[Reader-list] seminar-dalits in education

[deepali]

The following is a copy of the seminar entitled “DALITS IN EDUCATION” presented by Deepali Gakhar, M.Sc. Previous Child Development, Lady Irwin College.


              DALITS IN EDUCATION

                                                  
                 INTRODUCTION

         The suffering and total marginalisation of a major portion of Indian society, dates back to the time immemorial. Though even the perpetrators of Dalits concede to the fact that they were the earlier inhabitants of this land, the heap of insult and untold story of their miseries on all fronts still goes on unabated. 
         Realizing the vulnerability of religious mythology in Indian society, the dominating and villainous Brahmin society, left no stones unturned in cashing on it. The works assigned to the untouchables were much humiliating and menial. They were not to come in the view of an upper caste and they were not supposed to trend on the path, where an upper caste was supposed to traverse. The untouchables were not permitted into temples and institutions of learning. Hence, millennia long suffering at the hands of the upper caste Indian society created deep-rooted inferiority complex in them from which they are yet to be recovered. As it is widely known, inferiority complex retards one’s mental growth, it gives one away from expressing his or her talents. 
         Advent of the British to a certain extent proved to be a blessing in disguise for the untouchables. The British made them understand that the education can play a major role in freeing them from the shackles of slavery. 
         Education is means through which one inculcates knowledge, values, skills and attitudes. It is a major tool for socio-economic improvement of an individual and it also reduces social inequalities, political assertion and income distribution. The education has been instrumental in defining and mapping out the aims and objectives of an individual. It has the potentiality for creating awareness of the difficulties and obstacles that may hinder the path of development. Such awareness in a better way helped the deprived groups to go in search for alternative solutions of their problems for improving their lot and climbing the ladder of social hierarchy.
         In independent India the main objective of education is to look after the needs and development of Dalit children who have remained isolated from the ambit of education for centuries. After the independence the changing governments at least took some means to raise the educational standard of the Dalits despite the result of the some has not been so satisfactory in the terms of its implementation and outcome. 
         It has been found that the growth of the educational standard among Dalits is not uniform and educational facilities among backward castes are being distributed unevenly. In almost all the states in India certain prominent castes among the Dalits are dominating the educational facilities meant for the whole Dalit society. Thus, since millennia back this stoic section of our society has been developing a deep-rooted inferiority complex which has also been preventing them in making use of their talents and caliber.

                    UNTOUCHABILITY- A PROCESS OF 
                               DEHUMANIZATION
         The oppression of Dalits has been going on for over 3,000 years. They are segregated in all spheres of social life: places of worship, education, housing, land ownership, use of common wells, roads, buses, etc. They are the people who have been ritually assigned all manner of menial and degrading jobs such as manual scavenging, under the caste system. They are considered to be untouchable. In their daily lives untouchability results in, among others, the following consequences .
·	In a lot of the upper caste (rich) families the servants are Dalits. After the servant has cleaned the rooms, pots and pans, one of the family members will sprinkle 'holy' water to purify all that has been touched by the servant.  
·	Dalits are not allowed to wear shoes; if they wear them, Dalits will have to take off their shoes at times they meet a higher caste person.  
·	In rural areas, Dalits are not allowed to cycle through the village streets in which the higher caste people live.  
·	The Dalits mainly live in separate communities, outside the actual village.  
·	In general, Dalits are not allowed to sit at bus stops; they have to stand and wait until higher caste people have entered the bus. Dalits are also not allowed to sit on the seats, even if they are vacant.  
·	After half a century of Independence, even the educated among the Dalits are not free to choose a house to rent, caste discrimination always cropping up to deny them equal rights to housing and other social services. 
·	Most Hindus will avoid having a Dalit to prepare their food, because they fear becoming polluted from a Dalit's touch.  
·	The Government has made reservations for Dalits, so that they can enter into jobs in the public sector, State Assemblies and universities. This reservation, however, makes them even more vulnerable in the society. And in many cases backlogs of vacancies are yet to be filled, making a mockery of the whole affirmative action system of reservations.  
·	'We may touch a cat, we may touch a dog, we may touch any other animal, but the touch of these human beings is pollution.' (G.K. Gokhale, in Jesus the Dalit by M.R. Arulraja, 1996. Volunteer Centre, 7-1-30/6, Ameerpet, Hyderabad - 16)  

                                         ORIGIN OF UNTOUCHABILITY 

                 The word Dalit irrespective of all its inadequacies is being used to mean the people of Untouchable origin and victims of discrimination and oppression. Untouchability is a notion of defilement, contempt and hatred towards a section of people called untouchables. It was, however, imposed on them by all cunning and coercion. It survived because it formed part of practices of Hinduism.
                Nobody is aware of the origin of untouchability. All theories are based on conjectures. Like all invaders, the Aryans annihilated the vanquished in the beginning but as they settled down they thought the survivors could be put to better use. The vanquished were degraded to the level of slaves and serfs and were forced to do unpleasant jobs. The invaders married women from the original inhabitants owing to shortage of women in their tribes. As they settled down the invaders became colour conscious and status conscious and to preserve their racial purity kept themselves aloof from the indigenous people.
                Then there emerged the priestly class and divided the society into four Varnas and themselves became not only the priests but also the law makers and ‘Bhudev’-gods on earth. Since they belonged to a minority, in order to keep the adversaries divided, introduced the element of graded inequality. Inequality is bad enough, but graded inequality is the worst kind of division. Gradually status began to be determined on the basis of birth. Society got divided horizontally and vertically into several hundred castes. For the sake of preserving the purity and lineage endogamy was encouraged. Exogamy was condemned and ridiculed but exogamy within the caste was rigidly enforced. Mixed marriages could disrupt the system. In consequences of these free social intercourse was disrupted. To maintain and perpetuate the caste system based on birth, restrictions were put on free associations. A Brahmin marrying a Kshatriya woman was assigned a lower place but was not made an untouchable. However a Sudra marrying a Brahmin had to be severely punished. He was made a Chandala, an untouchable, the most despised of the out-castes.
                When Buddhism was declined those who continued to follow this religion were also treated as untouchables. The caste Hindus, especially Brahmins hated only Buddhists because Buddhism stands for an egalitarian model of society, and the followers of Buddhism discarded the supremacy of the Brahmins. 
                Another reason for the origin of untouchability was the habit of beef eating by a certain section of the population. Brahmins made the cow a sacred animal. This made beef eating sacrilege. The section of population guilty of sacrilege necessarily became the out-castes.
                All Hindus in association with Muslims were also considered as outcastes and joined the rank of lower castes and untouchables. Wars, famines, epidemics, floods and other natural and man-made calamities added to the number of untouchables. Thus untouchability arose out of contempt and hatred towards those not living like civilians and violating the laws and customs of the Brahmins. They were outcaste and treated as untouchables and made to live outside the villages which were inhabited by ‘pure’ people. They were given different names, recognizing their disability and sometimes on the basis of their occupation or profession at different times by the rulers or priestly classes. Since all of them were treated as Untouchables and they had nothing in common with the Hindus or Muslims so far as the religious beliefs, customs and the dietic habits were concerned. Untouchables worshipped their own gods and goddesses, relished beef and pork besides the carrion and buried their dead. The Untouchables or Dalits, as we call them now, are found in all parts of India and are meted out the same kind of treatment by the Hindus.


	                 FROM UNTOUCHABLE TO DALIT

                In this section I would like to discuss the question of what to call Untouchables and how they refer to themselves. Of all the generic terms used to refer to ‘Untouchables’, none is entirely satisfying. In the Sanskrit literature, Untouchables are known as chandala, a term that designates those who were not allowed to dwell in a town or a village but had to live in special quarters outside the village or town limits. The term chandala was already somewhat obsolete by the sixteenth century, and today it has completely dropped out of everyday language and contemporary literature. In Tamil, the untouchables were referred to as theendajadhi (‘the castes which defile’). Another Tamil word has overtly militant echoes, since taazhttapattor means literally ‘those who are forced to be low’. It is commonly used by untouchables associations, but has not entered the everyday language.
                Madras presidency had comprised a large population of people treated as untouchables. Contemptuously they were called pariahs. A few of them became awakened by the exposure to new ideas, chose to call themselves adi-dravidas (‘first settlers of the Dravidian country’), adi-andhras , adi-hindus, adi-malayali, adi-oriya, adi-kannadga etc. The prefix ‘Adi’ denoted that they were the descendents of indigenous people who were vanquished by the Aryans nomads. The ‘Untouchables’ were also called avarna, pariah, and out-caste, because they had been kept out of chaturvarna scheme of social stratification and are below the line of pollution and considered inferior to the “twice born”. They were also given the name panchamas by the Brahmins because they supposedly came after the chaturvarna. Even Gandhiji used this term for a long time in his newspaper “Young India”. Enlightened, self-respecting people among the untouchables protested and government issued orders dated March 1922 forbidding the use of the term panchama and pariah.
.               Gandhiji in 1933 coined the word ‘Harijan’ to denote Untouchables. It means ‘people’ or, by extension, ‘children’ (jan) of God (Hari). Many of the “untouchable” leaders wondered as to why they had been singled out as ‘children of God’? Were not others also the children of God? If not, whose children are they after all? They saw through in this division another attempt of subtle segregation from the rest of the Hindus. And the term ‘Harijan’ could not win unanimous acceptation.
                The title or name ‘Dalit’ is being used these days instead of the word ‘untouchable’ or ‘Scheduled Castes’ as the official title, since it is not objectionable to the people belonging to ‘untouchable castes’. This is a word in the Marathi language of western India, and is apparently derived from Sanskrit. In the Molesworth ‘s Marati-English Dictionary published in 1831, the word ‘Dalit’ is defined as ‘ground’ or ‘broken or reduced to pieces generally’. It was seemingly first used in the context of caste oppression by the great nineteenth-century reformer Phule, but its modern history dates from the early 1970s among activists from the Untouchable Mahar caste. During the Census of 1810 Dalits were counted under the head “Vagrant, Menial and Artisan castes”. For hundred years in India word ‘Dalit’ has been in use, during the four decades, it has popularized more by the ‘Dalit Panthers’ and the Dalit writers of Maharashtra than any other group or individual. 
                Another category of names is a cluster of terms devised mainly in British bureaucratic contexts-above all the census-from late in the nineteenth century to the 1930’s. These terms included ‘Outcastes’, ‘Depressed Classes’ and ‘Exterior Castes’. Depressed classes comprised a large number of castes, both touchable and untouchable. Many among these castes made representations to the Viceroy, that they belonged  to higher caste of Hindus and should not be clubbed with the lowly chuhras, chamars, dusadhs, passi, doms, pariahs, mahars etc. A few of the caste leaders even served notices with intention to file suits under section 499, 500 of the Indian Penal Code. In effect Depressed Classes came to mean only the ‘Hindu Untouchables’.
                The endpoint of this line of verbal or conceptual development is the term ‘Scheduled Castes’. The so-called Schedule is a list of castes entitled to parliamentary seats, public employment and special education benefits. This Schedule was originally promulgated by the British Government in 1936, but the term ‘Scheduled Castes’ only became widely used after Independence. 
                According to the manifesto of Dalit Panthers, members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, Neo-Buddhists, the working people, the landless and poor peasants, women and all those who are being exploited politically, economically and in the name of religion are Dalits. Although the words “poor”, “oppressed” and “exploited” undoubtedly have a broad class connotation, the term ‘Dalit’ is considered applicable more or less exclusively to the ex-untouchables, viz.’ the Scheduled Castes. Indeed it is a term that the untouchables use themselves as against the terms such as Harijans (children of God), avarna (coloured), antyaja (low-born), humshudra (Scheduled Castes), etc. which were given by “others”.
                In the opinion of Dr. Gangadhar Pantawane, Dalit is not a caste, but is a symbol of change and revolution. The Dalit believes in humanism. He denied the existence of God, rebirth, a sacred book that teaches discrimination, fate and heaven, because these have made him a slave. He represents the exploited men in his country. A very determined Hindu social system was developed to destroy him as a human being. Human dignity was insulted and he fell prey to unavoidable circumstances. His lifeless body had to undergo excruciating pain but the burden of alienation as been the source of rebirth for thousands of people. Dalitness is essentially a means towards achieving a sense of cultural identity. The inferiority complex based on “to be a Dalit” has now started waning. Now Dalitness id a source of confrontation. This change has its essence in the desire for justice for all mankind. In this sense, Dalitness is a matter of appreciating the potential of one’s total being. Thus individual, culture, social burden and Dalitness cannot be isolated.


                                      ROLE OF EDUCATION

                Education is a means through which one inculcates knowledge, values, skills and attitudes. It is a major tool for socio-economic improvement of an individual and it also helps to bridge wide disparity in social status, political assertion and income distribution. The education has been instrumental in defining and mapping out the aims and objectives of an individual. It has the potentiality for creating awareness of the difficulties and obstacles that may hinder the path of development. Such awareness in a better way helps the deprived groups to go in search for alternative solutions of their problems for improving their lot and climbing the ladder of social hierarchy.
                The Dalits, most of which had been subjected to various social disabilities of extreme nature were exploited and kept subservient mainly because they were illiterates. Their mass illiteracy was, in turn, due to religious and social sanctions imposed on them by caste Hindus.
                 Education can serve the following major functions for the Scheduled Castes:
1.	Occupational Mobility- It is beyond doubt that education has the effect of keeping people away from their traditional occupations. Thus it is expected to serve the purposes, equipping the Dalits to overcome their caste-defined confinement to low status occupations through the promotion of occupational mobility among them and improving their standard of living.
2.	Agent of social change- Education is a dynamic agent of social change. The term social change implies changes in attitude, behaviour, customs, habits, manners, relations and values of people. It also implies change in styles or ways of living. It may also imply changes in the structure of social institutions. The function of education in relation to social change is two fold:
i.	Adjustment to the changing situation.
ii.	Creation of a new order through change in knowledge, new idea and /or in other words, education for social progress. 
                        Education is both conservative and progressive. Education transmits the culture of one generation to another. The rising generation has to be conveyed the activities and experiences of the past generation. It has also to be asked to make necessary changes in these activities and experiences to meet the new situations which it will meet. An integration of the old must take place with the new ones. It must be remembered that the communities live in the present, on the past and for the future. This means that activities and experiences in the present have to be built on the past and the present will guide the activities of the future. Thus education is continuous, reorganization and integration of activities and experiences. Education is a constructive agency for improving our society.
3.   Agent of social mobility- The significance of formal education in    social mobility had been pointed out by M.S.A. Rao. “education helps in promoting values and achieving new goals. It is widely recognized that formal education plays a vital role in social mobility, both horizontal and vertical. If formal education is seen as a socializing agency preparing individual for a style of life associated with a stratum, it is at the same time an agency helping individuals to overcome prejudices, and promoting values and behaviour of a more universalistic nature”.             
               

                          EDUCATIONAL PROFILE OF DALITS

         An official estimate made in 1993 shows that 80 percent of the Dalits are living below the poverty line. Of the total bonded labourers Dalits account for 66 percent, whereas nearly 55.27 percent Dalits are agricultural labourers and 23.62 percent cultivators. Besides 3.42 percent were occupied in household industry. Whereas around 17.59 percent of Dalits are engaged under the category “Other Workers”; which includes employment in governmental organizations, factory sector, mining, construction, service sector, and transport, trade and commerce etc. Approximately about 20% of the Dalits are ‘liberated’ from age old imposed occupations and it is this proportion of the Dalit community which has been capable of cashing in on any form of educational opportunity. 
         According to 1991 Census, the population of India had reached to 84.63 crores. 
The Census data also reveals that in 1991 the member of Scheduled Caste groups notified was 1091. The majority of the population belonging to the Scheduled Castes is still illiterate even today. Dalit Shiksha Andolan (DSA), a voluntary educational action group working for the welfare of SCs prepared a report namely ‘Dalit Data Bank’. It reveals that inspite of Welfare Schemes, provisions of reservations in jobs and educational institutions, the country has not been able to achieve the constitutional directives of universal primary education. 
         The report published in March 1998 by the Ministry of Welfare, Government of India, indicates the recent literacy figures of general communities as well as the Scheduled Caste. For the general castes the literacy rate among the males is 64.13% whereas it is only 49.91% in case of Scheduled Caste males. While the literacy rate of women belonging to general communities was 39.29% and that of SC female was 23.76%. If we total up the literacy rates of male and female, the literacy rate reaches 52.21% among the general castes whereas it is 37.41% among the SCs.    
         Only 1.9% population belonging to SCs was literate in 1931 which increased to 10.27% in 1961. In other words, the literacy rate among the SCs increased by 8.37% in the first 30 years. In 60 years only 37.41% SC population were literate in 1991. The literacy rate among them increased by 27.24% in next 30 years in independent India. It is very disappointing to see that the measures adopted to develop education among Scheduled Castes failed at every level. The literacy rate among them did not increase even at the rate of 1% in a year. In other words, the literacy rate among SCs, came down in independent India as it was in pre-independent India.
         According to 1991 Census, India became more illiterate than it was in 1961. India had produced 54 million illiterates between 1961 to 1971; 34 million between 1971 to 1981 and 58 million between 1981 and 1991. In three decades 148 million additional illiterates are added to our total population. Whereas the literacy rate increased by 21.11% in 30 years which is very low in proportion to the growth of population. 
         Besides, 38.9 million illiterate Scheduled Castes have been added in the actual illiterate population in the three decades. However, the growth in literacy rate in the same period was only 24.61%. The rapid growth of population has pushed up the country further with illiteracy. The literacy rates have been gong up from 31% in 1961 to 52.21% in 1991.  
         

EDUCATION OF DALITS IN INDIA: A HISTORICAL
                                                      OVERVIEW

             Here I make an attempt to look into the position of Dalits and their access to education in colonial India and their educational development in the post independence period in the context of more than 55years of independence.
 
DALITS IN PRE-BRITISH INDIAN SOCIETY: Education since times immemorial till the end of the nineteenth century was limited only to a few privileged classes. Brahmins had monopolized the entire educational sector in India. They were considered supreme and education became their property. The Sudras and untouchables were denied even the basic education. 
         Instructions in formal education, were more or less limited only to the dwijas (“twice-born”) castes. The Brahmin, who engaged with the classical religious texts interpreted and communicated them to the illiterate masses in their local dialects. The Kshatriyas had to learn to rule and get acquainted with the weapons, state crafts and organizational matters and some schooling for this purpose was necessary. The Vaishyas required the knowledge of arithmetic for transacting business, keeping records and maintaining accounts. While some sort of skills necessary for carrying on the crafts at the domestic level could well be acquired within home, i.e., the artisan groups or the Shudras. So the “untouchables” were the only section of the society left out with no accessibility to education of any kind. Denial of education to the Dalits perpetuated their social humiliation, economic exploitation, political marginalisation and cultural subordination.
 
EDUCATION IN COLONIAL INDIA: The British were silent for a long time on the question of promoting education among the native population.
         In 1813, it was laid down by the Parliament that “Out of the surplus revenues of India, sum of not less than one lakh of rupees each year shall be set apart and applied to the revival and improvement of literature and the encouragement of learned natives of India and for the introduction and promotion of knowledge of Sciences among the inhabitants of British territories in India”. In 1814, the court of directors suggested that the promotion of Sanskrit learning among the Hindus would fulfill the purpose which Parliament had in mind.
         But the depressed classes were crestfallen as British government ruled that education was to be a preserve for the higher classes. No schools were opened for depressed classes before 1855 in the Bombay presidency because of the deliberate policy of the British was to restrict the benefits of the higher education chiefly to the Brahmins and other Upper classes. The depressed classes were not allowed by the government to have their slice in education.
         Form 1854 onwards measures were taken to impart the education to masses of the country irrespective of caste and creed. But it was seen that although the policy of the government was mass education, the masses were out of the education as they were before 1854 and that the lowest classes of Hindus still remained lowest in domain of education. In 1881-82 there was no student from the low caste communities either in high schools or in any of the colleges of the presidency.
         The dismal performance of Dalits in education was due to the reason that there were some people who were agitating for the reversal of the policy of mass education. The fears of dire consequences to the British rule eminating from elevation of the backward classes from their low status still haunted people like Lord Ellen-borough, President of the Board of Control who wrote to the court of Directors on 28th april, 1858 that “education and may descend from the higher to the inferior classes, and so communicated may impart new vigour to the community, but they will never ascend from the lower classes to those above them; they can only, if imparted solely to the lower classes, lead too general convulsion, of which foreigners would be the first victims”. “if we desire to diffuse education let us give it to the higher classes first by founding the colleges to which the higher classes alone should be admitted and by giving the organization of the army, commissions at once to such sons of native gentlemen as may be competent to receive them”. 
         However this antipathy of European officers towards untouchables  was corrected by the Secretary of India in 1859 by reiterating the responsibility of government for mass education and the schools were opened for depressed classes. But the caste Hindus declined to sit with them in school. To find a way-out, government built up separate schools for depressed classes and sanctioned grants to the missionary bodies to undertake the education for them by relaxing rules of grants in aid.
         The year 1923, forms the next landmark after the year 1882 in the educational history of Bombay Presidency as that year marks the transfer of primary education from the control of provisional governments to the control of local bodies. The state of education of the backward classes was deplorable in this presidency. This can be attributed to the policy of biased treatment. It was due to the negligence on part of the government regarding education of the backward classes. 

DALITS AND EDUCATION IN POST-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD: Since independence, particularly from the First Five Year Plan onwards, various special developmental measures were initiated in addition to general development programmes for the social and economic development of Dalits. Special attention was paid for the educational development of Dalits by allocating 50 percent of the total welfare funds meant for socio-economic development of Dalits, for their education. 
         The literacy rate is an important indicators of educational development. During 1961-1991, the literacy rate rose from 10.27 percent to 37.41 percent among the Scheduled Castes, while it increased from 37.41 to 57.40 percent in case of the rest of the population. Scheduled Caste children discontinue their studies prematurely before reaching the level for which they have enrolled. The drop-out rate in 1986-87 for classes I-V was 50.79 percent in the case of Scheduled Castes. In classes I-VIII the drop-out rates were as high as 69.15 percent and 80.19 percent respectively. 70 percent of the students in the age range of 6-14 years among the Scheduled Caste were studying in Government schools in rural India. Only 5 percent of the Scheduled Caste students are studying in private schools. 
         In case of higher education also the share of Dalits is marginally improved but discrepancy between Scheduled Caste and general population has been widening over a period of time irrespective of the fact that there was substantial improvement in growth and expansion of higher education in the post-independence period in terms of universities, colleges, total number of teachers and enrolment of students. The total number of Scheduled Caste students increased from 1,05,518 in 1978-79 to 1,63,212 in 1988-89. 
         Their proportion in professional courses decreased steadily from 32.63 percent in 1964-65 to 28.5 percent in 1970-71, 25.38 percent in 1975-76 and 17.08 percent in 1977-78. it also reveals that the proportion of Scheduled Caste students in professional courses is almost half in contrast to their corresponding proportion in undergraduate level courses. A fewer Scheduled Caste students make the transmission from the lower level courses to the professional subjects, which has a direct bearing in occupations, compared to non-Scheduled Caste students.

Thus it is clear from the above analysis that there has been some improvement of Scheduled Castes with respect to education in the post-independence period, but there is a wide gulf in the educational levels of Dalits and others. Their low level of educational development is mostly because of poverty and also due to the social stigma attached to being an “untouchable”.


GROWTH OF EDUCATION: CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Untouchability was a cunningly created cage for confining the so-called untouchables to their low status. They had no right to admission in the schools, learn Sanskrit and acquire knowledge. The British government in India made no efforts till the end of the nineteenth century to make a provision for the education of the “untouchables”. Dalit consciousness originated from the acute discontent of the Dalits. This widespread feeling was manifested through several organizations and struggles for the emancipation of Dalits. Many social revolutionaries in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, directed their efforts primarily towards regaining the right to education for the total emancipation of Dalits. 

EVENTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: 
1.	The Woods Despatch of 1854, threw open education to all classes and the Despatch of 1857, discouraged the idea of separate schools for the lower castes.
2.	The opposition of the high castes to the admission of students from the depressed classes in public schools was very strong in the Madras presidency. The government considered its earlier decision and the Education Commission Report of 1883 recommended the establishment of separate schools wherever necessary. 
3.	Mahatma Phule, the great social revolutionary, opened the first school for the students of untouchable communities in Pune in the year 1852. In 1856 the number of such schools rose to three and the number of students became 300. in 1858, he opened a hostel for the poor untouchable students in Pune, wherein, 25-30 students were accommodated every year.
4.	In 1858, the Bombay Government declared that all the schools receiving government grants should be open to all the students irrespective of their caste or creed.
5.	In 1865, Shri Shashipad Bandhopadhyaya (Bengal), opened a school for the poor labourers and the untouchables at Barangar near Calcutta.
6.	On 19th October 1882, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule submitted a memorandum to the Education Commission, Bombay headed by Mr. Hunter in which he requested the government to make primary education compulsory for the children of the untouchables. Further, he advocated separate schools for them as they were not allowed to sit along with the caste Hindus owing to caste prejudices.
7.	Since 1883, separate schools were being opened for the students of the untouchables in the Baroda state.
8.	In 1886, John Rathinam, an untouchable leader, started a Model School in Thousand Lights area of Madras for the untouchable students and in 1899, started one hostel for them.
9.	Pandit C. Tyodhi Dass started several schools in Madras city in 1889, with the help of Colonel Olcott, Mary Balbare and Annie Besant.
10.	In 1890, separate schools for the untouchables were opened in the Mysore Princely State at Mysore, Bangalore and Anekal.
11.	In 1891, separate primary schools were established for the Pariahs.
12.	Colonel Olcott opened his first school for the untouchable students in Madras in 1894; second school in 1899. In 1901, 384 boys and 150 girls were taking education.
13.	In 1895, Shri Januji K. Khandare opened a free hostel for the students of the Depressed Classes at Akola in Maharashtra.
14.	Raosaheb K. Rangarao, the Secretary of Brahmo Samaj, Mangalore started his first school for the untouchable students in Mangalore.

EVENTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY:
1.	In 1904, Shri Ayyan Kali started a school at Katakala in Kerala, for the students of the untouchables.
2.	The Maharaja of Kolhapur promulgated an ordinance on 28th November 1906, to run night schools in Kolhapur for the untouchables students.
3.	In 1906, Shri M.L. Audiah started a school at Secunderabad for the students of the Depressed Classes. It was named after Sir William Barton, the then Resident of Hyderabad.
4.	Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur opened a school in Kolhapur for the girls belonging to Chambar and Dhor untouchables on 4th October 1907.
5.	At the instance of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur, a school for Mahar students was opened at Udagaon on 1st May 1909.
6.	Ram Mohan Roy school for Dalits at Rajahmundry was started by Chilakamarti Laxminarasimhan in 1909, with English as well Telegu as the medium of instruction. He also offered free tuitions for the Dalit children.
7.	In 1910, Shri Kalicharan Nandagavali built a school building at his own expense at Gondia in Bhandara district (Maharashtra) for the girl students of the untouchable community.
8.	The Depressed Classes Mission of India founded by Maharishi V.R. Shinde undertook the task of starting schools for the untouchables from the year 1911.
9.	Pandit Palaniswami started Dravid School in 1917 in Madras for the untouchable students.
10.	Apart from the separate schools for Dalits, Board of Revenue recommended the appointment of a special agency for the promotion of the interests of those classes. The new special agency was termed as the Labour Department (1920)  to work for the upliftment of the Depressed Classes. Promotion of elementary education was its primary concern and it started separate primary schools for the Depressed Classes called “Labour Schools”. The number of these schools increased with the general expansion of the activities of the department.
11.	Mrs. Jaibai Choudhari, a staunch lady social worker at Nagpur, established a school named Chokhamela School, at Nayabasti, Nagpur in 1922. It was to impart education exclusively to girl students belonging to the untouchables.
12.	The Arya Samaj opened  a school for the benefit of Bhangi children in 1923 in Jodhpur.
13.	Andhra Deena Sangham was founded at Machilipatnam in 1907 to attend to the social, economic and spiritual aspects of the ameliorative work. By 1924 they could open 12 night schools, day schools and one part-time school for the girls in and around Machilipatnam. Handicrafts such as tailoring, drawing, tape-weaving were taught in these schools to help “untouchables” to lead a normal life.
14.	Kandukuri Vireslingam started a school and admitted ‘untouchable’ children and gave them free education with the help of his highness, the Maharaja of Pithampura. The Maharaja of Pithampura provided admission for Dalits in their high school at Kakinada and established two separate hostels for Dalit boys and girls, and the other hostel called ‘Ram Mohan Roy Hostel’ at Kakinada for Dalits who were pursuing college education. 
15.	M.R. Jaikar moved a resolution in the Legislative Assembly on 23rd February 1928 recommending to the government “to provide special facilities for the education of the untouchables and other depressed classes and also for opening all public services to them specially the police”. The resolution was adopted with minor amendment.
16.	On 14th June 1928, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar started the Depressed Classes Education Society to spread education among the untouchables.
17.	 Under the Poona Pact, 1932, it was agreed to earmark an adequate sum for providing educational facilities to the members of the Scheduled Castes in every province.
18.	The Harijan Sevak Sangh started giving scholarships to the students of the Depressed Classes since 1936-37. It gave scholarships to 94 students in that year. 
19.	By 1939, there was an institute called The Jatav Men’s Educational Institute at Agra, which was running five schools for boys and one for girls in Agra district.
20.	In June 1941, the Harijan Sevak Sangh started Harijan Kanya Vidyalaya at Sabarmati.
21.	A special provision was made for the first time in the central budget in 1944 for the grant for scholarships for the Scheduled Castes. This facility was extended to the Scheduled Tribes in 1948.
22.	Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar founded the People’s Education Society (PES) on 8th July 1945 at Bombay. The said Society started its first college named Siddharth College at Bombay on 20th June 1946. It started Milind Maha Vidayalaya at Aurangabad on 19th June 1950.
23.	 The Constitution which came into implementation on 26th January 1950 states under its Article 29 (2) that “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 15 (4) states, “Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the state from making any special provision for advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes”.
         Article 46 of the Constitution states: “The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the society, and in particular of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation”.
         Ever since the Plan era separate sector called ‘Backward Classes Sector’ has been included in the Five Year Plans to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Classes.
24.	National Policy on Education of 1968 : The policy marked a significant step in the history of education in post-independent India. It aimed to promote national progress, a sense of common citizenship and culture and to strengthen national integration. It laid stress on the need for a  radical reconstruction of the education system to improve its quality at all stages, and gave much greater attention to science and technology, the cultivation of moral values and a closer relation between education and the life of the people.
                 The policy lays special emphasis on the removal of disparities and to equalize educational opportunity by attending to the specific needs of those who have been denied equality so far-women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other educationally backward sections and areas.
                The central focus in the SCs educational development is their equalization with the non-SC population at all stages and levels of education, in all areas and in all the four dimensions- rural male, rural female, urben male and urban female. The measures contemplated for this purpose include: 
a)	Incentives to indigent families to send their children to school regularly till they reach the age of 14.
b)	Pre-matric scholarship scheme for children of families engaged in occupations such as scavenging, flaying and tanning to be made applicable from class I onwards. All children of such families, regardless of incomes, will be covered by this scheme and time-bound programmes targeted on them will be undertaken.
c)	Constant micro-planning and verification to ensure that the enrolment, retention and successful completion of courses by SC students do not fall at any stage, and provision of remedial courses to improve their prospects for further education and employment.
d)	Recruitment of teachers from Scheduled Castes.
e)	Provision of facilities for SC students in students’ hostel at district headquarters, according to a phased programme.
f)	Location of school buildings, Balwadis and Adult Education Centers in such a way so as to facilitate full participation of the SCs.
g)	The utilization of Jawahar Rozgar Yojna resources so as to make substantial educational facilities available to the Scheduled Caste students.
h)	Constant innovation in finding new methods to increase participation of the SCs in the educational process.
      
Role of missionaries: The missionaries took the initiative for imparting education and to prepare the “untouchables” for higher walks of life. The Christian missionaries believed that caste was the strongest obstacle to the spread of education to the untouchables. Hence they adopted a new strategy to change the way of life by establishing schools, bringing social reform etc. which helped the deprived communities. By the end of the nineteenth century nearly twenty mission societies were established and started their emancipation work in Telegu speaking areas of erstwhile Madras presidency. The missionary contribution had helped by providing literacy to illiterates, thus uplifting the Dalits and instituting western ideals and principles and cultivating a feeling of nationalism among Indians.  


                                       THE ISSUE OF RESERVATION

         There have, no doubt, been various attempts to rid the Indian society of the blemish of untouchability and its concomitants. Religious and social reform movements have, off and on, highlighted the problem of untouchability and of the socio-economic conditions of the untouchables. However, all these movements have utterly failed in making even a minor dent in the obstreperous system. Coinciding with human rights movement elsewhere in the world, there was again a stir in the people’s conscience. Since the magnitude of the problem was such, that nothing tangible was achieved even up to the end of the British rule in India. 
         Convinced of the limitations of social movements of any kind in tackling this problem, the conclusion seemed inescapable that without the intervention of the state and without a recourse to legislation, nothing tangible can be achieved in so far as the question of the untouchables is concerned. As such, constitutional measures were adopted to protect their interests in order to grant them equality with others. Because of centuries of persecution of the untouchables under Brahmin tyranny, when India attained independence, the father of Indian Constitution, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in 1950, made a provision for reservation in all Governmental positions and educational institutes to ensure that Untouchables and tribes (also known as Scheduled Castes /Scheduled Tribes) were adequately represented. As per the constitutional right of reservation, Dalits are entitled to obtain 22.5% of the vacancies in State postings & admissions to courses of study.
          THE PURPOSE OF RESERVATION: The rationale of reservation is to provide protection to those weaker sections of the community who have remained isolated from the ambit of education for centuries, and cannot compete in the world of higher education, because of weak educational grounding and low performance. Reservation aims at improving the economic status of the oppressed classes slowly and gradually. In India reservation given to Dalits has brought observable changes in their lives. Reservations appear to have done some good - there are many more dalits, tribals and people from other backward castes in the government, in bureaucratic positions, in governing bodies from the panchayat to the parliament. Such a presence would not have been possible without reservations. Because of the reservation system dalits are going into higher education, and this will result in their children being well-educated. Because of the reservation system dalits are placed in leadership positions, and are able to develop their leadership skills and help their communities.

CRITICISMS AGAINST: The policy of reservation had been criticized on the ground that, the quota system is viewed as an encroachment on the rights of the ‘meritorious’ students drawn from other castes and communities. This generates a social atmosphere not favourable to the Scheduled Caste students in these institutions and they often get discouraged when admitted therein.
         Secondly, it can be disapproved as amounting to casteism. It is necessary to distinguish between recognition of the existence of the caste system and an approval of that system. That the caste system exists in Hindu society is an undeniable fact and nothing is gained by simply not recognizing it. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar argued that reservation is a movement for the establishment of social, economic and educational equality in the society, which is probably the most effective method of putting an end to the evils of the caste system.
      
 THE GROUND REALITY: The policy of reservation since the enactment of the Mandal Commission recommendations has been used more as a political stunt by the various political parties in India. Every time one or the other party demands the inclusion of a  new caste into the pale of Scheduled Castes, and Other Backward Classes. The chief motive behind this move is to get the votes of a particular caste. It is more a political bargain which should not be so-for the good of a healthy democracy.
         Many discrepancies have crept in this policy of reservation. Since there are no economic criteria defined to give reservation to a family, many well-to-do families also get the benefits which they should not be entitled to get. Thus, while the reservation aims to level the gap between poor and rich, it seems to create economic imbalance among the castes.
         The political significance of the reservation policy is also a point of concern. Dalits form a big pool in the population of our country, they are looked at by the politicians as the coveted voted bank. To accrue the benefits from this vote bank in the election, many political leaders tend to and, do, fall in dishonest commitments to the leaders of these communities. The real purpose of the policy is, now far from being the ‘prime’ concern. Thus the reservation has now become an imperfect policy with perfect politics.
        The present day reservation policy, however, cannot provide upward caste mobility to a jati. though it may provide economic prosperity to some individuals. The beneficiaries have now a greater interest in sticking to their "down-trodden" jati label to ensure further benefits. No advantage now in a tiller (bhumihaar) revealing himself as a kshatriya as did Shivaji at his coronation. Now, instead of claiming closeness to Manu, or the line Sun or Moon (surya or chandra vamsha), it is better to be their victim. (Reflected in an extreme case of a woman in Kerala claiming that her son was not born of her Brahmin husband but from a SC rapist). The "uplifted" person thus lives in a schizophrenic state, part of him wishes to move up into the higher Varna and yet another part preserves his caste certificate. Above all, not only the forward castes, but even the majority of OBC's and STSC's feel cheated as the benefits of reservation are gobbled by the creamy layer of each category. Yadavs make hay, while Telis sulk 

HOW IS THAT THE DALITS HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FILL UP THEIR QUOTA IN ALL DISCIPLINES IN SPITE OF RESERVATION? In J.N.U. only about 15% of the seats reserved have been filled in so far. In the year 2001, instead of 22.5% reservation eligible to Dalits only 6.3% is being filled up, in the B.Tech course in IIT Madras. Their less representation is caused by in-built social and structural constraints. These operate both at the levels of their family background including social and economic positions, their previous educational training, and above all a highly stimulating but challenging academic atmosphere which is prevalent in the university which also demands hard labour to cope with. Thus, keeping on the view of the course/School-wise strength of students particular year of admission, the representation of the Scheduled Caste students is not fully in accordance with the quota reserved for them. 
         The educational institutions  for higher education have been set up by middle castes or dominant caste groups. These colleges do display caste prejudices and discrimination in the supposedly secular and modern environment of learning. Students from dominant caste groups, having internalized caste beliefs prefer, avoid, ignore, pass sarcastic comments and exclude Dalit students form curricular and co-curricular activities. 
         In the name of ragging, untouchable students are tortured in Delhi University hostels. In a case, reported in the Reports of the commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Dalit medical students were forced to pass urine on a burning electric-heater and swallow lumps of chilly powder. 
         The major problem of the Dalits has always been poverty. It is becomes quite difficult for the students and their parents to meet the expenses of higher education.
         Eighty percent of the Dalits live in villages making it practically impossible for them to benefit from these institutions. Blocked access to and control over strategic societal resources has prevented most of them from taking due advantage of modern facilities and modes of status mobility. 


                    SCHOOLING SYSTEM AND DALIT CHILDREN

         It is generally perceived that the schooling system offers the Dalit children an opportunity, on equal terms with others, to gain knowledge and enable them to rise in socio-economic status. It allows them to learn and develop along with other caste children, to see and imbibe values of higher communities, the experience of and exposure to, which was possibly not available to their parents and grand-parents. In short, therefore, education can be defined as a great human experience in community interaction, a process of constant learning. Therefore, dropping out under scores an end of a potentially fruitful adventure. School drop-out indicates a withdrawal from a system which could eventually render the most valuable support to one’s development. Then why do Dalit children drop-out from the school if the latter has the potency to deliver them goods?

CAUSES FOR DROPPING-OUT FROM SCHOOL- We will now look into the reasons underlying the school drop-out of Dalit children. The problem of school drop-out among Dalit children is a complex one, having multiple reasons behind it. We may, however, integrate the items which have some proximate relationship among themselves. The reasons have been classified into five broad categories.
         Poverty and associated handicaps are chiefly responsible for the drop-out incidence among the Dalit children. The next contributory element to reckon with is the existing  inadequacies of the school system. Punitive, unhelpful and impersonal attitudes of school teachers as well as the aggressive and unfriendly acts of the school mates seem to have created a credibility vaccum between the Dalit students and the school system. The last three categories relate to family or personal issues like sickness and death, declining interest of the child in studies and superstitious beliefs and values against the continuity of school education. In general, the economic backwardness of the Dalit families and unreceptive and discourteous atmosphere in the school constitute two major barriers that lie at the root of the drop-out problem among Dalit children.
I. Poverty and Economic Hardships
1.	Lack of basic educational equipments: The most significant variable relating to school drop-out is the incapacity of parents to meet the educational needs of the child, such as expenses for books, exercise notebooks, slates and pencils.
2.	Child’s gainful employment: Some of the families discontinue the education of their children in order to employ them in some gainful activity. These children get employed in minor jobs such as assistance to farm labourers in sowing, weeding operations, selling firewood or shepherding for others, etc. 
3.	Non-provision of physical needs: Another major aspect for drop-out relates to the inability of Dalit parents to comply with the physical needs and requirements of the child. The physical needs include, daily breakfast or meals depending upon the school timings, a pair of clothes and possibly a pair of shoes. 
4.	Engagement in domestic work: Dalit children seem to be handling very many aspects of the household routine. The responsibility of looking after infants and younger siblings does present a barrier in any child’s way of schooling. If both the parents go out for making a livelihood, it falls to the lot of the unfortunate schooling child to wind up his studies in order to take care of the younger ones. The case of Dalit girls is far more indefensible than that of the boys because they are the first ones to be asked to leave the school, should there arise any need or eventuality at home. The children are made to do the domestic chores at the expense of their school education.

II. School and School Related Factors
1.	Behaviour of the school teachers: The indifferent attitude of the teachers and ill- treatment meted out by them to the Dalit students, forces many of them to leave school. According to some of the parents, the children are ill-treated, harassed and discriminated against in the schools. There are incidences of beating by the teachers. Dalit students are sometimes asked to sit away from other students. At some places Dalit students have reported to have not permitted to touch the blackboard, chalk or a book handled by the teacher. It is paradoxical that teachers whose hands are supposed to shape the personality of the child in a constructive manner, practice subtle forms of exploitation and harassment.
2.	Behaviour of school-mates: Combined with the discriminatory, debasing treatment meted out by the teachers, there have been reports of arrogant and aggressive attitudes of school mates, mostly belonging to the upper castes, towards the Dalit children. In some schools, the most pampered and arrogant caste-Hindu children harass the Dalit children, particularly the new entrants, by pinching, hitting or pulling their hair. At the height of mischief, they break the slates or tear their books to pieces. Could we, then, simply dismiss this as an insignificant features of the school system or consider it seriously as a breeding ground for caste-hatred and rivalries among children?
3.	 Unproductive school impact: Unproductive school experiences, is another reason attributed to the children’s drop-out, by their parents. The explanation given by Dalit parents is that, the child is learning bad habits and acquiring undesirable behaviour patterns such as telling lies, absconding from school, gambling and smoking. So to control their children’s movements, they are withdrawn from school.
4.	Distance, location: Distance and location of schools have also caused drop-out incidence in a few cases. Besides the physical distance, their other obstacles like absence of walkable pathways, existence of drain or pits or similar obstacles which make the schoolward movement of a very young child extremely difficult and sometimes insecure. 

III. Domestic Existencies
1.	Prolonged illness of the child: Prolonged illness of the school-going children also results in their drop-out. Unsound economic condition prevents many of the families from availing proper medical help and they rely on indigenous herbal medicines which often fail to bring relief.
2.	Sickness or death in family: Prolonged illness of the bread-winner or any other family member puts out of gear the entire household economy. Schooling of boys as well as girls, is immediately stopped and they are required to attend to the ailing family member and compensate for the loss of earning through engagements in gainful economic activities. Death of the householder is a devastating mishap which has bearing on the schooling of the child.  

IV. Individual Deficiency
1.	Lack of interest in studies: Another major reason for drop-out, is the lack of children’s interest in studies. The child may be less punctual in school attendance and home assignments and be careless about examinations. 

V. Cultural Factors
1.	Beliefs, values, and community reactions: Cultural values and beliefs among the Dalit community sometimes come as hurdles for the proper growth of the children. There is a strong feeling that the girls should not be educated beyond junior basic level as higher education would leave their daughter astray. Some families, superstitions and beliefs of the elders can cause the stoppage of the boy’s education.    

AGE FACTOR IN DALIT CHILDREN DROP-OUT RATE- Information on the age at which the Dalit child drops-out from the school system is vital because it can enable us to formulate suitable preventive programmes for such cases. Data from various studies suggests that over 72 percent drop-out cases are below 10 years of age. The mean age stands at 9.3 years. This suggests that the moment the Dalit children reach the age of 8-9, or 10 years they withdraw from the schooling system. This stage onwards the usefulness of Dalit children for domestic help and outside activities becomes intensive. The Dalit families begin to view their children as working assets.

WHOSE DECISION IN THE FAMILY- The decision about dropping the child from school, is generally the decision of the father, mother or other elderly person from the child’s family and in only 30 percent of the cases, the drop-out child himself is the sole arbiter.

UNHAPPY AND DEJECTED- How did the child or the parents feel when the child was dropped out of school? According to the parents estimate, nearly 40 percent of children felt ‘happy’, over 10 percent ‘indifferent’ and around 50 percent ‘unhappy’ immediately after drop-out. As a matter of fact, quite a large number of drop-out cases had no sense of grief over the loss of school education. Were they too young and immature to evaluate their prospects? Did they consider dropping-out an opportunity to escape from frustrating and humiliating experiences in school and at home? We find no answers to these questions. A majority of parents and a fairly number of drop-outs themselves felt anguished and disheartened for the loss following the discontinuation of school studies. 
  
 THE DROP-OUT IMPACT- It was perceived that withdrawal of a child from the school on a permanent basis might create at least in some cases, some behavioural changes among  them. Studies have proved  this assumption to be correct. Parents have reported that, after dropping-out from school, children who felt unhappy displayed specific changes in their behaviour and dealings with their parents and other family members, friends and neighbours. Their behaviour immediately after drop-out alternated between over aggressiveness and passive, negative withdrawal. 
         More instances were quoted by a number of other parents as well: Weeping and crying; spoiling food and breaking dishes; abusing parents; avoiding friends and relatives; these and many other behavioural postures were adopted by those children who felt seriously jolted by their drop-out from school.
         Dropping out of a child is not an isolated instance and it may have repercussions on a wider front. For instance, in case the drop-out child happens to be a sociable person and had leadership qualities, other children in the family or in the neighbourhood might soon follow him. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the drop-out problem as consequential, often times capable of introducing many undesirable trends in the family or locality.   


                             DALITS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

                  By its very nature, higher education is elite. Only 6 percent of the relevant age group enrolls in higher education. Most of these are children of politicians, bureaucrats, land-lords, businessmen and the professionals hailing from upper castes and classes. A few years ago a survey was done on the beneficiaries of higher education and it indicated that 80 percent of the students who attend universities  came from the top 20 percent of the classes.
         Why is it so? Apart from the socio-economic aspect these youngsters have an academic history. An “individual” self-image is inculcated in the children of the higher castes right from birth. The values of competition are ingrained right from the cradle. Memory work is encouraged in the study of slokas and sacred texts, even prior to enrollment in schools. Can a child who has been brought up in poverty with  low self-esteem, with feelings of inferiority and diffidence ever find it easy to get into the culture of individualism, competition, memory work and a totally alien culture of higher education?
         Owing to their internalized caste values in the universities and colleges, Dalit students feel inferior. The students from upper caste communities feel superior and treat dalit students in line with the internalized caste values. This is the reason behind many drop-outs among Scheduled Caste students for they find the environment not congenial. Those who survive either pass out with a feeling of inferiority or get co-opted by the higher castes and classes.  
         Who determine the culture of the universities? The caste culture which is prevalent in higher education is the creation of the teachers and administrators in the centers of learning. Consciously or unconsciously they do perpetuate through their own interactions with Dalit students, their internalized caste values, thus posing a threat to the achievement of Dalit students. Thus a Dalit student, besides getting rid of his own internalized self-image of inferiority, pollution, self-rejection, impurity and fear had to encounter teachers and students who too have a hostile attitude towards him. Does one expect them to excel in studies with cast centered attitudes against them? In reality such attitudes sometimes even destroy the little self-image they have had.   

         In India there is a dual system of higher education. Two forms of education namely, higher education with greater specialization and general education with elementary knowledge of as many subjects as possible has been emphasized on.- Higher education with specialization needs high aptitude, high I.Q. and hard labour along with more investment of money. The institutions such as the Birla Institute of Technology Pilani, Indian Institute of Technologies, Indian Institute of Management and others provide higher education with specialization in management, engineering etc. these institutions demand a very high standard of English. Those who have not had their education in English medium schools cannot be expected to compete for these institutions. Given their poor economic condition as a community, Dalits cannot afford sending their children to these schools. Most of these schools are located in the cities and urban centers. Eighty percent of the Dalits live in villages making it practically impossible for them to benefit from these institutions.
          Whereas general education requires average aptitude, I.Q. and less labour. Illiterate and uneducated Dalit parents are unable to introduce their children to the culture of the elite which the elite educational system represents. They are forced to send their children to village schools where teaching staff and the infrastructure are in poor shape. That is why the Dalit students who aspire for higher education are compelled to join liberal B.A., B.Sc. and B.Com. programmes, which require less hard work and provide less lucrative jobs in the market. 

         A DATA BASED ANALYSIS  -
A case profile of Jawahar Lal University:
                    The University Grants Commission (U.G.C.), New Delhi had asked all universities and institutes in the country to admit the Scheduled Caste students in tune to the quota of seats reserved for them ,without administering the test criterion of admission on them, so long as their quota of reservation is not filled in.
         

The socio-economic background of the Scheduled Castes: It has been seen that the socio-economic background of the Scheduled Caste students, pursuing higher education varies in the individual cases contrary to a general impression that such education, being more expensive, draws students only from the families of upper class and higher income. However, the Scheduled Caste students hailing even from poor socio-economic background can afford higher education, owing to the strategy of educational development adopted by the government. Here, in the case of their socio-economic background I shall put my focus on their rural urban background, occupation and income of fathers and their previous educational background. 
         Total number of Scheduled Caste students admitted at the graduation level and at the post-graduation level in the in the various schools of the university during 1978-82 were 104 and 100 respectively. Out of this 82 SC students hailed from rural and 22 from urban areas. In the same way majority of the SC students admitted to the M.Phil/Ph.D. programmes in the school came from rural areas.  
         The Scheduled Caste students who were admitted in the University in the year 1978-82, 67 percent of them at the graduation level and 47.7 percent of them at the post-graduation level came from a moderate background and none of the Scheduled Caste students belonged to the business to the business family. 26 students from the Scheduled Castes belonged to labour class families. 
         As for the income position, 60 percent of the Scheduled Caste students admitted at the graduation level hailed from families with a monthly income of less than Rs. 500. More than 50 percent of the Scheduled Caste students, admitted at the post-graduate level in the University belonged to the income group of those earning over Rs. 500 per month. Variation ranges from absolutely poor economic position to a ‘rich’ position as in quite a few cases their fathers or guardians have drawn their monthly emoluments over Rs. 2000 or so. The information on the family’s monthly income had been obtained from the application forms that were filled during the time of admission. As the admission policy of the University had provided in the past some benefits to the students coming from poor economic background, it may be possible that the students might have not revealed their father’s actual income.
         Thus, it is evident that there can’t be found uniform socio-economic background of the Scheduled Caste students admitted in institutions for higher education in general and in J.N.U. in particular. In the way variation also exists in the education of other members in their family. It has been recorded that in majority of the cases the SC students hail from the families where other members, especially the younger ones, are educated up to a certain level. Even structure of their families varies as in many cases number of dependents on parents or guardians is not more than five. In cases of the students hailing from illiterate families other members do realize the relevance of formal education imparted in an institution like J.N.U. which provides fairly good deal of material and other facilities to the students. 
 
The impact of Socio-cultural Variants in Educational Performance: Patterns of evaluation of performance of their students differ in different institutions of higher education.         . 
         The variants discussed above affect representation and latter educational performance of the SC students in the university. To be more precise, how and to what extent these affect them can be seen in terms of completed the programme of studies which they had joined and if yes, with what levels of performance. 
          A way of measuring educational performance of the students is to see whether they complete the programme successfully. A portion of these students in the university had successfully completed in time the programmes of their study. In a few cases they had taken a little extra time in completing the programmes of their study but some were the cases among the general students also. The reasons for could not be ascertained but this obviously would have been caused by bath academic and non-academic factors. The university extents opportunity to the students to improve their performance (grades) in subsequent attempts available in the stretch of two extra semesters. It was seen that 71 of the SC students could complete the course and the rest 33 could not. 
         Finally the levels of educational performance of the SC students have been measured on the basis of cumulative grade points average (CGPA) obtained by them towards the end of completing their programme of study. As students take a little more time to get adjusted in the new socio-educational set up and this certainly causes an adverse impact on their educational performance at least in the beginning of the programme, so it was thought to record their semester-wise performance to find out gradual improvement in that. Rise and decline in their performance in various semesters could also be witnessed. The CGPA of the graduate students was looked at and found that it ranged from B  to B+(69 students) (50-59% of marks) and placed them in high second class in the merit. There were quite a few students who had obtained B-(18 students) (40-49% of marks) and some even A- to A (8 students) (above 60%). Their educational performance could not be compared at the exact and precise level with that of the general students because of the unavailability of data pertaining to students of the latter category.        
         As it has been mentioned earlier that the Scheduled Caste students by and large, do not perform well in higher education owing to social cultural constraints they face with, both at the levels of their family and the educational institution they join. This is caused by their less orientation to study and apathetic sometimes prejudicial attitudes of the teachers and students. 
         The question arises, as to how to resolve this problem. The answer to this question is relevant because this may help the SC students to improve their performance in higher education and to build a healthy educational system in the country. For this the students are required to work hard in their studies despite the various socio-structural constraints encountered by them. As for the teachers, they only find the SC students academically inferior but fail to appreciate their poor socio-economic status and their prior training deficiency. Therefore, instead of rejecting their problems completely, the teachers need to empathize with them and help them in removing their educational deficiency. This, of course, is a time consuming process and requires more patience on part of both the teachers and the students.

A case profile of IITs.
In this pamphlet, we bring out the plights of the Dalits and the various harassments they face in one of the premier educational institute in India- The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. 
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) were established in 1959 for the purpose of providing higher technological education of world standards to the poor downtrodden students, who couldn't afford to study abroad. The institutes are in the cities of Bombay, Delhi, Guwhati, Kanpur, Kharaghpur, and Madras. 
Indian Institutes of Technology are declared under the Parliament of India (Act 59 of 1961) as Institutes of National Importance. These six institutes totally get an annual grant of Rs.9000 crores from the Indian Government (approx. US $ 2000 million), yet sadly these funds are not utilized for the benefit of the downtrodden. 
Even these top institutes have not been spared from the disaster of the caste system. The institute at present does not implement the reservation policy for the Dalits. The reason for this vindictive flouting of social justice norms is the Brahmin domination in the administration and teaching at the institute. 
Also, although Muslims form about 15% of the Indian population there is not a single Muslim faculty member in the Institute. There are only a handful of Christian faculty members. 
. The selection to the B.Tech degree is based on an All India Level Entrance test called the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination), which is held commonly for the 6 IITs. 
Discrimination against the Dalits begins at the stage of applying itself. The Dalit students are issued colored application forms whereas other students are always given white colored forms. This year the application forms given to Dalit students were pink in color and last year it was green. This is a shocking case of modern day apartheid, and a greater shock is that the answer sheets of Dalit students are also colored. 
This year (2001), 537 students were selected to join B.Tech in IIT Madras. Of these 503 students belong to the general category and only 34 students belong to the Dalit community. Instead of 22.5% reservation eligible to Dalits only 6.3% is being filled up. If reservation is properly implemented there should be 121 Dalit students in B.Tech course. 
Only a handful of the Dalit students who clear the Joint Entrance Exam are allowed to join the Institute and some of them are forced to take a one year training called Preparatory Course and they are taught school portions once more. The institute then conducts internal exams, and a few of them are selected to join the institute & are made a year junior to upper caste classmates Conducting of Preparatory Courses only to Dalit students is violative of Right to Equality and is a highly discriminatory practice. 
Dalit students selected for the B.Tech are continuously harassed & they are wantonly failed in courses by Brahmin faculty. This is facilitated because student's caste is mentioned in the roll call given to Faculty members. Very few Dalit students are allowed to complete their B.Tech degree and many discontinue. Dalit students are entirely denied admissions to other programs like M.Tech, M.S. & Ph.D. 
In the Department of Mathematics, IIT Madras, till 1998 no Dalit student had been selected for the Ph.D. program. Despite appearing twice for interview a Dalit student Mr.S.R.Kannan was not selected. For selecting him Dr. (Mrs.) Vasantha Kandasamy, an Associate Professor of the Department had to appeal to various social justice forums to see that he was selected. Till date he is yet to be allotted an office room in the Mathematics Department. 
Dr. Vasantha fought for the Dalit scholar, so she is harassed in all possible ways. She was selected as Associate Professor in 1996, but she is denied her right salary. Despite being a highly qualified mathematician having published over 350 research papers in journals & conferences, she is discriminated because she is espousing the cause of Dalit education. She has guided 11 students for their doctoral program - Ph.D. 
In an effort to put a stop-gap to the Dalit movement the IIT Madras administration is victimizing Dr. Vasantha. She has sent over 62 letters of appeal to the Indian Government to do justice but no action has been taken. So, Dr. Vasantha will be directly approaching the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. 
Over 200 cases are pending in Honorable Courts in Madras against Director, IIT Madras, for the past five years & some of these cases are regarding denial of reservation for Dalits.

                                                        CONCLUSION

         If Dalits have to succeed in education, it is essential that they must bring about a “counter-culture”. Concretely it would mean that the entire Dalit population should be made : 
§	Aware of the Dalit status into which they were forced 
§	Aware that their assigned inferior status was imposed on them by a humanly created system
§	Help them to reject the mythical Brahminical order which has perpetrated captivity.
         Finding a “counter-culture” is as important as discarding the existing one. It may be even necessary at the phase of transition to have exclusive centers of higher learning for Dalits where they could learn in a spirit of fellowship, exchange knowledge through cooperative learning, exhibit their folk culture and value it, thus establishing communities of solidarity for social exchange. SCs have not been benefited with reservation policies, especially in internalizing the egalitarian values of their culture. Exclusive schools of their own can provide a tremendous impetus for Dalit students to evolve an educational system of their own at least at the phase of transition. Let me conclude with the words of Ambedkar, the value of higher education for Dalits :
         “ Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society, I know that what is the value of education. The problem of raising the lower order is deemed to be economic. This is a great mistake, the problem of raising the lower prudery in India is not to feed them, to clothe them and make them serve the higher order as in the ancient ideal of this country. The problem of the lower order is to remove from them the inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and made them slaves to others, to create in them consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves and for the country, of which they have been cruelly robbed by the existing social order. Nothing can achieve this except the spread of higher education. This is my opinion in the panacea of our social troubles”. 


                                          LIST OF REFERENCES

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12.	Internet- www.dalits.org
13.	Internet- www.pucl.org/main.shtml
14.	Internet- www.indiatogether.org/index.htm
15.	Internet- www.washington-report.org
16.	Internet- www.ambedkar.org
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