintained for
each school, rather than just as an average for the State
or District, or Block, thus ensuring that there is practical-
ly no urban-rural imbalance in teacher postings. It also
prohibits deployment of teachers for non-education-
al work, other than decennial census, elections to local
authority, state legislatures and Parliament, and disaster
relief.
●● It provides for appointment of appropriately trained
teachers, i.e., teachers with the requisite training and
academic qualifications.

Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 5

 ●● For children in 6-14 age group it prohibits (i) physi-
cal punishment and mental harassment; (ii) screening
procedures and for admission; (iii) capitation fees; (iv) pri-
vate tuition by teachers; and (v) running of schools with-
out recognition,
●● It provides for the following penalties:
●● For charging capitation fee: fine upto 10 times the capita-
tion fee charged;
●● For resorting to screening during admission: Rs (sym-
bol need). 25,000 for first contraventions; Rs(symbol
need).50,000 for each subsequent contravention; and
●● For running a school without recognition; fine upto Rs.
One lakh, and in case of continuing contravention Rs.
10,000 for each day during which the contravention con-
tinues.
●● It provides for development of curriculum in consonance
with the values enshrined in the Constitution, and which
would ensure the all-round development of the child,
building on the child’s knowledge, potentiality and tal-
ent and making the child free of fear, trauma and anxi-
ety through a system of child-friendly and child-centred
learning.
It provides for protection and monitoring of the child’s right
to free and compulsory education and redressal of grievances
by the National and State Commissions for Protection of Child
Rights, which shall have the powers of a civil court.
4. Scheduled Castes and their Educational
Scenario
The Scheduled Castes, one of the socially disadvantaged groups,
constitute around 16 per cent of the total Indian population
with marked State and Regional variations in terms of their
proportions. They have been subjected to oppressions, under
the feudal caste system, due to their low ritual and social status
in the traditional social hierarchy. And hence, their children
have historically been excluded from the formal education sys-
tem.
It would be observed from the table that the general
literacy rose by 13.17 per cent during the decade from 1991
to 2001 as it rose from 52.21 per cent in 1991 to 65.39
per cent in 2001 with male literacy being 75.65 per cent
and female literacy being 54.16 per cent. Significantly, there
has been marked improvement in the literacy rate of the
6 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
Scheduled Castes. The rate of increase of literacy among the
SCs was 17.28 per cent as compared to 13.17 per cent increase
in overall literacy as the literacy of the SCs increased from 37.41
per cent in 1991 to 54.69 per cent in 2001. There is, however,
still a wide gap of 10.64 per cent in the overall literacy rate of
the country as a whole and the literacy rate of SCs. The gap
between the male literacy of the general population and SC
population is 9.21 per cent whereas it is 12.26 per cent in the
case of female literacy.

Census Total Population SC Population

Male Female Total Male Female Total
1961 40.40 15.34 28.31 16.96 3.29 10.27
1971 39.45 18.69 29.54 22.36 6.44 14.67
1981 46.29 24.82 36.25 31.12 10.93 21.38
1991 64.13 39.29 52.21 49.91 23.76 37.41
2001 75.85 54.16 65.38 66.64 41.90 54.69
2011 80.9 73.0 75.2 66.1

One more important fact worth mentioning is that there was

44.28 per cent increase in the literacy rate for SC males which
rose from 22.36 per cent in 1971 to 66.64 per cent in 2001 but
the rise in the female literacy during this period was 35.46 per
cent only as it was 6.44 per cent in 1971 and 41.90 per cent in
2001.
The above trends in the literacy rates of SC population
indicate that much more efforts are required for their education-
al development. Special attention is needed for increasing the
female literacy rate of SC population since increase in their
literacy is low as compared to the increase in male literacy.
5. Observations in Position Paper of Nation-
al Focus Group on Problems of SC and ST
Children (2007)
The Position Paper of National Focus Group on Problems of
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Children has pointed
out that the post–independent India witnessed a massive state
supported expansion and democratisation of schooling and
institution of positive discrimination policies to facilitate access,
education has successfully served, albeit to varying extents and
with marked regional variations, as a key instrument of change
and emancipation for the SC. It has brought them self-respect
Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 7
 and socio-economic advance, raised political consciousness
and empowered their identity struggles. However, educational
disparities between the SC, and the rest of the population, in
terms of quantity, quality, teaching-learning process and learn-
ing outcome, have been far from eliminated. The inequalities
reflect the fact that theirs has scarcely been an equal integra-
tion into dominant society. Rather, in a society characterised
by growing polarisation, their inclusion has been governed by
relations and processes of exploitation, discrimination, displace-
ment and oppression. Global economic forces have brought
about greater man of large sections of SCs who experiences
marginalisation by development processes. Poverty, unemploy-
ment and ill-health are disproportionately located among them.
Vast numbers of the Scheduled Castes have been unable to es-
cape stigmatised occupations and social existence.
Further, the Position Paper has stated observations on the
basis of exploration into the field reality of schooling of SC and
ST children which entailed a critical overview of basic educa-
tional provisions as well as issues related to structure, con-
tent and process of the schooling. It was found that historical
inequality in diffusion has been mitigated to a great extent, but
unequal provision continues to be fundamental educational
deterrent. Quality of mass education has declined to an abys-
mal level. Current policy changes have led to a rapid decline in
teaching-learning conditions and have exacerbated the already
grim situation in neglected regions and remote areas. The cut
in public spending on education has proved most damaging. It
has adversely affected state provisioning of schools and teachers
and encouraged in its place the most substandard and commer-
cially oriented private effort or spectacular but unsustainable
innovations. Ironically, as India stakes claim as frontrunner
in the world knowledge economy, her under-privileged children
suffer the consequences of grossly inferior basic education.
Several dimensions of educational inequality are conspicuous
by their presence in schools for the SC and ST and signify the
decline and dilution in educational quality. Diffusion is as yet
inadequate in many parts, leading to situations whereby ‘social’
accessibility persists as a problem for the SC child and the ab-
sence of even a poorly functional school remains a disadvantage
imposed on a remotely-located SC/ST child. Inferior learning
opportunity is actualised in the poor quality of infrastructure,
an inadequate and demotivated teaching staff, inadequacy of teach-
ing transaction and in the provision of teaching-learning material.
8 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
6. Observations of some Research Studies
of Children from Scheduled Castes
In examining the extent of discrimination against Scheduled
Caste children in schools, Throat (2002) compares data on un-
touchability in several states in 1971 and 1996. He finds that
while the practice of untouchability is much less severe and
the practice of making Scheduled Caste children sit separately
from other students had practically disappeared in his sample
schools, discriminatory treatment persists in milder forms. The
examples he found in the mid-1990s, for instance, were the
lack of friendship between Scheduled Caste and non-Scheduled
Caste students, and subtle differences in the treatment of SC
and non-SC students by teachers.
Economic pressures force a large number of Scheduled Caste
children to leave school at an early age. However, this is not
the only reason that children leave. Memories of humiliation
can also play an important role in the decision to leave, albeit a
less visible one (National Commission on Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes, 1998).
The poor quality of education is another critical factor that
leads to lower retention. Research has found that the major-
ity of students from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe
communities study in government schools that are badly-
equipped in terms of the number of teachers, infrastructure and
school environment. Discrimination against under-privileged
groups is endemic, and takes numerous forms (PROBE, 1999).
Issues of self-worth, dignity and livelihoods that school
education has failed to address or even acknowledge also arise
for Scheduled Caste communities. While SC students have
much greater access to elementary education than ST children,
they frequently encounter overt and covert acts of discrimina-
tion, prejudice and rejection from teachers and fellow students.
Commonly reported instances of cruel treatment include be-
ing told to sit separately from other students, being called ‘un-
touchable’ or stupid, being beaten and caned for presumed in-
fractions and so on (Dreze and Gazdar, 1997).
A study of Jha and Jingran ( 2002), with an all India sample
has lent ample credence to the assertion that poverty and caste
act as fundamental deterrents to education.
Kaul’s (2001, taken from Sedwal, M. and Kamat, S. 2008)
paper highlights the need for a fresh approach to study the
extent and forms of discrimination against SC and ST children.
Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 9
 In her study, she found that many Scheduled Caste children
were scared to talk about the unequal treatment meted out to
them, such as verbal abuse, physical punishment or avoiding
touch, by some of the upper caste teachers in their schools.
In her study of 12 schools in two districts of Rajasthan
and Madhya Pradesh, Subramanian (2005) also found that
primary school teachers freely expressed opinions about the ‘in
educability’ of SCs and STs. Such biased views, she reports,
were expressed less by middle and secondary school teachers
in the same districts.
According to the National Focus Group Paper, 2007, a high-
ly inadequate teaching force has been a most critical element
of unequal provisioning. Teacher-pupil ratios in schools fre-
quented by SC/ST have been much higher than those in other
schools meant for higher caste villagers.
The problem of insufficient number of teachers has been
compounded by the problem of unmotivated teachers, which is
reflected in the phenomenon of teacher absenteeism. Teachers
for SC and ST children primarily belong to non-SC or non tribal
backgrounds. They are highly irregular in attending since they
live outside the villages. This is a common feature in schools
located in remote areas.
Leclerecq (2003) noted that in the EGS schools in SC and
ST dominated district of Madhya Pradesh, multi grade teaching
was generalised. The quantity of teaching was problematically
low and quality was equally a key deficiency.
The objective of the Baskaran’s study was to find out the
impact of mid-day meal scheme on enrolment of primary school
students belonging to scheduled caste and, understand how it
is related to their drop-out rates. His study was undertaken in
the taluka of Thiruvallur of the M.G.R. District. The results of
the study showed that introduction of Mid-day meal scheme
was one of the important factors for improving enrolment of
scheduled caste students in schools of Thiruvallur taluka; the
dropouts were below 10 per cent; good nutrition helped them
to learn what the teacher teaches in the classroom; most of the
parents informed that because of mid-day meal scheme, they
send their children to the school.
Ramachandran, 2004 “Teachers in India are predominantly
upper caste and bring their own understandings of the legiti-
macy of caste relations into the classroom. Dalit children are
expected to run errands and are assigned menial tasks such as

10 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities

sweeping and cleaning the classrooms. Higher rates of teach-
er absenteeism were reported when children were mainly from
dalit and tribal communities” (Kabeer, 2006).
7. Impact of RTE Act upon the Education of
Children from Scheduled Castes
In the light of the above background including the observations
from the various research studies, we have tried to examine the
impact of RTE Act, 2009 on the education of children of Sched-
uled Castes.
8 Chapter-wise Implications of RTE Act, 2009
for the Education of Children from SCs
Chapter-1
●● “Child belonging to disadvantaged group” means a child
belonging to the scheduled caste, the scheduled tribe, the
socially and educationally backward clas or such other
group having disadvantage owing to social, cultural, eco-
nomical, geographical, linguistic, gender or such other
factor, as may be specified by the appropriate Govern-
ment, by notification.
●● “Child belonging to weaker section” means a child belong-
ing to such parent or guardian whose annual income is
lower than the minimum limit specified by the appropriate
Government, by notification.
Chapter-2
●● The children of scheduled caste communities along with
other children of the age of 6 to 14 years have a right to
compulsory education in a neighbourhood school till com-
pletion of elementary education. Having a Right means
that it is not a welfare measure for them and no one is
obliging them by admitting in the school.
●● Free education i.e., to say no child shall be liable to pay
any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may prevent
him or her from pursing and completing the elementary
education – Poverty being invariably the reason for chil-
dren of scheduled caste not affording education.
●● The children of scheduled caste, for various reasons dis-
continue their schooling. However, as per this Act, a child
above six years of age who has not been admitted in any
school or though admitted, could not complete his or her
elementary education, then, he or she shall be admitted

Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 11

 in a class appropriate to his or her age. Further, in such
cases, they have a right to receive special training and if
required, he/she is entitle for free education till comple-
tion of elementary education even after fourteen years.
●● In many areas, particularly in remote areas and in pre-
dominantly scheduled caste inhabited villages, there may
be only primary level schools.
●● Where in a school, there is no provision for completion of
elementary education, a child shall have a right to seek
transfer to any other school, excluding the school speci-
fied in sub-clauses (iii) and (iv) of clause (n) of section 2,
for completing his or her elementary education. For seek-
ing admission in such other school, the Head-teacher or
in-charge of the school where such child was last admit-
ted, shall immediately issue the transfer certificate. Pro-
vided that delay in producing transfer certificate shall not
be a ground for either delaying or denying admission in
such other school.
Chapter-3
Duties of Appropriate Government, Local Authority and Par-
ents
●● For carrying out the provision of this Act, the appropri-
ate Government and the local authority shall establish,
within such area or limits of neighbourhood, as may be
prescribed a school, where it is not so established, within
a period of three years from the commencement of this
Act.
●● Develop and enforce standards for training of teachers;
ensure availability of a neighbourhood school as specified
in section 6; Ensure that the child belonging to weaker
section and the child belonging to disadvantaged group
are not discriminated against and prevent from pursu-
ing and completing elementary education on any grounds;
Provide infrastructure including school building, teaching
staff and learning equipment. Ensure and monitor admis-
sion, attendance and completion of elementary education
by every child. Ensure good quality elementary education
conforming to the standards and norms specified in the
Schedule.
●● Ensure timely prescribing of curriculum and courses of
study for elementary education. Ensure admission of chil-
dren of migrant families; monitor functioning of schools
within its jurisdiction; decide the academic calendar.
12 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
 ●● It shall be the duty of every parent or guardian to admit or
cause to be admitted her or his child or ward, as the case
may be, to an elementary education in the neighbourhood
school.
●● The appropriate Government may make necessary ar-
rangement for providing free pre-school education for
such children.
Chapter-4
The responsibilities of Schools and Teachers
●● For the purposes of this Act, a school may admit in Class I
to the extent of at least twenty-five per cent of the strength
of that class, children belonging to weaker section and
disadvantaged group in the neighbourhood and provide
free and compulsory elementary education till its comple-
tion.
●● No school or person shall, while admitting a child, col-
lect any capitation fee and subject the child or his or her
parents or guardian to any screening procedure. If any
school or person receives capitation fee, shall be punish-
able with fine which may extend to ten time the capitation
fee charged and if subjects a child to screening procedure,
shall be punishable with fine which may extend to twenty-
five thousand rupee for the first contraventions and fifty
thousand rupee for each subsequent contraventions.
●● For the purposes of admission to elementary education,
the age of a child shall be determined on the basis of the
birth certificate or on the basis of such other document,
as may be prescribed but no child shall be admitted in a
school shall be held back in any class or expelled from
school till the completion of elementary education. No
child shall be subjected to physical punishment or mental
harassment, otherwise the teacher shall be liable to disci-
plinary action under the service rules applicable to such
person.
●● In the school Management Committee, the proportionate
representation shall be given to the parents or guardians
of children belonging to disadvantaged group and weaker
section.
Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 13
 ●● Duties of teachers include maintaining regularity and
punctuality in attending schools, conduct and complete
the curriculum in accordance with the provisions of sub-
section (2) of section 29; complete entire curriculum with-
in the specified time; assess the learning ability of each
child and accordingly supplement addition instructions,
if any, as required.
●● Hold regular meetings with parents and guardians and
apprise them about the regularity in attendance, ability to
learn, progress made in learning and any other relevant
information about the child.
●● A teacher committing default in performance of duties
specified as above shall be liable to disciplinary action un-
der the service rules applicable to him or her.
●● The appropriate Government/local government shall en-
sure that the Pupil-teacher Ratio and to maintain it no
teacher posted in a school shall be made to serve in any
other school or office or deployed for any non-educational
purpose except for decennial population census, disaster
relief duties or duties relating to elections to the local au-
thority or the State Legislatures or Parliament, as the case
may be. No teacher shall engage himself or herself in pri-
vate tuition or private teaching activity.
Chapter-5
●● Curriculum and Completion of Elementary Education.
●● The academic authority, while laying down the curricu-
lum and the evaluation procedure shall take into consid-
eration.
●● All-round development of the child, building up child’s
knowledge, potentially and talent.
●● Learning through activities, discovery and exploration in a
child-friendly and child-centred manner.
●● Making the child free of fear, trauma and anxiety and
helping the child to express views freely.
●● Comprehensive and continuous evaluation of child’s
understanding of knowledge and his or her ability to apply
the same.
The October, 2012 amendment of RTE Act has further
clarified the role of schools in the context of children of weaker
14 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
sections as well as of disadvantaged groups such as Scheduled
Castes (Please see the Annexure-2).

1. What specific provisions have been made for the access to

education for children of Scheduled Castes?
2. How is this Act going to help in retaining the Children of Sched-
uled Castes?
3. What measures have been given in RTE Act for improving the
quality of education for children of Scheduled Castes?

Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 15

 References

Bhaskaran, J.1995. The Impact of Mid-day Meal Programme

among Scheduled Caste Students of Primary Schools in
Thiruvallur Taluka, TN, Research Study, DEPA, New Delhi.
Drez, J. and A Goyal. 2003. Future of Mid Day Meals, E and
PW, 38 (44).
Drize, J. and Gazoler, H.1997. Uttar Pradesh: The Burden
of Inertia’, In J. Dreze and A Sen (Eds.), Indian Development
Selected Regional Perspective. Oxford University Press, New
Delhi.
Jha, J. and D. Jhingran. 2002. Elementary Education for the
Poorest and other Deprived Groups: The Real Challenge of
Universalisation, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.
Kaber, Neila. 2006. Social Exclusion and the MDGs: the
Challenge of Durable Inequalities in Asian Context, Institute
of Development Studies, Paper Presented at the Asia 2015
Conference.
Kaul, R. 2001. Acessing Primary Education: Going Beyond the
Classroom, E and PW , 3b (2).
Leclerq, F. 200, EGS and Primary Schooling in Madhya Pradesh,
EP and W (38).
ncert. 2007-Position Paper on Problems of Scheduled Caste
and Scheduled Tribe Children, NCERT, New Delhi.
Mhrd.Revised SSA Framework in the Context of RTE,
Goverment. of India.
Probe Team. 1999. Public Report on Basic Education in India,
Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
Ramchandran, Vimla (Ed). 2004. Gender and Social Equity in
Primary Education: of Access, Sage Publications, New Delhi.
Sedwal, M. and S. Kamat. 2008. Education and Social Equity:
with Special Focus on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
in Elementry Education.
Subramanian, R. 2005. Education Exclusion and Development
Stage. In Chopara, R. and Jeffery, P. (Eds.). Educational Regime
in Contemporary India, Sage Publications, New Delhi.
Thorat, S. 2002. Oppression and Denial: Dalit Discrimination in
the 1990s, Economic and Political Weekly. 37 (6): 572-77.

16 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities

Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 17
18 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 19
20 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 21
22 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 23
24 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 25
26 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 27
28 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 29
 Annexure-2

30 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities

Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities 31
32 Right to Education Act, 2009 and Children of Scheduled Caste Communities
 MODULE 5

Teaching Pedagogy and

Constructivism

ABSTRACT

It is evident that a large number of poor people belong to weaker

sections of society and among them the SC/STs make a large heap of
total population. Further this, social exclusion creates/generate more
havoc and play vital role in enhancing capability poverty in them.
Therefore, the main focus of today’s education should be to reduce
this vicious circle of poverty among this section of Indian society
and nurture their capabilities to full extent. For it the modern teach-
ers, trainers equally require to train them through timely equipped
pedagogical mechanism which have shaped by great sociologists
and pedagogies like Paulo Friere, Vygotsky, Piaget and Bruner. This
chapter makes an attempt in this direction to engross systematically
on these pedagogical approaches from discourse function direction
to critical pedagogy including constructivism. These Pedagogical
approaches can orient, deliver and implement the real mission of
welfare of mankind particularly to SC population. In this context this
chapter divided into two parts. First part describes general concept
of teaching pedagogy and second part focuses on constructivism
and critical thinking.
 CONTENT

§
1. Introduction
2. Aims of the Module
Part – I: Historicity of Pedagogy
1.1 Etymological Concept of Pedagogy
1.2 Historical Upsurge of the Term Pedagogy
1.3 Pedagogy: Holistic Science of Education
1.4 Present Profile of Elementary Education in SCs Concentrated Areas
1.5 Our Mission: Education for Emancipation for Mankind on Earth
without Discrimination
1.6 Present Educational Scenario in Scheduled Castes Concentrated
Areas
Part – II: Discourse Analysis and Critical Thinking
2.1 Meaning of Discourse
2.2 Discourse Formation
2.2.1 Knowledge
2.2.2 Culture
2.2.3 Language
2.2.4 Communication
2.3 Critical Pedagogy
2.4 Constructivism as Pedagogical Approach
2.4.1 Historical Upsurge of the Constructivist Approach
2.4.2 Characteristics and Benefits of Constructivist Approach
2.5 Critical Thinking
2.6 Interpersonal Skills
References
1. Introduction
A large number of poor people belong to weaker sections of
society particularly Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe
who cannot improve their quality of life despite various social
welfare programmes of Indian government. Low income must
be an important cause of poor living. Poverty must be seemed
in terms of poor living, rather than just as lowness of incomes
and nothing else.
The idea of poverty is capability deprivations.
Poverty as is simply shortage of income which is of course, very
ancient. Income must be prominent means for a good life without
deprivation, but it is not the only influence on lives we can lead.
Education can bring changes in the quality of life. It makes ca-
pable to a person. Therefore, education should be given in such
a manner which should remove capability deprivation.

Q.1 What is Poverty?

Q.2 How it can be removed?

This is possible through ability of a person. Every person

has ability including SC and ST. It is necessary to awaken the
ability among those who feel capable deprivation. A teach-
er can also do such a role through interaction and par-
ticipation among students. Student should feel freedom in
interaction. If our paramount interest is in the lives that people can
lead – the freedom they have to lend minimally decent lives.
This one learns through education. We must look at impover-
ished lives. Adam Smith (1776) defines un-necessaries in terms
of their effects on the freedom to live non-impoverished lives
(such as ability to appear in public without shame) e.g., work
of a sweeper, shoemaker make him low in society. This is an
issue. One should feel proud of his work. This is a service of
mankind. They have distinct capabilities and functioning that
we have reason to value.
First we have good reason to value not being excluded from
social relations and in this sense, social exclusion may be
directly a part of capability poverty. This related to the
importance of taking part in the life of the community. The
individual life is incapability to ‘social life’ which reflects
one’s ability to interact freely with others. It is an important
deprivation in itself (like being low caste or under nourished or
homeless) has implication to some type of social exclusion.

Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism 1

 Second, being excluded from social relations can lead to
other deprivation, e.g., education and employment etc. Therefore,
seeing poverty as the lack of freedom is to certain valuable
things.
There are a number of provisions for material help to get edu-
cation and employment. But, the advantages are taken by self-
conscious groups who are elites of SC and ST population. There
is a need to make every one conscious and competitive person
in her/his life on the basis of her/his ability so that she/he can
get rid-off dependency of any kind. In this context, a teacher
who is facilitator and a student as gainer both should be ac-
countable for their work and facilities. This is possible through
discourse analysis to develop critical thinking in a classroom
situation among teacher-student interactions. In this context,
we would like to discuss here,. Teaching Pedagogy followed by
Constructivism through Discourse Analysis and Critical Think-
ing in this module.
2. Objectives
The aim of the present module is to train the elementary teach-
ers working in SC/ST dominated pockets of the country by
imparting knowledge, skills and deep understanding about this
section of society facing exclusion by the society for their own
vested interest since ages. In turn, they will adapt the teach-
ing pedagogies, as well as classroom interactive strategies to
nurture the right kind of attitude, interest and spirit to learn.
Only a teacher can work as ice-breaker to shed all the fears and
phobias from the young children’s mind which do not find
adequate social space due to socio-economic or cultural
discrepancies. In this reference, the following objectives have
been laid down keeping in mind the elementary education in
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe dominated areas:
1. To understand the meaning, nature and importance of
pedagogy in reference to elementary education in sched-
uled caste and scheduled tribe dominated areas.
2. To analyse the current pedagogical practices observed in
elementary education in scheduled caste and scheduled
tribe dominant areas.
3. To acquaint the trainees about constructivists’ approach
of pedagogy as an effective tool of content delivery without
biases in elementary education.
4. To specify the role of some new/innovative pedagogical
practices for enhancing cohesion and inclusion in elemen-
tary education.
2 Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism
 5. To evolve human-friendly approaches (Humanistic
approach) in pedagogy at elementary education in Sched-
uled Caste and Scheduled Tribe dominant areas.
Keeping in view of the above objectives, the present module
is divided into two parts. Part I explains the concept of Peda-
gogy followed by the description of present profile (scenario) of
Elementary Education in SC/ST dominated areas. Part two fo-
cuses on Discourse Analysis and Critical Thinking, constructiv-
ism as pedagogical approach and interpersonal skills etc.
PART-I:
HISTORICITY OF PEDAGOGY
1.1 Etymological Concept of Pedagogy
The word ‘Pedagogy’ is originated from Greek word Paidagogeo
or Paidagogos which has its equivalent English words as:

Paidos = Child
Ago = Lead

Thus, literally, it communicates ‘To Lead the child’.

Looking into the nature of education, the society always
appear with a big dilemma by considering education with
schooling. Education is a deliberate process of drawing out
learning. In a nutshel, to educate is to set out to create and
sustain informed, hopeful and respectful environment where
learning can flourish. Many discussions of pedagogy make the
mistake of seeing it as primarily being about teaching. Pedagogy
needs to be explored through the thinking and practice of those
educators who look to accompany learners; care for and about
them; and bring learning into life. Teaching is just one aspect
of their practice. A common way of approaching pedagogy is as
the art and science (and maybe even craft) of teaching. As we
will see, viewing pedagogy in this way both fails to honour the
historical experience, and to connect crucial areas of theory and
practice thus, Pedagogy is the art of content delivery in class-
room context. It focuses upon sequential development of indi-
vidual’s mental processes such as to recognise, recall, analyse,
reflect, apply, create, understand and evaluate one’s scaffold.
Hence, sometimes this term is confused with Piagetian Cogni-
tivism (1936).

Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism 3

 1.2 Historical Upsurge of the Term
Pedagogy
The abovementioned etymological explanation of the term
pedagogy can be more clearly understood when we think
pedagogy as the building block of teaching from hundred years
ago, which was, in fact, building of knowledge scratch right
from childhood. But this explanation can no more viable in
the present context when we think that our world is moving
around economic drives learning environment. Now we require
pedagogy to seek best education, improve job prospects and
career development both being eventually driven by the present
day’s ‘Economic order’.

Q. What is the Focus of Pedagogy?

Initiating with the Greek society, there was a great

distinction between the activities of pedagogues and
teachers. Pedagogies were treated as slaves, and were generally
seen as the representatives of the parent’s wards. In the time
period of Pluto, pedagogues were served as both leaders and
custodians of children and during that time, there was custom of
employing pedagogues in the rich and elite families and thus
with this notion, there used to be one pedagogue in each
family, but coming in the Roman society, there used to be
several pedagogues in each family including female overseers
for girls. During the time of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), the
difference between the teacher and tutor as pedagogues were
still prevailing. However, in the mid-18th century, the focus has
been shifted to the instruction and the method aimed at school
teacher. After the middle of the 19th century, the upsurge in the
concept of pedagogy can be easily seen with the work of Paulo
Friere (1970), which established the exploration around critical
pedagogy. Smith (1999), Cameron (2004) and Moss (2011) has
taken the concept of pedagogy to zenith by accompanying it with
caring for and bringing learning to life. Figure1 exhibits the
time-line of the histroical upsurge of the concept of pedagogy.

4 Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism

 Pedagogues served
Custom of Existence of Difference Focus on Instructions
Pedagogues Several Pedagogues
as both Employing between Teacher and methods aimed
were Slaves in Each Family
Pedagogues and Tutor at School Teacher
Leaders and Custodians

1.3 Pedagogy:
Education
Plato 5th Century Roman
Greek Society Immanuel Kant 18th Century
B.C.
(1724-1804)
Societ

Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism

people as critical pedagogy.
Fig. 1

Distinct with One Pedagogue Female

Varied Role in Each Family
Teachers Overseers

Holistic

upbringing children and young people.

Smith, Cameron and Jerome
Moss (1999, 2004, 2011) Bruner (1996) Paulo Friere (1970) 19th Century

Pedagogy as accompanying, Folk Pedagogies as a Establishment of Relatively little attention

Science
caring for and bringing medium that carries Exploration around paid to pedagogy
learning to life its own meaning Critical Pedagogy in Britain and
North America

background knowledge and experience, situation and

holistic science of education. It may be implemented in
of

beliefs of instructions are harboured and governed by the pupil’s

Pedagogy is also referred as the correct use of instructive
practice as a personal and holistic approach of socialising and
Some thinkers view point is that the pedagogy works as a

In this reference the instructor’s own philosophical

strategies. Paulo Friere (1993) referred it as method of teaching

5
 environment, as well as learning goals set by the student and
teacher.

Q. How does Pedagogy work?

1.4 Present Profile of Elementary Educa-

tion in SCs Concentrated Areas
It is well established fact that the Scheduled Castes were
historically excluded from the formal system of education due
to their oppression under caste feudal society order in main-
stream society. They were lag behind in their economic and
social development due to the iniquitous processes of economic
and social change. It has created marked social inequality and
cultural gaps in present society. In this reference, it appears
in contemporarity to analyse the present profile of elementary
education in SCs dominated areas to know what area-specific
practices of pedagogy are observed there in order to frame an
outlook.
1.5 Our Mission: Education for Emancipa-
tion for Mankind on Earth without
Discrimination
We all expect that education should work as it defined in high
perspective by the idealist thinkers for emancipation from
all evils without discrimination. All the persons on this earth
have equal share to harvest the fruits of education without any
limitation. That is why Education is being perceived as the
process of planned change as envisioned by the thinkers.
Moreover, education is a key instrument equalising opportuni-
ties and works as a Great Equaliser. Only this is the reason a
massive support for its expansion and democratisation of
schooling have been launched by the central government.
Furthermore, the Policies of Positive Discrimination to facilitate
access to education in SCs are propagated to top priority. The
Report of Commissioner of SC/ST (1998) has also envisioned its
significant impact on this section of the society.
Moderate reformists and radical emancipator ideologies
have provided the context for challenge and change. Education
has been treated as a central plank in liberalisation struggle
and Dalit leadership has placed immense faith in the counter
hegemonic potential of education.
6 Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism
 In order to fulfil the mission of equity and equality in
education, a variety of sponsored schemes are implemented
by the Central and State governments. Some worth mention-
ing schemes like: (i) Free supply of textbooks and stationery
at all levels of school; (ii) free uniform to children; (iii) free
education at all levels; (iv) pre-matric stipends; and (v) lodging
facilities in hostels for overcoming the difficulties of provision-
ing in remote regions.
1.6 Present Educational Scenario in Sched-
uled Castes Dominated Areas
School enrolment in India has been showing steady increase
since the last decade, however still majority of the poor
children, girls in rural areas, scheduled castes and scheduled
tribes children are deprived of the basic education which reflect
striking inequality in terms of gender, caste and tribes across
the region. There is a wider disparity in school enrolment; like
the proportion of scheduled caste girls to all scheduled caste
children in school is 36 per cent whereas the corresponding fig-
ure for forward caste is 48 per cent. The SCs constitute around
16 percent of the Indian population. Despite rising education
levels, the contemporary status of the SCs is not unmarked by
the rigours of pollution, social practices of untouchability and
social relations of servility. The reservation policy enabled up-
ward movement into middle class status. However, the majority
of rural SCs are landless and impoverished agricultural labour.
Large sections of the SCs experience social discrimination and
stigma particularly those located in socially and economically
backward regions. Further the socio-economic scenario of SCs
finds its worst phase in this era of globalisation. It has badly
affected their poverty, mortality, illness and unemployment etc.
They have ascertained declining levels of consumption shares,
real wages, and consumer monthly per capita expenditure
(Teltumbde, 2004, Thorat and Deshpande, 2002).
The major conclusion derived from these studies are:
1. A significant proportion of SCs in the school-going age
continue to remain out of school.
2. The unprecedented rise in enrolment of SCs suggests a
growing demand and aspiration for education.
3. School attendance, school completion and drop-out are
the situations posing threats to SCs children.
4. Unevenness in school participation of SCs persists in
schools and in regions.
Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism 7
 Thus, it is very clear from the conclusion that basic
educational deprivation and exclusion remain depressing
features of the educational conditions of SCs. It appears that SCs
are sucked into the vortex of rural and urban informal labour
markets and suffer a disproportionate ill-effect of contemporary
exploitative processes. Located at the bottom of polarised class
formation, they live under conditions of acute poverty, displace-
ment, and forced migration in search of livelihood. These caste
relations have meant a bleak class reality in which there is little
motivation for education. Socio-cultural practices of exclusion
and discrimination rooted in caste, class, gender and ethnicity
continue to define the existence of poor scheduled castes in our
country.
Casteism and discrimination in social relations breeds low
self-esteem especially among the politically and economically
weaker section among the scheduled castes. Dominant cultural
capital viz., knowledge and skills of higher caste that school
demands are lacking among SCs. Further, their own cultural
capital is deemed valueless by policy and curriculum-planners,
bureaucrats and teachers. Thus, class along with caste and
other forms of minority ethnicity are fundamental categories of
social exclusion and social discrimination.

Casteism and Discrimination in social relations breeds low self-

esteem especially among the politically and economically weak-
er section among the scheduled castes.

Part–II:
Discourse Analysis and Critical Thinking
2.1 Meaning of Discourse
Discourse is written and spoken conversation along with the
thinking that underlies that conversation. According to Michel
Foucault (1971), discourse is sociologically important because
how we talk and think about the world shapes how we behave
and the kind of world we help to create as a result. It is through
discourse that we construct what we experience as reality,
and as soon as we learn to think and talk about reality in a
particular way, we cannot help but shut off our ability to think
of it in countless other ways.

Q. What is Discourse?

8 Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism

2.2 Discourse Formation
Foucault (1971) was particularly interested in discourse
formation- how ways of thinking and conversation come into
being in a society and how they affect social life. Two major
areas of interest for him were madness and sexuality, both
of which he regarded as a socially constructed. There is, he
argued, no such thing as sexuality or madness except as
human beings create ideas about them through conversation
and other forms of discourse. Whether we regard madness as
divinely inspired, or evil, or a biologically caused pathology,
for example, depends on what the discourse on madness looks
like in our society. Similarly, if we equate capitalism with de-
mocracy or sexuality with male-dominated heterosexuality or
caste deprivation to the idea of freedom, we cannot help but
shape economic and sexual life in ways that make it difficult to
consider the possibility of democratic alternatives to capitalism
or sexual lives or caste-class feelings that are egalitarian, gay
or lesbian or weaker sections of society. Nagla (2008) explains
four bases of discourse formation: (i) Knowledge; (ii) Culture;
(iii) Language; and (4) Communication.
2.2.1 Knowledge
Knowledge is what we perceive to be real and true. It can
be as simple and commonplace as how to tie a shoe or as
rarefied and complex as Particle Physics. Knowledge is
sociologically significant because it is socially created and because
we depend on it for our sense of reality. In everyday life, we carry
with us knowledge of how the social world works, what sociologist
Alfred Schutz (1972) called stock knowledge (also known as
common sense knowledge). We know what to say when
answering a ringing telephone, for example, how to tell time, how to
behave in restaurant, how to dress in a way appropriate for various
occasions, or how to divert attention from someone who is
deeply embarrassed. Social life is based on a shared sense
of what is real, and this, in turn, is based on knowledge,
especially that contained in cultures. Without the existence of
knowledge, we would not know how to participate in the countless
situations that make up social life. But it is equally true that
without such knowledge social life itself would not exist. There
would be no such thing as conversation, for example, without
shared knowledge of what a conversation is and how people must
behave in order for one to take place. The most long-standing
sociological interest in knowledge has to do with the question of
Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism 9
 where it comes from in the first place. In general, sociologists re-
gard all forms of knowledge as socially produced and shaped by
the culture and structure of social systems. Karl Marx argued
that ruling economic classes shape knowledge in ways that pro-
mote their interest over those of subordinate classes. From a
Marxists perspective, for example, the idea that wealth results
from hard work rather than from inheritance, luck or various
forms of market manipulation, serves the interests of dominant
classes in capitalist societies. It does so by making the true
basis of wealth and by keeping the lower classes hard at work
(which will rarely make any of them wealthy) and distracted
from paying critical attention to the reality of the class system
and how it works. Following Marx, Karl Mannheim (1936) ar-
gued that the social basis for knowledge is much broader than
the economic forces that form the core of Marx’s approach. In
more recent times, various approaches to knowledge have de-
veloped, including post-modernism.
2.2.2 Culture
Culture is accumulated store of symbols, ideas and material
products associated with a social system, whether it be an
entire society or a family. It is important to note that culture
does not refer to what people actually do, but to the ideas they
share about what they do. What makes an idea cultural rather
than personal is not simply that it is shared by two or more
people; rather it must be perceived and experienced as having
an authority that transcends the thought of individuals. We do
not perceive a symbol or idea as cultural because most people
share in it, for in fact, we have no way of knowing what most
people in a society think. Instead we assume that most people
share in a cultural idea because we identify it as cultural.
The shared symbols of communication and conceptions of
reality that is peculiar to a group or society. Words, phrases
and ideas have special meanings within a group that make in-
teraction more efficient and give the members a sense of identity
and belongingness. Outsiders or new members must learn the
language and assumptions of the culture or subculture before
they can understand the subtleties of communication or feel
secure as members. Therefore, language and communication
are the two important channels of discourse.
2.2.3 Language
A universal form of human behaviour is involving symbolic
communication through a culturally accepted system of sound
10 Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism
patterns having standardised meanings. Language is a part
of and expresses the cultural heritage. In language arbitrary
sounds are formed into cultural symbols capable of commu-
nicating ideas, desires, meanings and experiences and tradi-
tions from one generation to another. Language is a social
product. Each individual in the culture develops language
through prolonged interaction with members who are already
socialised, and language represents the accumulated and cur-
rent experiences, feelings and meanings that can be communi-
cated and stabilised within the culture. Language is essential
to human perception, thinking, awareness of self, awareness of
others and to the existence of the social community itself.

Q. What are the bases of Discourse Formation?

2.2.4 Communication
The transmission of information, ideas, attitudes or emotions
disseminates from one person to person or group to another (or
others) primarily through symbols. In effective communication,
the meaning conveyed to the recipient corresponds closely to
that intended, by the sender. Communication forms the basis
for all social interaction; it enables the transmission of cumula-
tive knowledge and makes possible the existence of empathic
understanding among individuals.
The above four things are essential to know for a
teacher to encourage students for participation in the class
freely. In a nutshel, discourse is a type of conversation in which
students learn in the process of interaction for developing critical
pedagogy for themselves. However, discourse should be
centered to the context of the issue, adapting indigenised
methods, using native categories in the understanding of
particular caste-class groups e.g., SCs and ST.
2.3 Critical Pedagogy
In terms of actual pedagogy, Freire (1970) notes that
“Education transforms students into receiving objects. It attempts to
control thinking and action, leads men and women to adjust
to the world, and inhibits their creative power”. In addition,
thinkers like John Dewey (1897) were strongly critical of the
transmission of mere facts as the goal of education. He of-
ten described education as a mechanism for social change,
explaining that “Education is a regulation of the process of com-
Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism 11
 ing to share in the social consciousness; and that the adjustment
of individual activity on the basis of this social consciousness is
the only sure method of social reconstruction” (1897:16). Freire’s
work, however, updated the concept and placed it in correct
context with current theories and practices of education, laying
the foundation for what is now called Critical Pedagogy.
Paulo Friere (1970) contributed a philosophy of education
that came not only from the more classical approaches stem-
ming from Pluto, but also from modern Marxist and anti-co-
lonialist thinkers. In fact, in many ways, his Pedagogy of the
Oppressed (1970) may be best read as an extension of, or reply
to, Frantz Fanon’s ‘The Wretched of the Earth’ (1961), which
emphasised the need to provide native population with an
education which was simultaneously new and modern (rather than
traditional) and anti-colonial (not simply an extension of the culture
of the coloniser).
In Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), Freire, reprising
the Oppressors–oppressed distinction, differentiates between
the two positions in an unjust society, the oppressor and the
oppressed. Friere makes no direct reference to his most direct
influence for the distinction, which stems back at least as far
as Hegel in 1802, and has since been reprised by many authors
including Engels, Marx, Lenin, Gramsci, Simone Weil and oth-
ers. Freire champions that education should allow the oppressed
to regain their sense of humanity, in turn, overcoming their condi-
tion. Nevertheless, he also acknowledges that in order for this to
occur, the oppressed individual must play a role in their libera-
tion. No pedagogy which is truly liberating can remain distant
from the oppressed by treating them as unfortunates and by
presenting for their emulation models from among the oppres-
sors. The oppressed must be their own example in the struggle
for their redemption (Freire, 1970:54) Likewise, the oppressors
must also be willing to rethink their way of life and to examine
their own role in the oppression if true liberation is to occur;
“those who authentically commit themselves to the people must
re-examine themselves constantly” (Friere, 1970: 60).
Friere believed education to be a political act that could
not be divorced from pedagogy. Freire defined this as a main
tenet of critical pedagogy. Teachers and students must be
made aware of the politics that surround education. The way
students are taught and what they are taught serves a
political agenda. Teachers, themselves, have political notions they

12 Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism

bring into the classroom (Kincheloe, 2008). Freire believed that
“Education makes sense because women and men learn that
through learning they can make and remake themselves, because
women and men are able to take responsibility for themselves
as beings capable of knowing that they know and knowing that
they don’t” (Friere, 2004:15).
In terms of actual pedagogy, Freire is best known for his
attack on what he called the Banking Concept of Education,
in which the student was viewed as an empty account to be
filled by the teacher. He notes that “it transforms students into
receiving objects. It attempts to control thinking and action,
leads men and women to adjust to the world, and inhibits their
creative power (Friere, 1970, p. 77). The basic critique was not
new-Rousseau’s conception of the child as an active learner was
already a step away from Tabula Rasa (which is basically the
same as the Banking Concept). In addition, thinkers like John
Dewey (1897) were strongly critical of the transmission of mere
facts as the goal of education. Dewey often described education
as a mechanism for social change, explaining that “Education
is a regulation of the process of coming to share in the social
consciousness; and that the adjustment of individual activity on
the basis of this social consciousness is the only sure method of
social reconstruction” (1897: 16). Giving ahead is the description
of the Constructivism as a pedagogical approach (see figure 2).

Fig. 2

CONSTRUCTIVISM Assumed Knowledge

is Constructed

Methods of Conditions for Learning

Instructions Instructions Goals Include

Micro worlds and Complex and relevant Reasoning

hypermedia designs learning environment Critical thinking
Collaborative Social negotiation Understanding and
learning and problem Multiple perspectives and use of knowledge
scaffolding multiple modes of learning Self-regulation
Goal-based scenarios Ownership in learning Mindful reflection
and problem-based Self-awareness of knowledge
learning construction.
Self-awareness of
knowledge construction

Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism 13

 2.4. Constructivism A Pedagogical Aproach
Constructivism is basically a theory — based on observation and
scientific study — about how people learn. It says that people
construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world,
through experiencing things and reflecting on those experi-
ences. In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can
point towards a number of different teaching practices. In the
most general sense, it usually means encouraging students to
use active techniques (experiments, real world problem-solving)
to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about
what they are doing and how their understanding is chang-
ing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students’
pre-existing conceptions, and guides the activity to
address them and then build on them. Constructivist teachers
encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is
helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and
their strategies, students in the constructivist classroom ideally
become “expert learners.” This gives them ever-broadening
tools to keep learning. With a well-planned classroom environ-
ment, the students learn, how to learn. Constructivism is also
often misconstrued as a learning theory that compels students
to “reinvent the wheel.” In fact, constructivism taps into and
triggers the student’s innate curiosity about the world and how
things work. Students do not reinvent the wheel but, rather
attempt to understand how it turns, how it functions. They
become engaged by applying their existing knowledge and
real-world experience, learning to hypothesise, testing their
theories, and ultimately drawing conclusions from their
findings. Given ahead is the figurative representation of the
Constructivist approach highlighting all its basic elements?
2.4.1 Historical Upsurge of the Constructivist Approach
The concept of constructivism has roots in classical antiquity,
going back to Socrates’s dialogues with his followers, in which
he asked directed questions that led his students to realise
for themselves the weaknesses in their thinking. The Socrat-
ic dialogue is still an important tool in the way constructivist
educators assess their students’ learning and plan new learn-
ing experiences. In this century, Jean Piaget and John Dewey
developed theories of childhood development and education,
what we now call Progressive Education, that led to the evolution
of constructivism. Piaget believed that humans learn through
the construction of one logical structure after another. He also

14 Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism

concluded that the logic of children and their modes of think-
ing are initially entirely different from those of adults. The im-
plications of this theory and how he applied them have shaped
the foundation for constructivist education. Dewey called for
education to be grounded in real experience. He wrote, “If you
have doubts about how learning happens, engage in sustained
inquiry: study, ponder, consider alternative possibilities and ar-
rive at your belief grounded in evidence.” Inquiry is a key part
of constructivist learning. Among the educators, philosophers,
psychologists and sociologists who have added new perspec-
tives to constructivist learning theory and practice are Lev
Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner and David Ausubel Vygotsky intro-
duced the social aspect of learning into constructivism. He
defined the “zone of proximal learning,” according to which
students solve problems beyond their actual developmental lev-
el (but within their level of potential development) under adult
guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers. Bruner
initiated curriculum change based on the notion that learning
is an active, social processes in which students construct new
ideas or concepts based on their current knowledge. Seymour
Papert’s ground breaking work in using computers to teach chil-
dren has led to the widespread use of computer and information
technology in constructivist environments. Modern educators
who have studied, written about, and practiced constructiv-
ist approaches to education include John D. Bransford, Ernst
Von Glasersfeld, Eleanor Duckworth, George Forman, Roger
Schank, Jacqueline Grennon Brooks and Martin G. Brooks.
2.4.2 Characteristic and Benefits of Constructivist
Approach
Multiple perspectives, authentic activities, real-world environ-
ments these are just some of the themes that are frequently
associated with constructivist learning and teaching. The fol-
lowing section presents a synthesis and summary of the char-
acteristics of constructivist learning and teaching as presented
by various review as following:
1. Multiple perspectives and representations of concepts and
content are presented and encouraged.
2. Goals and objectives are derived by the student or in
negotiation with the teacher or system.
3. Teachers serve in the role of guides, monitors, coaches,
tutors and facilitators.
Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism 15
 4. Activities, opportunities, tools and environments are
provided to encourage meta-cognition, self-analysis,
regulation, reflection and awareness.
5. The student plays a central role in mediating and
controlling learning.
6. Learning situations, environments, skills, content and
tasks are relevant, realistic, authentic and represent the
natural complexities of the ‘real world’.
7. Primary sources of data are used in order to ensure
authenticity and real-world complexity.
8. Knowledge construction and not reproduction is
emphasised.
9. This construction takes place in individual contexts and
through social negotiation, collaboration and experience.
10. The learner’s previous knowledge constructions, beliefs
and attitudes are considered in the knowledge construc-
tion process.
11. Problem-solving, higher-order thinking skills and deep
understanding are emphasised.
12. Errors provide the opportunity for insight into students’
previous knowledge constructions.
13. Exploration is a favoured approach in order to encourage
students to seek knowledge independently and to manage
the pursuit of their goals.
14. Learners are provided with the opportunity for apprentice-
ship learning in which there is an increasing complexity of
tasks, skills and knowledge acquisition.
15. Knowledge complexity is reflected in an emphasis on con-
ceptual inter-relatedness and interdisciplinary learning.
16. Collaborative and cooperative learning are favoured in
order to expose the learner to alternative viewpoints.
17. Scaffolding is facilitated to help students perform just
beyond the limits of their ability.
18. Assessment is authentic and interwoven with teaching.
With all the above written characteristics, the benefits of
the constructivist pedagogical approach can be summed up as
follows:
1. Children learn more, and enjoy learning more when they
are actively involved, rather than passive listeners.
2. Education works best when it concentrates on thinking
and understanding, rather than on rote memorisation.
Constructivism concentrates on learning how to think and
understand.

16 Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism

 3. Constructivist learning is transferable. In constructivist
classrooms, students create organising principles that
they can take with them to other learning settings.
4. Constructivism gives students ownership of what they
learn, since learning is based on students’ questions and
explorations, and often the students have a hand in design-
ing the assessments as well. Constructivist assessment
engages the students’ initiatives and personal investments
in their journals, research reports, physical models and
artistic representations. Engaging the creative instincts
develops students’ abilities to express knowledge through
a variety of ways. The students are also more likely to
retain and transfer the new knowledge to real life.
5. By grounding learning activities in an authentic, real-world
context, constructivism stimulates and engages students.
Students in constructivist classrooms learn to question
things and to apply their natural curiosity to the world.
6. Constructivism promotes social and communication skills
by creating a classroom environment that emphasises
collaboration and exchange of ideas. Students must
learn how to articulate their ideas clearly as well as to
collaborate on tasks effectively by sharing in group projects.
Students must, therefore, exchange ideas and so must
learn to “negotiate” with others and to evaluate their
contributions in a socially acceptable manner. This is
essential to success in the real world, since they will
always be exposed to a variety of experiences in which they will
have to cooperate and navigate among the ideas of others.
2.5 Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is not pedagogy in itself but as name enshrined,
it is a process which intermingled with the pedagogy or a way of
evolving an analytical, convergent/divergent thinking in young
mind. One has to observe the interaction of human beings in
public spheres. This reflects the behaviour of a person to un-
derstand the nature of mind which is constructed in the pro-
cess of socialisation living in a particular condition of culture,
customs and traditions. The idea is here to emancipate from
unnecessary domination, which are obstacle for the develop-
ment. This is possible through knowledge, interest and action.
Habermas (1970) analysed System of Knowledge to
elaborate a framework of Critical Thinking Theory to meet
human interests. He posits three basic types of knowledge:

Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism 17

 1. Empirical Analytical Knowledge is concerned with
understanding the lawful properties of the material
world.
2. Hermeneutic Historical Knowledge is devoted to
understanding of meanings, especially through the
interpretations of historical texts.
3. Critical knowledge is devoted to uncovering conditions of
constraint and domination.

Q. What is Critical Thinking is a process of pedagogy?

These three types of knowledge reflect three basic types of

human interests:
1. A technical interest in the reproduction of existence
through control of the environment.
2. A practical interest in understanding the meaning of
situations.
3. An emancipatory interest in freedom for growth and
improvement.
These interests are achieved through the process of
communicative actions (interactions). Habermas further
discusses four types of action by individuals in the society:
(1) Teleological Action; (2) Normatively-regulated Action; (3)
Dramaturgical Action; and (4) Communicative Action.
1. Teleological Action is behaviour oriented to analyse vari-
ous means and selecting the most appropriate means to
realise goals. Such action becomes strategic when other
acting agents are involved in one’s calculations. Habermas
also calls this action instrumental because it is concerned
with means to achieve goals. This kind of action is too
often considered to be rational action (means-ends ratio-
nality).
In this type of action, the actor makes a “decision among
alternative course of action based on an interpretation of
the situation”. This is also called strategic action that the
actor anticipates what other actors directed by goals will
do behind the decision. Habermas uses strategic as more
or less synonymous with teleological.
2. Normatively-regulated Action is behaviour that is oriented
to common values of a group. Thus, normative action is

18 Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism

 directed toward complying with normative expectations
of collectively organised grouping of individuals. Talk of
values and norms suggests this kind of action. It is also
called social capital in action.
3. Dramaturgical Action is action that involves conscious
manipulation of oneself before an audience or public. It
is ego-centric in that it involves actors mutually manipu-
lating their behaviours to present their own intentions,
but it is also social in that such manipulation is done in
the context of organised society. In this context, there is a
presentation of self, not spontaneously but stylised, with
a view to the audience.
4. Communicative Action is an interaction among agents
who use speech and non-verbal symbols as a way of
understanding their mutual situation and their
respective plans of action in order that they can agree
on how to coordinate their behaviours. Here two or more
actors establish a relationship and seek to reach an
understanding about the action situation and their plans
of action in order to coordinate their actions by way of
agreement. The central concept of interpretation refers in
the first instance to negotiating definition of the situation
which admits consensus.

A person builds social capital by devoting and investing time

to interactions. This helps in identifying the behaviour of a
person.

These four types of action presuppose different kinds

of worlds. That is, each action is oriented to a somewhat
different aspect of the universe that can be divided into (i)
objective or external world of manipulable objects; (ii)
social world of norms, values, and other socially recognised
expectations; and (iii) subjective world of experiences. Teleological
action is concerned primarily with the objective world; normatively
regulated action with the social; and dramaturgical with the
subjective and external world together. But it is only with
communicative action that actors “refer simultaneously to
things in the objective, social, and subjective worlds in order to
negotiate common definitions of the situation”. Thus, one may
look emancipation from domination (of custom, dogma, forces
etc.) as possible through communication. There is a need to
develop interpersonal skills.
Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism 19
 Critical Thinking helps to emancipate from unnecessary
domination, which are obstacle for the development. This is
possible through knowledge, interest and action.

2.6 Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills refer to mental and communicative
algorithms (processes) applied during social communications
and interactions in order to reach certain effects or results.
The important skills include under interpersonal skills are as
following:
1. Empathy means the ability to put yourself in the
person’s shoes in other words to see things from her /his
perspective. It allows us to create bonds of trust. It gives us
insights into what others may be feeling or thinking.
2. Building Trust requires building relationships which
depends upon good and effective listening. Trust is the
expectancy of people that they can rely on your word. It is
built through integrity and consistency in relationships.
3. Active Listening cannot establish trust if you cannot listen
effectively and actively. This requires a direct, friendly and
relaxed expression on your face which conveys a message
that you are listening attentively. This should reflect in
your communication and style of communication.
4. Communication styles must be influencing which
enhances your effectiveness in many different situations.
Think about the ways that you can respond constructively to
difficult people when you encounter them, and ways you
can avoid becoming a difficult person yourself.
Interpersonal skills are highly essential to be
incorporated in each and every individual of our society. One
may apply such skills to make life easy, successful and a step
towards our growth and transformation into a good human
being.

Interpersonal skills refers to mental and communicative algo-

rithms applied during social communications and interactions
in order to reach certain effects or results.

20 Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism

 REFFERENCES

Dewey, J. 1897. My Pedagogic Creed. School Journal, Vol.

54, pp. 77-80.
Fiere, Paulo. 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Continuum,
New York.
——————— 1972. Pedagogy of Oppressed. Penguin
Book, Great Britain.
——————— 2004. Pedagogy of Indignation. Boulder,
Paradigm, Colorado.
Foucault, Michel. 1971. Madness and Civilisation: A History
of Insanity in the Age of Reason, London
Fordham, Paul. 1980. Participation Learning and Change.
Commonwealth Secretariat, London.
Habermas, Jurgen. 1970. Knowledge and Human Interest
Trans. J. Shapiro, London.
Heinemann. 1984. The Theory of Communicative Action.
Beacon Press, Boston.
Kegan Paul. 1952. Essays on the Ecology of Knowledge.
Routledge, London.
Kincheloe, J.L. 2008. Critical Pedagogy Primer. 2nd Ed.
Peter Lang, New York.
Kumar, Krishna. 2008. A Pedagogies Romance: Reflections on
schooling. Oxford University Press, Delhi.
Mannheim, Karl. 1936. Ideology and Utopia, London.
Nagla, B.K. 2008. Indian Sociological Thought. Rawat
Publications, Jaipur.
Pedagogical Review 1984. Published by National Institute for
Education, Hungary.
Position Paper 3.1: Focus Group on Problems of SCs and ST
Children, 2007. NCERT, New Delhi.
Schutz, Alfred. 1932, 72. The Phenomenology of the Social
World. Heinemann Educational Books, London.

Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism 21

 Smith, A. 1776. The Wealth of Nations. W. Strahan and T.
Cadell Publications, London.
Teltumbde, Anand. 2004. Thorat, Sukhdeo and
Deshpande, Satish 2002. Hindutva and Dalits: Perspectives for
Understanding Communal Praxis.

22 Teaching Pedagogy and Constructivism

 MODULE 6

Gender Issues with Focus on

Scheduled Castes Girl
Students

ABSTRACT

In India, about half of the population belongs to the women who

do not have awareness about their rights and opportunities in our
society. This is not possible without proper education particularly
quality education to make them aware about their rights. Moreover,
the situation of SC girls is worse than general population who are
deprived for getting education. Keeping in view of this, the module is
prepared on “ Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girls
Students.” This module would helps to the teachers to understand
the situation for giving quality education to the scheduled caste girl
students. Therefore, this module deals with: concept of sex and gen-
der, equality, inequality, discrimination and human rights; laws and
legislations; importance of girl’s education, ways and means to im-
prove access to education and role of teachers related to the girls
belong to Sheduled Castes.
 CONTENTS

§
1. Introduction
2. Objectives
3. Laws and Legislations Related to Girls
3.1 International Human Rights Laws
3.2 National Laws
3.3 Gender and Sex
3.4 Gender Equality
3.5 Gender Inequality
3.6 Discrimination
4. Importance of Girls Education
5. Important Commissions and Committees
6. International Conventions
7. Legislative Measures to End Discrimination Against
Scheduled Caste
8. Important Laws in India affecting Girls
9. Important Laws related to children in India
10. Provision of Non-Discrimination
11. Factors respinsible to keep scheduled caste girls out of
school?
12. Role of teachers to avoid gender bias in teaching
References /Bibliography
1. INTRODUCTION
The education system has traditionally helped to serve the in-
terest of the privileged groups and maintained a self-sustaining
circle of elitism (Dreze and Sen,1995) large disparities in edu-
cational opportunities have perpetuated and reinforced other
kinds of social inequalities based on caste, religion, language
race and gender. If education is to be a means of reducing social
inequalities, it has to play a major role in minimising and finally
eliminating these disparities by providing equality of access to
quality education and opportunity, thereby enabling the sched-
uled caste girls to move ahead with well directed self-effort.
This module focuses upon gender issues of the socially
disadvantaged section of our society namely scheduled caste.
It discusses the international and national human rights law,
promoting gender equality in and through education, human
rights framework for education to promote gender equality,
concept and meaning of gender, sex, differentiation between
gender and sex, gender equity, gender inequality and discrimina-
tion. The module also focuses on the importance of girl education,
important education commissions and committees, both at
national and international level along with laws and legislative
measures to end discrimination. The module also highlights the
social and institutional factors responsible to keep SCs girls out
of school. It also discusses ways and means to improve girl’s
education. Further, it gives a brief account of description of
strategies for addressing the gender issues by the teachers
in their classroom teaching -learning process. The sole aim of
this module is to protect and safeguard the interest of SCs girls
to make them aware and claim their rights and realise their
potential in economic, political and social areas and to bring
them at par with the general masses specially with their women
counterparts. Our mission through this module is to ensure
empowerment of schedule caste girls in all sphere of life.
2. OBJECTIVES
The basic objective of the module is to create an awareness of
the inherent equality of all with a view to remove prejudices
and complexes transmitted through social environment and
factor of birth. The present module enables the teachers to
understand the spirit of the objectives and realisation there of:
(i) to acquaint teachers to be aware of international
human rights and national laws.

Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 3

 (ii) to be make the teachers aware of gender, sex,
equality, inequality, discrimination and Importance of
girls education.
(iii) to be aware of the spirit and intent of constitutional
provisions and educational policy for promoting
equality of opportunity for all.
(iv) to be aware of the important laws and legislative
measures to end discrimination against SCs Girls.
(v) to be aware of ways and means to improve girls access
and role of teachers to avoid gender bias in classroom
teaching- learning process.
3. Laws and Legislations related to girls
3.1 International human rights law
All children have the Right to Education has been recognised by
the international community since the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. The right to free and compul-
sory primary education of good quality and without discrimina-
tion is now enshrined in a range of international human rights
conventions, signed and ratified by almost all countries in the
world. Many of these same instruments encourage, but do not
guarantee, post-primary education. These rights have been
further elaborated to address issues of, for example,
quality and equity, moving forward the issue of what the right to
education is, and exploring exactly how it can be achieved. There are
numerous international and national commitments stating that
girls have a legal right to education, including equal access;
however, the existence of these international conventions and
other tools has not been sufficient to secure education for all
girls. Gender is still the largest simple cause of systematic dis-
crimination
“International human rights law lays down a three-way set
of criteria, whereby girls should have an equal right to educa-
tion and equal rights in education, and their equal rights should
be promoted through education...” (Tomasevski, 2005).
3.2 National law
Although many states sign and ratify international human
rights conventions, such obligations and guarantees do not
necessarily translate into national law. Provisions for
education at the national level must therefore, change to reflect the
international legal obligations that countries have assumed.
States must be encouraged to pass legislation and implement

4 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students

policies to ensure they provide education in compliance with
international law.
For girls’ and women’s right to education, this means that
states must ensure girls’ equal rights to education and also
prepare laws in cross-cutting issues of gender, such as
marriage, housing and social security. States must ensure
non-discrimination and education in all spheres, and at a
national level. It is clear that unless discrimination, harassment
and violence in schools are addressed, girls will not be able to
enjoy the right to education as stated in national constitutions,
legally binding treaties and international covenants.
Education is one of the most critical areas of empowerment
for women, as both the Cairo and Beijing conferences affirmed.
It is also an area that offers some of the clearest examples of
discrimination women suffer. Among children not attending
school there are twice as many girls as boys, and among illiter-
ate adults there are twice as many women as men.
The Dakar Framework for Action represents the most
important international political commitment towards promoting
education for all. The Framework contains two gender-based
goals. In Article 7 (ii) the participants commit themselves
to eliminating ‘gender disparities in primary and secondary
education by 2005’. The second commitment is to achieve
gender equality in education (Article 7 (v)). These are here
described as ‘gender parity’ and ‘gender equality,’ respectively.
While the focus of this article will be on the latter, gender parity will be
examined by way of comparison, on the premise that it is a
necessary but insufficient precondition for the realisation of
equality. In contrast to such political agreements, human rights
are legal standards that States have committed themselves
to implement through the ratification of international trea-
ties. This process of ratification constitutes the undertaking of
international legal obligations, not mere promises. Although
the two processes of international politics and international
law-making and enforcement are conceptually distinct, the
realisation of the objectives of each can be enhanced by the
inter-relation of both, so that they exist as complementary, not
parallel, processes. Recognising that States’ political commit-
ments cannot be isolated from their legal obligations means
that States that have committed to relevant international
instruments (all but two countries in the world have ratified
the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and over 174

Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 5

 contries have accepted the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), have clear
obligations to progressively realise the right to education and
gender equality in and through education.
A merging of international monitoring of Education For
All and international human rights law would allow an
integrated rights framework to compliment the political promises
of Jomtien and Dakar, and ensure that these processes promote
rights in and through education, rather than simply counting
numbers of children, or investment, in education. In this light,
the continued and deepening openness towards human rights
evident in the Education for All Global Monitoring reports is to
be welcomed.
A human rights framework for education to promote
gender equality is a social construct, not a biological one, and dis-
crimination on this basis is consequently difficult to assess and
address. Distinctions based on biological sex can be
measured statistically, whereas gender differentials entail more
subtle distinctions on male and female roles. Achieving gender
parity (equal numbers of boys and girls) in school is just one
step towards gender equality in and through education. While
parity is a quantitative concept, equality is a qualitative one. The
human rights protection and promotion of gender equality
requires more than numerical equilibrium, it also requires con-
ceptual equilibrium, and a conscientious effort to redress in-
equality, as it exists.
An exclusive focus on numbers can present apparent prog-
ress and hide real patterns of discrimination and disadvantage.
This is particularly true in measuring equality. In education,
while increasing parity in enrolment is important, equality re-
quires adaptation. Addressing the right to education, without
addressing rights in education and through education may mean
compelling attendance in education that may be of limited use
and relevance to increasing equality between the sexes.
Governments hold the primary responsibility ensuring the
full realisation of the right to education for all. The analytical
framework of governmental obligations developed by the United
Nations Special Rapporteur shows that this entails availabil-
ity, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability of education
(Tomasevski, 2001).
(i) Ensuring the availability of education has differing
solutions: segregated, or single sex schools

6 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students

 (permitted under the Convention Against Discrimi-
nation in Education on condition of equivalence of
quality); integrated schools, where girls are enrolled
in boys schools which may not adapt to them; or
inclusive education in co-educational schools that
are gender sensitive. It is worth noting that in imple-
menting a system of education segregated by sex
governments may be responding to parental choice,
others, however, such as Ecuador, will point to ‘coedu-
cation as a way to break down sexist barriers’. There
is an important balance to be struck between paren-
tal freedom in education and the best interests of the
child.
(ii) Accessibility requires removing both directly discrimina-
tory barriers to the enrolment of those of one sex from
all levels and types of education and, as we shall see,
barriers such as cost, which may have indirect gender
significance.
(iii) Acceptability implies education that will actually be of
use to the child, not only in seeking employment, but
also importantly in protecting health and well-being.
Sufficient educational opportunities for girls are only
the first step. Treating boys and girls in the same way
can reinforce, rather than redress social disadvantage as
education can serve to underline existing stereotypes of
women as unsuited to academic achievement, an image
which can be portrayed (often unconsciously) in text-
books showing female role models at home, while men
are history makers and intellectual pioneers. The aims
of education in human rights law include ‘the prepara-
tion of the child for responsible life in a free society, in
the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of
sexes’. Addressing the implications of this requirement
what children learn and why requires the reorientation
of education to contribute to gender equality.
The obligation under human rights law that education be
adaptable to the individual, and not the other way around is
revolutionary. It will mean schools that are more inclusive, and
assurance that education does not reinforce extant societal pat-
terns that discriminate against certain groups. As girls tend to
be subject to multiple discrimination (for example, as a member
of a minority group using the national language as a second or
third language, and as a girl), this is of particular relevance.
Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 7
 Basic Concepts in all societies men and women, boys and
girls have a different status and play different roles. Men
and women behave differently, dress differently, have
different attitude and interests and have different leisure activi-
ties. Contrary to traditionally held beliefs that these differences
between male and female behaviour are biologically or genetically
determined, recent research has revealed that they are to a large
extent socially constructed or based on the concept of gender.
What is Gender? The word was used by Ann Oakley and
others in the 1970s to describe those characteristics of men
and women, which are socially determined, in contrast to those
which are biologically determined.
This distinction between gender and sex has important
implications, which are elaborated throughout this man-
ual. Essentially, the distinction between gender and sex is
made to emphasise that anything men and women do and is
expected of them with the expectation of their sexually distinct
function(Impregnation, childbearing and breast-feeding), can
change in time and according to changing and different cultural
factors.
Gender is a dynamic concept. Gender roles for men and
women vary greatly from one culture to another and from one
social group to another within the same culture, race, class,
economic circumstances, age-all of this influence what is con-
sidered appropriate for men and women. As culture is dynam-
ic and socio-economic conditions change overtime, so gender
patterns change with them. Sudden crisis like war or famine
can radically and rapidly change what men and women do.
Sometimes, however, the old attitudes return after the crisis (a
women ex-combatants in liberation struggle have found). Some-
times the changes have a permanent impact.
Gender awareness is not a separate or additional issues.
It is a way of seeing a perspective-insight which from our
understanding of people and society. Gender awareness means
looking at things with new eyes, which are constantly open to
learning more.
Gender also refers to ‘subjective feelings of maleness or
femaleness i.e. femininity or masculinity, irrespective of
one’s sex. This is known as gender identity. It is possible to
be genetically of one sex with a gender identity of another sex
e.g., trans-sexual identify themselves with the gender of the
opposite sex. This implies that one’s gender may not

8 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students

necessarily be synonymous with that of one’s sex. One’s gender
can be determined in many ways e.g. behaviour. In most societ-
ies e.g., Humanity, submissiveness etc are considered feminine
behaviour and women are expected to behave that way. Men
on the other hand, are expected to be dominant aggressive etc.
Other determinants of gender may include dress, gestures, oc-
cupation, social network and especially the roles played by the
sexes in the society.
Gender is the most pervasive form of inequality as it
operates across all classes, caste and communities. Yet, while
gender quality has been a key objective of education policy for
over three decades, it has lacked critical edge in implementa-
tion.
Gender is not a women issue; it is a people’s issue. Feminin-
ity does not exist in isolation from masculinity. The construc-
tion and power of the other gender relation are neither natu-
ral nor given, they are constructed to make unequal relations
seem natural and can be naturalised only under the duress of
socialisation. Thus, there is undue pressure on boys and girls to
live up to the established norms of masculinity and femininity.
While girls endure unwarranted social control, discrimination
and domination, boys too suffer from the stereotyping that ex-
ists in a patriarchy culture. Discouraged from being emotional,
gentle or fearful, they are thrust into the role of breadwinners,
protectors and warriors. Thus, unequal gender relations stunt
the freedom of all individuals to develop their human beings
from existing relation of gender.
Sex as defined by Susan Basow, is a biological term referring
to people, animals etc., being either female or male depending
on their sex organs or genes. Sex also refers to the differences
between individuals that make them male or female.
Contrary to Sex, ‘Gender’ has a social, cultural and psycho-
logical rather than biological connotations. It is defined in term
of femininity and masculinity. The proper term for describing
sex e.g., are male and female, while the corresponding terms
for gender are masculine and feminine. Although the letter may
be independent of biological sex, masculinity pertains to the
attributes that describes male in the social and cultural context.
Hence, the ‘normal’ ‘male has a preponderance of masculinity,
while the ‘normal’ female has a preponderance of femininity.
According to Stoller “Gender is the amount of Masculinity or
Femininity found in a person.

Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 9

 3.3 Gender and Sex
Gender refers to the array of socially constructed roles and
relationships, personality traits, attitudes, behaviours, values,
relative power and influence that society ascribes to the two
sexes on a differential basis. Whereas biological sex is deter-
mined by genetic and anatomical characteristics, gender is an
acquired identity that is learned, changes over time and var-
ies widely within and across cultures. Gender is relational
and refers not simply to women or men but to the relationship
between them.
Sex refers to the biological characteristics that define hu-
mans as female or male, while these sets of biological character-
istics are not mutually exclusive, as there are individuals who
possess both they tend to differentiate humans as males and
females.
3.4 Gender Equality
The movement towards gender equality, especially in western
countries, began with the suffragette movement of the late 19th
country. Then there was a change in relation to women’s prop-
erty rights in marriage. In the 1960, a more general movement
for gender equality developed based on women’s liberation and
feminising. The issue was women rights. The idea was that
women should have equal rights with men. However, actual
changes in attitudes continued to focus on specific issues.
The movement resulted in ant discrimination laws. Charges
to attitudes to equality in education opportunities for boys and
girls have also undergone a cultural shift. Some changes came
about by adopting affirmative action policies. The change has
also involved changes to social views, including “equal pay for
equal work” as well as most occupations being equally available
to men and women. For example, many countries now permit
women to serve in the armed forces, the police force and to be
fire fighters. Also an increasing number of women are active in
politics and occupy high positions in all spheres of life.
Gender Equality also known as sex equality or sexual equal-
ity is the goal of the equality of the genders. Stemming from a
belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality. This
goal making women’s rights equal to men’s and also making
men’s rights equal to women’s.
3.5 Gender Inequality
It refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals
based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially
10 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students
constructed gender roles as well as biologically through chro-
mosomes, brain structure and hormonal differences. Gender
systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical: gender binary
systems may reflect the inequalities that manifest in numerous
dimensions of daily lose. Gender inequality stems from distinc-
tions, whether empirically grounded or socially constructed.
3.6 Discrimination:
Discrimination can be defined in the following forms:
●● Unfavorable treatment based on prejudice, especially race,
caste, age or sex.
●● Negative discrimination; discriminated against on the
basis of religion caste or sex among others.
●● Making a distinction, especially unjustly and on the basis
of race, caste, age, sex etc.
Empowerment is the action of endowing someone with
the ability or power required for a purpose or task. For
instance, education is one of the way of empowering the people of
India for achieving a better and a higher quality of life. For the
educational empowerment for the weaker section of the society,
positive discrimination is one of the measures adopted in the
constitution of India. National Policy on Education and the NCF
brought out by NCERT. The premise has been that the posi-
tive discrimination will gradually bring the children of socially
disadvantaged at the same level as that of general population
by compensating for the existence of their social disadvantage.
Education can be an effective tool for girls empowerment, the
parameters of which are:
(i) Enhance self-esteem and self-confidence of girls.
(ii) Building a positive image of girls by recognising their
contribution to the society, policy and the economy.
(iii) Developing ability to think critical.
iv) Fostering decision making and action through collec-
tive processes.
(v) Enable girls to make informed choices in areas like
education, employment and health especially reproduc-
tive health.
(vi) Ensuring equal participation in development process.
(vii) Providing information, knowledge and skill for econom-
ic independence.
(viii) Enhancing access to legal literacy and information
relative to their rights and entitlements in society with a

Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 11

 view to enhance their participation on an equal footing
at all the areas.

Activities for Teacher

• Compare and contrast the differences in the behaviour of
boys and girls in these societies to that of boys and girls in
your own society, community.
• What do the differences tell us about gender in
contrast to sex?

4. Importance of Girls’ Education

Gender inequality in education is extreme. Girls are less likely
to access school, to remain in school or to achieve in education.
Education helps men and women claim their rights and realise
their potential in the economic, political and social arenas. It
is also the single most powerful way to lift people out of pov-
erty. Education plays a particularly important role as a founda-
tion for girls’ development towards adult life. It should be an
intrinsic part of any strategy to address the gender-based
discrimination against women and girls that remains prevalent
in many societies. The following links will further explain the
necessity of girls’/women’s education:
●● Education is a Right
●● Cultural Changes
●● Better Health and Awareness
●● Poverty reduction.
Everybody has the right to education, which has been
recognised since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) in 1948. The right to free and compulsory primary
education, without discrimination and of good quality, has been
reaffirmed in all major international human rights conventions.
Many of these same instruments encourage, but do not guar-
antee post-primary education. These rights have been further
elaborated to address issues like quality and equity, moving
forward the issue of what the right to education means, and
exploring how it can be achieved. As a minimum states must
ensure that basic education is available, accessible, acceptable
and adaptable for all (4A scheme). The right of girls to educa-
tion is one of the most critical of all rights – because education
plays an important role in enabling girls and women to secure
other rights.
12 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students
Cultural and traditional values stand between girls and their
prospects for education. The achievment of girls’ right to edu-
cation can address some of societies’ deeply rooted inequali-
ties, which condemn millions of girls to a life without quality
education – and, therefore, also all too often to a life of missed
opportunities. Improving educational opportunities for girls and
women helps them to develop skills that allow them to make
decisions and influence community change in key areas. One
reason for denying girls and women their right to an education
is rarely articulated by those in charge: that is their fear of the
power that girls will have through education. There is still some
resistance to the idea that girls and women can be trusted with
education. Education is also seen in some societies as a fear
of change and now with globalisation, the fear becomes even
greater- fear to lose the cultural identity, fear of moving towards
the unknown or the unwanted, fear of dissolving in the many
others.
Basic education provides girls and women with an under-
standing of basic health, nutrition and family planning, giving
them choices and the power to decide over their own lives and
bodies. Women’s education leads directly to better reproductive
health, improved family health, economic growth, for the fam-
ily and for society, as well as lower rates of child mortality and
malnutrition. It is also key in the fight against the spread of HIV
and AIDS.
Educating girls is an important step in overcoming poverty.
Inequality and poverty are not inevitable. “The focus on poverty
reduction enables the right to education to be a powerful tool
in making a change in the lives of girls and women. Poverty
has been universally affirmed as a key obstacle to the enjoy-
ment of human rights, and it has a visible gender profile. The
main reason for this is the fact that poverty results from viola-
tions of human rights, including the right to education, which
disproportionately affect girls and women. Various grounds of
discrimination combine, trapping girls in a vicious downward
circle of denied rights. Denial of the right to education leads to
exclusion from the labour market and marginalisation into the
informal sector or unpaid work. This perpetuates and increases
women’s poverty” (Tomasevski, 2005).
The Constitution of India not only grant equality to all
citizens including girls/women and forbids any discrimina-
tion based on religion, race, caste, sex and place of birth but
also empowers the state to practice protective discrimination
Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 13
 in favour of girls/women, children and any socially and edu-
cationally backward classes or the SC/ST under the protec-
tive discrimination clause, the state (our country) has passed
several legislations and initiated special programmes and schemes
for the protection, welfare and development of girls/women and
children. As per the Directive Principles of State Policy, the
Article 45 of our Constitution enjoins that the state shall
endeavour to provide within a period of 10 year from the
commencement of the Constitution compulsory education for
all children until they complete the age of 14 years.
5. Important commissions and committees
on Girls’ Education
●● The Secondary Education Commission (1952-53)
upholds opening of every type of education to women open
to men.
●● Report of the Durgabai Deshmukh Committee or national
Committee on women’s Education (1958-59) recommend-
ed that (a) appointment of school mothers in all schools
where there is no women teachers, (b) separate lavatory
arrangement in every school, and (c) help in cash or kind
such as covering the cost of books and stationary school
uniform or clothing and other educational equipment to
all girls up to middle level,
●● Where parents are below certain level of income (d) crèch-
es for sibling, (e) schemes for awarding prizes to the
villages which has the largest enrolment and average at-
tendance of girls, (f) two-three prizes in the form of useful
articles for regular attendance, (g) attendance scholarship
in the form of useful articles to poor girls, ((G) creation of
a strong public opinions for girls education, (h) provision
of suitable conditions in schools rather than passing of
compulsory legislation so that parents cannot be encour-
aged to sent their daughters to schools, (i) women heads in
co-education schools,(j) free and subsidized transport in
order to bring middle and secondary schools within easy
reach, and (k) suitable hostel facilities, the day board-
ing and lodging arrangements in these hostels should be
cheap and payment in kind should be permitted.
●● Report of the committee on the status of women in
India (1962-63) suggested incentives to prevent dropouts
among girls. The committee to look into the causes for
lack of public support particularly in Rural Areas for Girls’
14 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students
 Education and to Enlist Public Cooperation 1967 and
committee on differentiation of curricular for boys and
girls (1964) focused on appointment of women teachers
and to ensure girls enrolment and attendance and provi-
sion (grant) of free books, writing materials and clothing
to girls.
●● The Education Commission (1964-66) fully endorsed the
recommendations of National Committee on the Edu-
cation of women. The Commission emphasised on the
following points. (a) Educating Public opinion to overcome
traditional prejudices against girl’s education, (b) appoint-
ment of women teachers, (c) popularising mixed primary
schools and opening separate schools for girls at the high-
er primary stage wherever possible and demand, and (d)
providing free textbooks writing materials and if needed
clothing also.
●● NPE (1986) and POA (1992) upheld the need for adequate
support services (water, fuel, fodder and child care) to
the promotion of girls education and more provisions of
schooling facilities like at least one primary school in each
habitation with a population of 300 or more and at least
one middle school in each habitation with a population of
500 or more.
●● The National Perspective Plan for Women (1988-2000)
recommended for women’s education on the top priority
basis so that women can’t attain a comparable level of ed-
ucation by 2000. The plan suggested that (a) Educational
programmes need to be restructured and school curricular
to be modified to elimination gender bias. (b) Awareness
needs to be generated among the masses regarding the
necessity of educating girls the media and various forms
of communication have to be geared and a fruitful rapport
has to be established between the community at large
and the educational personnel (c) fifty percent posts in el-
ementary schools should be reserved for women teachers.
In every school two women teacher should be appointed.
(d) School timings should be flexible and schools must be
available within a walking distance i.e., within 3 km and
provision of hostel facilities for girl children.
●● National Policy on Education (1968) emphasised on
“Equalization of Education Opportunity”. It has been high-
lighted that strenuous efforts should be made to equalise

Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 15

 educational opportunity. The Education of Girls should
receive emphasis not only on grounds of social justice but
also because of accelerating social transformation.
●● The UN Development Decade (1975-85) saw growth of in-
stitutional mechanism such as the department of women
and child development, women’s development corpora-
tions, integrating women in the mainstream, development
of women and children in rural areas; women as special
groups for poverty removal, skill development TRYSEM,
ICDS, movement from welfare to development and finally
to empowerment in the Eighth Plan.
●● The National Perspective Plan for women (1988-2000)
chalked out the National gender agenda till the turn of the
century with a strong focus on rural and disadvantaged
women.
●● Ramamurthy Review committee towards an enlightened
and humane society underscored the need for redistribu-
tion of educational opportunities in favour of Girls belong-
ing to rural and disadvantaged section with adequate sup-
port service (water, fodder, fuel, child care) and also asked
for 50 per cent share for girls in educational resources.
●● The National Policy on Women’s Employment (2001):
The goal of this policy is to bring about the advance-
ment of women. Specifically, the objectives of this policy
includes:
(i) Creating an environment through positive economic
and special policies for full development of women to
enable them to realise their full potential.
(ii) The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights
and fundamental freedom by women on equal basis
with men in all spheres viz; political, economic, social,
cultural and civil.
(iii) Equal access to participation and decision-making of
women in social, political, economic life of nation.
(iv) Equal Access to women health care, quality educational
at all levels, career and vocational guidance, employ-
ment, equal remuneration, occupational, health and
safety, social security and public office etc.
(v) Strengthening legal system aimed at elimination of
discrimination against women.
(vi) Changing societal attitudes and community practices
by active participation and involvement of both men
and women.

16 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students

 (vii) Mainstreaming of discrimination and all forms of
violence against women and the girls child; and
(viii) Building and strengthening partnerships with civil soci-
ety, particularly women’s organizations.
6. International conventions
On 10th December 1948 the general assembly of the United Na-
tions adopted and proclaimed the universal declaration of hu-
man rights. The list of human rights elaborated in the declara-
tion provides a common standard of achievement for all peoples
and all nations.
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal
and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the
foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have
resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience
of mankind and the advent of a world in which human beings
shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear
and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the
common people.
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have
recourse as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and op-
pression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of
law.
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friend-
ly relations between nations.
Whereas the people of the united nations have in the Char-
ter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights in the
dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights
of men and women and have determined to promote social prog-
ress and better standers of life in larger freedom
Whereas member states have pledged themselves to achieve,
in cooperation with the united nations, the promotion of univer-
sal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamen-
tal freedoms whereas a common understanding of these rights
and freedom is of the greatest importance for the full realization
of this pledge.
On 18th December 1979, the convention on the elimina-
tion of all forms of discrimination against women was adopted
by the United Nations General Assembly. It entered into force
as an International Treaty on 3rd September, 1981 and 20
countries had ratified it. By the tenth anniversary of the
convention in 1989 almost 100 nations had agreed to be bound
by its provision.
Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 17
 The convention was the culmination of more than 30 year
of work by the United Nations Commission on the status of
women, a body established in 1946 to monitor the situation
of women and to promote women’s rights. The Commission’s
work has been instrumental in bringing to light all the areas in
which women are denied equality with men. These efforts for
the advancement of women have resulted in several declara-
tions and conventions, of which the convention on the elimina-
tion of all forms of discrimination against women is the central
and most comprehensive document.
Among the International Human Rights Treaties, the
convention takes an important place in bringing the female half
of humanity into the focus of human right concerns. The spirit
of the convention is rooted in the goals of the United Nations to
reaffirm faith in Fundamental Human Rights in the dignity and
worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and wom-
en. In its Preamble, the Convention explicitly acknowledges that
‘extensive discrimination against women continues to exist’ and
emphasises that such discrimination’ ‘violates the principles of
equality of rights and respect for human dignity’. As defined
in Article 1, discrimination is understood as “any distinction,
exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex in the politi-
cal, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field”. The con-
vention gives positive affirmation to the principle of equality by
requiring state parties to take “all appropriate measure, includ-
ing legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement
of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise
and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on
the basis of equality with men (article 3)”.
The commitment to UEE has been reiterating in each 5 year
plans. The education Commission (1964-66) the NPE (1968),
NPE(1968, and POA (1992) have all emphasized the need to
implement the programme of UEE at the earliest.
There have been a number of educational initiatives from
the central and the state govt. along with NGOs to achieve
the goals of UEE especially after the recommendations of NPE
(1986) some of these initiatives are Bihar Education Project
(BEP), UP basic education project Loak Jumbish, Shiksha Karmi
project in Rajasthan and District Primary Education
programme (DPEP). All these programmes and Projects have special
gender focus e.g., one of the criteria for selecting districts to
initiate DPEP was low scale literacy.

18 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students

 The Goverment of India has launched a new scheme known
as SSA to incorporate all the existing schemes and programmes
related to primary education. The SSA aims to provide the qual-
ity elementary education to all children in the age group of 6-14
years by 2010 with special focus on girls and children belonging
to disadvantage group and of children with special needs.
Some of the initiatives for girls under SSA are as follows:
National Programme for Education for Girls at elementary level
(NPEEL), Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalya (KGBV), alternative
schools etc.
Right to free and compulsory education act,-2009, section 3
provides to every children of the age of 6-14 years the right to
free and compulsory education in a neighborhood school till the
completion of elementary education.

Activities for Teacher

• What are the various measured envisaged in the national
policy on education to empower SCs girl ?.
• How does RTE-Act addresses the diversify needs of disad-
vantaged and marginalized group of students at elementary
level ?
• How does constitution of India ensure empowerment of SCs
girl ?

7. Legislative Measures to End Discrimina-

tion against Schedule Caste
To give clear expression to constitutional provisions, an impres-
sive range of legislative measures have been enacted to end
discrimination against Scheduled Castes. These inter-alia in-
clude:
●● The Protection of Civil Rights (Anti-Untouchability)
Act,1955.
●● The bonded Labour (Abolition)Act,1976
●● The Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act,1989
●● The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction
of Dry latrines (Prohibition) Act,1993
●● Various Land Reform Acts.
8. Important laws in India Affecting Girls
●● The Equal Remuneration Act of 1976 provides for equal
pay to men and women for equal work.

Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 19

 ●● The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 amended in 1976
provides the right for a girl to repudiate a child marriage
before attaining maturity whether the marriage has
been consummated or not and not right to property and
absolute ownership over her property entitling her to make
a “ Will” leaving her share of property to her heirs.
●● Hindu succession (Andhra Pradesh) Amendment Act,
1955 ensures that rights of the daughter are absolute-
ly equal to that of the son even in cases governed by
Mitakshara system.
●● Indian Succession Act, 1955 provides for uniform succes-
sion to all other than Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and
Muslims.
●● Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 male or female
Hindu having legal capacity, can take a son or daughter
in adoption.
●● The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act of 1956 as amended
and renamed in 1986 makes the sexual exploitation of
male or female, a cognizable offence.
●● An Amendment brought in 1984 to the Dowry Prohibition
Act of 1961 made women’s subjection to cruelty a cogni-
zable offence. The second amendment brought in 1986
makes the husband or in-law punishable. If a women
commits suicide within seven years of her marriage and it
has been proved that she has been subjected to cruelty.
Also a new criminal offence of “Dowry Death” has been
incorporated in the Indian Penal Code.
●● The Factories Act of 1948 (amended up to 1976) provides
for establishment of a crèche where 30 women are em-
ployed (including casual and contract laburers)
●● The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 lega-
lises abortion by qualified professional on humanitarian
or medical ground.
●● Amendments to criminal law, 1983 provide for a punish-
ment of seven years in ordinary cases or rape and 10 years
for custodial rape case. The maximum punishment my go
upto life imprisonment.
●● A new enactment of Indecent Representation of Wom-
en (Prohibition Act of 1986 and the commission of Sati
(Prevention Act, 1987 have also been passed to protect the
dignity of women and prevent violence against them as
well as their exploitation.
20 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students
 ●● The pre-natal diagnostic techniques (Regulation and
prevention of misuse) 1994.
●● The 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments (1992)
gave 33 per cent representation to women in Panchayats
and Nagar Palikas and 30 per cent headships to women
in these bodies at the village, block and district levels in
rural areas and in town and cities.
9. Important laws related to children in
India
●● Children below the age of 14 years cannot be employed in
hazardous work: The employment of children act 1938,
The factories Act 1948 amendment in 1949, 1950, 1954,
The Beedi and Cigar workers Act, 1966.
●● The children (Pledging of labour) Act 1933, aims at erad-
icating the evil of pledging labour of young children by
their parents to employees in lieu of loans and advances.
●● The Child Marriage Act of 1929, amendment in 1976 to
raise the minimum age of marriage for girls from 15-18
years and for boys from 18-21 years.
●● Compulsory Primary Education acts have been passed by
several states.
10. Provision of Non-Discrimination
In the India as everywhere else in the world, history and
society have been scarred by discrimination and in equality. It
was recognition of this and to end such in justice that Part III
of the Constitution of our Republic dealing with fundamental
Rights contained powerful provisions combat all forms of dis-
crimination, including notably those which were based on race,
caste or descent. These provisions of the Constitution include
broadly in the following manner for a deeper understanding
among teachers.The Constitution of India, the fountainhead for
all laws, rules and regulations of the land, confers equal right
on both women and men and forbids any (negative) discrimina-
tion on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
and further, empowers the state to practice positive/protective
discrimination in favour of historically disadvantaged group of
population.
Categories for protective discrimination in the Indian
constitution are women, children, the scheduled castes, sched-
uled tribes, other backward class, minorities and the physically
challenged.
Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 21
 The constitution of India (Part–III): Fundamental Rights)
grants every Indian citizen Right to equality, Right to Freedom,
Right against exploitation, Right to freedom of Religion, Cultural
and Education rights and the Rights to constitutional remedies
for the enforcement of the aforesaid rights.
Constitution provisions related to equality and
discrimination on grounds of sex caste, religion.

Article Constitution of India (1950) Part III : Fundamental Rights

Rights to equality
14 Equality before law: The state shall not deny to any person
equality before the law or the equal protection of the law
within the territory of India.
15 Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race,
caste, sex or place of birth.
1. The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on
grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of
birth or any of them
2. No citizen shall on grounds only of religion, caste, sex,
place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disabil-
ity, liability, restriction or condition with regards to
(a) Access to shops, public restaurants and places of pub-
lic entertainment, or
(b) The use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and plac-
es of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of
state funds or dedicated to the use of general public.
3. Nothing in the article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall
prevent the state from making any special provision
for the advancement of any socially and educationally
backward classes of citizens or for the scheduled castes
and the scheduled tribes.
Equality of opportunity in matters of Public Employment.
1. Nothing in this Article shall prevent Parliament from
making any law prescribing in regard to a class or
classes of employment or appointment to an office
(under the Government of or any local or other
authority within, a State or union territory, any re-
quirement as to residence within the State or union
territory) prior to such employment or appointment.
2. Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from mak-
ing any provision for the reservation of appointment or
posts in favour of any backward class or citizens which,
in the opinion of the Sate is not adequately represented
in the service under the state.

22 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students

 17. Abolition of untouchability: ‘Untouchability’ is abol-
ished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The en-
forcement of any disability arising out of ‘untouchability’
shall be an offence punishable in accordance with her
law.
21 Protection of life and personal liberty: No person shall be
deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to
procedure established by law.
23 Right against exploitation
Prohibition of Traffic in human beings and forced
(i) Traffic in human beings and beggar and other sim-
ilar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any
contravention of this provision shall be an offence
punishable in accordance with law.
2. Nothing in this article shall prevent the state from
imposing compulsory service for public purposes and
in imposing such service the state shall not make
any discrimination on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, class or any of them.
29(2) Cultural and Educational Rights:
Protection of interests of minorities: No citizen shall be
denied admission into any educational institution main-
tained by the state or receiving aid out of state funds
only of religion, race, caste, sex, class, language or any
of them.

Part IV: Directive Principles of state policy

38(2) State to secure a social order for the promotion of fare of
people: The state shall, in particular, strive to minimize
the inequalities in income and endeavour to eliminate
inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities, not
only amongst individuals but also amongst groups of
people residing in different areas or engaged in different
vocations.

44 Uniform civil code for the citizens: The state shall

endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code
throughout the territory of India

45 Provision for free and compulsory education for children:

The state shall endeavour to provide, within a period of
10 years from the commencement of the Constitution,
for free and compulsory education for all children until
they complete the age of 14 years.

Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 23

 46 Promotion of Educational and Economic interests of
scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other weaker
section: The state shall promote with special care the
educational and economic interests of the weaker section
of the people and in particular of the SCs and STs and
shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of
exploitation.
47 Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the
standard of living and to improve public health: The
state shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and
the standard of living of its people and the improvement
of public health as among its primary duties and in par-
ticular the state shall endeavour to bring about prohibi-
tion of the consumption except for medicinal purposes
of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious
to health.
51(c) Promotion of international peace and security: The state
shall endeavour to foster respect for international law
and treaty obligations in the dealing of organised people
with one another.

Part IV A : Fundamental Duties

51(a) Fundamental duties: It shall be the duty of every
citizen of India (a) to abide by the Constitution and
respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and
the National Anthem. (b) To cherish and follow the noble
ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom.
(c) To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and in-
tegrity of India. (d) To defend the country and render na-
tional service when called upon to do so. (e) To promote
harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst
all the people of India transcending religions, linguistic
and regional or sectional diversities to renounce prac-
tices derogatory to the dignity of women. (f) to value and
preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture. (g) To
develop and protect the natural environment including
forest, lakes, rivers and wild life and to have compassion
for living creatures. (h) To develop the scientific temper,
humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform. (i) To
safeguard public property and to adjure violence. (j) To
strive towards excellence in all type/spheres of individ-
ual and collective activity so that the nation constantly
rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement.

24 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students

 Part XV: Elections
325 No person to be ineligible for inclusion in or to claim
to be included in a special, electoral roll on grounds of
religion, race, case or sex:
There shall be one general electoral roll for every territo-
rial constituency for election to either house of Parlia-
ment or to the house or either house of legislative of a
state and no person shall be ineligible for inclusion any
roll for any such constituency on ground only of religion,
race, caste, sex or any of them.
330 Part XVI Special provisions relating to certain classes
Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Sched-
uled Tribes in the house of the people:
Seat shall be reserved in the house of people for: (a)
The Scheduled Castes (b) The Scheduled Tribes except
the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of
Assam, and (c) the Scheduled Tribes in the autono-
mous districts of Assam.
1. The number of seats reserved in any state or union
territory for the SCs and the STs under clause (1)
shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion
to the total number of seats allotted to that state or
UT in the house of the people as the population of
the SCs in the state or UTs or of the STs in the state
or UT, or part the state or UTs as the case may be,
in respect of which seats are so reserved bears to the
total population of the state or UTs.
2. Not withstanding anything contained in clause (2)
the number of seats reserved in the house of the peo-
ple for the STs in the autonomous districts of Assam
shall bear to the total number of seats allotted to
that state a proportion not less than the population
of the STs in the said autonomous districts bear to
the total population of the state.
335 Claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to
services and posts: Claims of the members of Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consid-
eration, consistently with the maintenance of efficiency
of administration. In the making of appointments to
services and posts in connection with the affairs of the
union or of a state.
341 Scheduled Castes
1. The president (may with respect to any State or UT)
and where it is a state after consultation with the Gover-
nor thereof by public notification, specify the castes,

Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 25

 races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races
or tribes which shall for the purpose of the Constitution
be deemed to be SCs in relation to that state or UTs as
the case may be.
2. Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the
list of SCs specified in a notification issued under claus-
es (1) any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within
any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid a notifica-
tion issued under the said clause shall not be varied by
any subsequent notification.
Part XIX: Miscellaneous

366 (24) Definitions: In this constitution, unless the context

otherwise requires, the following expressions have the
meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is
to say “SCs” means such castes, races or tribes or parts
of or groups within such castes, races or tribes as are
deemed under article 341 to be SCs for the purposes of
this constitution.

Activities for Teacher

• Have you as a teacher ever experienced any form of
discrimination against SCs girl in and outside school, if yes
describe in 50 words as to how you dealt with such situa-
tion?
• Organise a seminar on various issues related to the
education of SCs girl and other socially disadvantaged chil-
dren of India.
• Organise a discussion on how equality of opportunity may
help in the empowerment of the socially disadvantaged
group.
• Discuss the legislative measures and laws related to the
children in your class.

11. Factors responsible to keep Scheduled

Caste Girls out of schools
Men still dominate women in every country in the world result-
ing in widespread discrimination against SC’s girls. The impact
of unequal power relations and discrimination is often felt most
severely when material poverty exists as their increases unlearn
ability. Inequality in society inevitably has an impact on the
provision and content of education as well as on the ability of
SC’s girls to enter and remain in school following are the few
26 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students
reasons of excel scheduled caste girls.
(i) Gender discrimination: Cultural and social beliefs
attitudes and practices prevent SC girls from benefit-
ing from educational opportunities to the same extent
as boys. There is a powerful economic and social ratio-
nal for investing in the education of sons rather than
daughters as daughters are perceived to less valuable
once educated and less likely to abide by the will of the
father, brother or husband.
(ii) Early marriage and pregnancy: The low value attached
to girl education reinforces early marriage and early
pregnancy keeping girls and their children trapped in
a vicious cycle of discrimination. Too often marriage is
seen as a higher priority than education and the girls
who are married (even where they have been forced into
early marriages against their will) as well as the girls
who are pregnant are excluded from schools.
(iii) Violence Against SC girls in schools: Another key issue
around rights to and in education concerns the per-
sisting violence against girls. The violence is not only a
direct infringement of human rights as dedicated in the
Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimi-
nation Against Women (CEDAW) but it also plays a role
in denying girls the right to access education by being
one of the major causes of drop-out among girls.
(iv) Schools fail to protect the basic rights and dignity
of SC girls: Violence includes rape, sexual harass-
ment, physical and psychological intimidation, teas-
ing and threats. It may occurs on the way to school
or within the school itself and is perpetuated by
teachers, parents, person of perceived authority and
fellow students.
(v) Child-Domestic labour: Girls are usually needed
at home or need to earn money. These are major
reasons why SC girls dropout of schools. Girls being
employed as child labour bearing the main burden of
housework and taking on the role of caring for younger
sibling are impacting girls performance and attendance
in schools and resulting in physical and mental fatigue
absenteeism and poor performance. While educating a
boy is generally seen as a sound investment, sending a
girl to schools is frequently seen either as bringing no

Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 27

 gain at all or worse as an actual waste of resources.
(vi) Lack of encouragement: The limited number of female
teachers in both primary and secondary schools is a
major constraint on girls education. The presence of
female teachers especially SCs female teachers both
makes girl-friendly and provides role models for girls.
Discrimination and stereotypes in school with scheduled
caste girls. The following are examples of the discrimination and
stereotypes which prevent girls access to quality:
(i) Both male and female teachers have low expectations
of scheduled caste girls’ intellectual skills since it is
thought that girls are inherently less intelligent than
boys.
(ii) Teachers ignore SC girls and give less feedback.
(iii) Teachers frequently report that they enjoy teaching
boys more than SC girls.
(iv) SC girls have low self-esteem and fewer expectations of
themselves in and out of school. They think that their
future consists primarily of being wives and mothers.
(v) Women teachers and girls low expectation are reinforced
by textbooks, curriculum and assessment material with
no female role-models.
(vi) Boys usually have sufficient encouragement and space
to express themselves, girls are not provided with
similar arrangements to express themselves.
(vii) Prizes won by SC girls and their achievements are not
as widely reported or publicised as SC general boys.
(viii) There is a clear tendency to use sexist language, per-
petuating discrimination and ability to challenge the
persistent violence suffered by SC girls in schools.
(ix) SC girls suffer sexual assault and harassment by male
teachers and classmates.
(x) Both men and women teachers have low expectations of
girls’ intellectual skills, since it is thought that girls are
inherently less intelligent than boys.
(xi) Teachers ignore girls and give less feedback. It is claimed
that girls have eight times less contact with teachers
than boys.
(xii) Teachers frequently report that they enjoy teaching
boys more than girls.
(xiii) Girls have low self-esteem and fewer expectations of
themselves in and out of school; they think that their
future consists primarily of being wives and mothers.
28 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students
 (xiv) Women teachers’ and girls’ low expectations are
reinforced by textbooks, curricula and assessment ma-
terial, with no female role-models.
(xv) Boys usually have sufficient encouragement and space
to express themselves; girls are not provided with simi-
lar arrangements to express themselves.
(xvi) Prizes won by girls and girls’ achievements are not as
widely reported or publicised as boys’.
(xvii) There is a clear tendency to use sexist language,
perpetuating discrimination and ability to challenge the
persistent violence suffered by girls in schools.
(xviii) Girls suffer sexual assault and harassment by male
teachers and classmates.

Activities for Teacher

• List out the problems confronted by SCs girls and remedies
thereof.
• What role are you expected to play to ensure a congenial,
non-discriminatory environment in and outside classroom
learning?

12. Consequences of Sex role stereotypes

in Society
At the societal level, sex role stereotypes can have negative or pos-
itive effects when used as standards by which to evaluate others
e.g., stereotype attributed to women have generally led to preju-
dice and discrimination against women. This is particularly the
case in the world of employment. Women may consider to be less
reliable as workers because of their child-rearing functions.
Men, on the other hand, may be regarded as more reliable em-
ployees because they are deemed not to be affected by such
functions.
Transmittal of Sex-Role Stereotypes: The main way in which
sex role stereotypes are transmitted from one generation to an-
other is through the socialisation process. According to Susan
Basow, the socialisation process has what are known as :
▪▪ Socialisation Agents: Parents, Teachers, Peers
▪▪ Socialisation Process: School, The Media, Language, Play,
Art and Music, Religion etc.
Among the socialising agents and forces, the most relevant
for our purposes are parents, teachers and the school.

Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 29

 Parents begin to transmit sex-role stereotypes as soon as
child is born. Girls and boys are treated differently e.g.
they are dressed differently, given different toys (boys are
given toy car, airplanes etc while girls are given doll, toy
pots, plates and cups),. The toy given to the girls indicate
their role as home makers rather than workers.
Teachers reinforce the sex role stereotype to learnt at
home. Teachers too have a tendency to treat boys and
girls differently through role assignments, rewards
and punishment for academic work. Teachers may
tend to reprimand boys more severely than girls for
doing badly in such subjects as mathematics and science,
because they are expected to do better than girls in these
subjects.
School transmits a lot of stereotypes about females and
males, e.g,. certain subjects are taught only to boys or
girls e.g., boys are taught technical drawing, wood and
metal work etc., while girls are taught domestic science
or home economics, secretarial skills etc. Schools also
offer different games to girls and boys e.g., girls play net-
ball while boys play soccer. Most games played by boys
tend to be more competitive than those for girls.

Activities for Teacher

• Discuss the sex-role stereotypes on the progress of female
and male pupils in schools.
• How are sex-role stereotypes transmitted by teacher and
school?

13. Ways and means to improve girls access

to education
●● Parental and community involvement: Families and
communities must be important partners with schools in
deve oping curriculum and managing children’s education.
Low-cost and flexible time-tables: Basic education should
be free or cost very little. Where possible, there should be
stipends and scholarships to compensate families for the
loss of girls’ household labour. Also, school hours should be
flexible so children can help at home and still attend
classes.
●● Schools close to home, with women teachers: Many
parents worry about girls travelling long distances on their

30 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students

 own. Many parents also prefer to have daughters taught
by women.
●● Preparation for school: Girls do best when they receive ear-
ly childhood care, which enhances their self-esteem and
prepares them for school.
●● Relevant curricula: Learning materials should be relevant
to the girl’s background and be in the local language. They
should also avoid reproducing gender stereotypes.
●● In-servicer Teacher Training: Teacher education is the most
neglected areas with regard to any special target group. So
far, in the whole country, the traditional teacher training
programme is going on whether it is at JBT or B.Ed level.
By and large these are related to general teacher prepara-
tion for the normal school system.
●● There has been special training of in-service nature for
teachers of Scheduled Caste: What is more important
is a kind of specialised training through DIETs for the
elementary teachers on how to deal with scheduled castes
children effectively. Motivate SCs children and enhance
their aspiration level use of remedial teaching for these
children. Change in curriculum materials and drawing
these from ecology within the nature framework, make
formative assessment and guide them at right time, make
school them at home, allow peer group acceptance through
deliberate manipulation and social reinforcement.
14. Role of Techers to avoide Gender Bias
in Teaching
Teacher being the pilot of the whole education system has the
most significant role to play increasing ambience of equality
among the SC girls by providing equal opportunity to each child
to participate in the classroom teaching-learning process and
other activities in the school.
(a) Divide your attention equally among the boys and girls in
class when providing assistance. Focusing the majority
of your attention on one gender group can lead the other
to feel inferior, causing deterioration in their self-esteem
and self-confidence. Alternate your attention from boy
student to girl student as you make your way across the
classroom to prevent unintentional distribution of time.
(b) Avoid separating the class by gender, or assigning
different activities to specific genders. Separating a class
Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 31
 by gender reinforces the concept of gender inequality by
suggesting boys and girls should be treated differently.
Focus on activities that encourage cooperation among
the sexes by having boys and girls work with one an-
other to complete assignments.
(c) Resist promoting gender stereotypes in the classroom by
rewarding girls for being neat, clean and orderly, while
rewarding boys for being outspoken, active and inde-
pendent. Tolerating certain behaviours from only one
group negatively influences how the two groups socialise
with one another. Encouraging a child’s good behaviour
regardless of the action will deter children from exhibit-
ing gender-specific attitudes.
(d) Discourage the permissive attitudes that allow sexual
harassment to go uncorrected. Teasing that results in
negative comparisons to girl, manifesting from how a boy
throws a ball or from crying, implies that being a girl is
worse than being a boy. Discipline this type of inappro-
priate behaviour in the same manner as all other types
of name calling.
(e) Avoid using inclusive language and assigning stereo-
typed jobs in the classroom. The use of the term, “You
guys” may be common place, but it unintentionally
favours one sex while dismissing the other. When
assigning classrooms tasks, avoid having boys carry
things while girls clean up in order to discourage the as-
signing of stereotyped gender roles.
(f) Avoid showing favouritism toward students whose beliefs
coincide with yours. Instead, encourage all students to
seek facts and expert opinions that support their views.
Rather than showing negative attention toward students
with opposite viewpoints, encourage them to stand up
for what they believe in as we
(g) Avoid favouritism not only based on beliefs and incli-
nations, but also on gender, religion and ethnic back-
grounds. If you’re a female teacher, for instance, you
might want to highlight strong-minded young women
in your classroom to encourage them. Keep in mind,
however, that favouring them—this is known as “gender
bias” -might result in young men in the class feeling in-
adequate.

32 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students

The following strategies can be used by teachers to avoid gender
bias in classroom teaching-learning process:
●● Avoid the strereotypes: This can be accomplished by
checking textbooks for gender bias, watching for unin-
tended bias in classroom activities and practices, and us-
ing gender free language. It is also important to recognise
and rectify any gender biases or stereotypes you have ab-
sorbed as a teacher.
●● Promoting integration: Students of both sexes should
work together in projects and classroom activities in
order to provide cross-sex collaboration. You could
also geta sense of how students feel about the cultural
climate of the classroom for promiting integrading.
●● Treating females and males equally: One should provide
equal opportunities for both sexes to participate in class
and take on leadership roles, establish strong role models,
and ensure that all students have the chance to do com-
plex technical work.
Miscellaneous Tips for Teachers
1. Discourage formation of group among students on the ba-
sis of caste, religion, race and sex in the classroom such
as for exchanging notes having lunch together or playing
together.
2. Encourage an environment of mutual respect among stu-
dents.
3. Strictly ensure indiscriminate behaviour for each child
while teaching each as paying equal attention to all chil-
dren.
4. Ensure that the children from the scheduled caste section
are not mocked when they ask a question.
5. Encourage children from the scheduled caste particularly
girls students, to participate in extra-curricular activities
in school like dance, drama sports etc.
6. Providing special coaching for studies as well as extracur-
ricular activities for the SC Girls so that they could also
become state/national level achieves.
7. Have understanding and take interest in the day-to-day
problems, academic as well as personal of these children
and to solve them to the best of their ability.
8. Apart to above, teachers can use the following teaching
strategy to make classroom more viable and interesting in
a inclusive approach.
Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students 33
 9. Equal opportunity should be given to all students for all
academic and curricular activities.

1. What role can teacher play in creating ambience of equality

in the society?
2. Organise a discussion on how equality of opportunity may
help in the empowerment of the socially disadvantaged i.e.,
SC Girls population in your school .
3. How curriculum can help in bridging the gap between the
privileged and under-privileged section of the society? Give
your own reason in this regard.
4. How would you teach your subject so as to enable the
students in a mixed class to have an unbiased attitude
towards the SC girl student?
5. What role do you perceive for yourself as a teacher for
educating the SC girls? Share your view in the staff
meeting.

34 Gender Issues with Focus on Scheduled Castes Girl Students

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