The issue of exclusion in the Indian education sector

Updated on: Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Traditionally, exclusion in primary education has been viewed on the basis of government data of the number of children who are out of school and are not enroled. However, experts in this area feel that there is a need to understand exclusion in a more comprehensive manner.

According to R Govinda, author of the book, Who Goes to School: Exploring Exclusion in Indian Education, which was recently released in the Capital, "When we talk of exclusion, we think of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and minorities. However true, it is important to look at exclusion inside the classroom too. A child can be sitting inside the classroom and still be excluded." Actual reasons can range from a discriminatory attitude, no classes, etc thus resulting in absenteeism or dropout, which is silent exclusion. The book has been published by Oxford University Press.

Govinda, vice-chancellor, National University of Educational Planning and Administration ( NUEPA) and director, National Council of Educational Research and Training ( NCERT), says that children do not dropout voluntarily. They do so either because they are ill-treated in the school or because they find it a torture to endure.

There is a small percentage, he adds, where parents withdraw them for reasons like poverty. A decade ago, there was a survey conducted on children working in roadside dhabas in Delhi. It was found that many of those children had attended school, but had opted out. Despite the long work hours, they preferred the dhaba over school. There is a need to look at what happens in these classrooms, he stresses.

Another important reason, the author points out, responsible for exclusion, is health. "If a child is looked-after in one's initial years, then s/he grows up to be a healthy individual. However, because of malnutrition, stunted growth, etc, children would have created deficits in their cognitive capacities — the capability to learn — and let us not forget that India has the largest number of undernourished children in the world," Govinda reasons.

A clear focus on schools and more importantly, on teachers, is one of the ways to work towards a solution. On a concluding note, Govinda says, "Apart from inspection, the country needs to invest in teacher-teacher guidance, hand-holding and capacity-building. We need to look at a child's early life in terms of healthcare realities and a seamless integration into the curriculum, then look at schools to achieve a realistic synergy. Once we do that, India would have won more than half the battle."

Times of India

The issue of exclusion in the Indian education sector

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