PERCEPTIONS AND MYTHS ON THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN INDIA

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“They are not interested to send their children to schools”…..Perceptions and myths concerning Indian

parents’ interest in their children’s education

Child Rights and You, Kolkata

Internship Project Report

May 2009

Prepared By:-

Akriti Sarkar

Sonali BanerjeeParamita Nandy

Neha Srivastava



Contents

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Chapter Page numbers

Preface 3

Executive Summary 4

Introduction 7

Methodology 11

Data findings and analysis 12

Case studies 21

Concluding Observations 28

Annexure : Survey Questionnaires 32

References 41

Disclaimer 43



PREFACE

The purpose behind taking up this study is to try to understand the perception of parents

regarding the school access issues, issues pertaining to the quality of education; to capture the

aspirations and desire of parents towards ensuring a holistic education for their children; and toanalyze the prevalent perception that poor parents inherently are not keen to send their children

to schools.

The main objective behind this report is on focusing on the importance and significance of

education for one and all. Initially, education was under Article 45 of our Constitution but after

the 86th amendment education is referred to as a fundamental right. . This term implies that

education is an honor that no one should be deprived of, but at times all the rights that are

bestowed upon the citizens are not executed to benefit all sections of the society. The reality is

that a large number of children in our country, till today, live their lives without any form of

basic or complete education. Even though our Constitution states that there should be free andcompulsory education till the age of fourteen for all children irrespective of caste, race and social

status, it seems a distant reality in the current scenario. A lot of changes have to be made by the

people of the country and its leaders in line with the government to restructure the hierarchical

tower so that this Fundamental right can be realized in the truest sense of the term.

Another aim of this report is to try and understand the psychology and preferences of parents

regarding the education of their children and the schools the children go to. This would differ

from person to person. The privileged classes have a different take in comparison to the middle

classes and the marginalized classes of the society and vice-versa. The team tried to understand

what the parents expect from the education system, their preferences and problems, their reasonsfor the choice of schools for their children’s education etc. This report also brings to light all the

reasons as to why the poor or marginalized sections of the society face difficulties in educating

their children even though there are number of provisions(in the constitution) to try and tackle

this persisting problem.

The report also highlights the root causes of not having access to education for many

marginalized sections of society, vulnerability of a lot of communities with regards to low

quality education and how such important issues restrict their choices for education and hence

forcing themselves to work from a younger age rather than study.

This report is an earnest effort to capture the views of parents of different sections of the society

regarding the existing fallacies in the education system of the country.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Even today, in the modern world, a significant proportion of children are dropping out of schools

due to socio- economic and cultural factors. This apart, lack of infrastructure, shortage of

teachers and unsatisfactory quality of education provides a stronger background for the children

to discontinue with their education. ‘The country has the dubious distinction of having the largestnumber of illiterates and out of school children in the world- 30% of the world’s adult’s

illiterates (300 million) and 21.87% of out of school children’. Article 45 of the directive

principles of the State policy has made it the duty of the state to provide free and compulsoryeducation for all children up to the age of fourteen. Later the 86th Constitutional Amendment

Act, 2002 provided for free and compulsory education for children in the age group of six to

fourteen years. This act was a fundamental right under Article 21A of the Constitution.

During the project, the team realized that in spite of the fact that our Constitution has so many

provisions which should not encourage any member of the nation become an adult without some

form of quality elementary education, there are so many children who do not receive equitable

quality elementary. The team tried to understand why the provisions on paper are not beingimplemented for all the people in the country, and at the same time tried to uncover other

problems faced by the people with regards to education. In this report the team tried to figure outthe root causes that impediments a child’s exposure to elementary education or why a parent is

not willing to send her child to school although elementary education is free. The team studied

the perceptions of the parents regarding the education system prevalent in India. Their viewswere tried to be captured from having interface with parents (cutting across communities), and

understanding the difference in perceptions of marginalized, middle class and affluent classes.

Parental perceptions have been studied to evaluate the awareness that the people have towardstheir rights, the rights which are inherited by the children.

The various schemes by the government targeted towards primary education for all. Within theevaluation the team has had various findings with regards to the present thinking of the societyinclined towards the perception of the education scenario in the country. In reference to the data

that the team has collected, most of the parents including the affluent class are aware of the basic

Right to Education, but there are very few public schools which run in accordance to the provisions in The Constitution.

Most of these discussions in various areas highlight several problems confronting primaryeducation programmes. Among the problems discussed are:

• Poor infrastructure of the schools, resulting in children dropping out from schools. For

example, lack of good hygiene in school, may cause various forms of illness amongst

them, compelling them to discontinue.

• High teacher-student ratio, i.e., there are too many students per teacher. This implies thatstudents are being neglected and subsequent failure by the teachers to revive interest

amongst the students towards studies.

• Lack of trained staff, which means that the teachers appointed in the public schools are

not trained well enough due to inadequate training facilities as well.

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• Prevalence of uncongenial environmental conditions, lead children to fall sick and hencethey drop out.

• Lack of knowledge and understanding about children's developmental patterns, so the

teachers do not take the initiative to check on the child’s performance.

• Poor planning of programmes for development of children.

All these combined factors lead to a poor quality education system.

The report unveiled that 64.5% of the marginalised families send their children to public school

and 15.5% of them send their children to private schools of low grades, whose infrastructural and

educational facilities are very poor in comparison to the private schools that the middle class andaffluent class children go to. The remaining 20% of the children don’t go to school or have

dropped out from school.

In contrast, all the middle and affluent class families, send their children to schools, of which

90% go to private schools. This gives us the real picture, as to the difference in the different

classes.

On one hand, the affluent class and the upper middle class are worried about softer quality issues

in the schooling of their children, whereas on the other hand the marginalized sections are still

struggling to reap the benefits of basic education, although the Constitution provides via its 86 th

Amendment that Right to Education is a Fundamental Right.

On being asked about the probable reasons that the poor don’t send their children to school, 76 %of the affluent and middle class combined, said that it was because the parents and the children

are unaware of the importance of education, among other factors like poverty and child labour.

However, the survey revealed that the marginalized section are well aware of the importance of

education, and are trying hard to get their children educated, and the actual reasons for the

children to drop out from schools or not attend school at all are the poor performance of the public schools, leading the parents to lose faith on the kind of education being imparted by the

schools. This reveals the failure of the Government in fulfilling its role of promoting primaryeducation and lack of effective implementation of the provisions in The Constitution and the

Right to Education Act.

It may be noted that the primary and most powerful of the child's educators are the immediate

caregivers-usually mothers or elder sisters and others in the immediate family group, especially

during the first decade of life. It is increasingly evident that, when parents are encouraged tofunction as the young child's prime educators it has favorable effects on the child's subsequent

development. It is also apparent that living in circumstances of deprivation, children do not get

the necessary help to cope with demands of school, because the parents rely primarily on folk

experiences and traditional resources to perform a task rendered increasingly difficult andcomplex with rapid social change. The family therefore needs support to provide children with

the personal and intellectual skills that the society and schooling expects. Vulnerable, , powerless

and marginalised communities must empowered to be able to make the right choices for their children’s holistic development.

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INTRODUCTION

Universalisation of elementary education poses a formidable challenge to India. The number of

children dropping out, not attending school regularly and those never enrolled are immense.

Quality of education is poor, teachers are inadequately trained and have lack of motivation. The

priority concerns for the country remain particularly with improving the quality of education andmaking education effective, enjoyable and relevant to the children. Also, a major concern is to

attract more and more children to join school and complete at least the elementary level of

education.

India’s commitment to the spread of knowledge and freedom of thought among its citizens is

reflected in its Constitution. The directive principle of the state policy contained in Art 25enshrines “ the State shall endeavor to provide within a period of 10 years from commencement

of the Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the

age of fourteen years”. Art 29(1) provides that any citizen having a distinct language, script,

special care of the economic and educational interests of the privileged sections, particularly, the

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is laid down as an obligation of the State under Art 46.

In the National Policy on Education1986 almost all the elements that figure in the declarationand framework of the World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien in March 1990,

are present. The policy envisages that the basic learning needs of every person, child, youth and

adult should be met through a variety of delivery systems. There is no trade-off between quantityand quality; achievement of minimum levels of learning is as important as participation; the

traditional forms of primary education are not actually delivered; supply of services should be

matched by generation of demand, and only by returning education to the community and by partnership between the government, civil society and stakeholders can basic education needs be

met satisfactorily. The policy paved the way for enhanced support to the state governments for

school improvement, in service teacher training and non- formal education.

The Policy (1986) took a serious note of the conditions related to basic facilities and other

support systems in the country. It emphasized on elimination of disparities in the education

system and on improvement in the quality of publicly funded schools so that irrespective of thesocio-economic background every child has access to basic education of a comparable quality.

It also called for paying immediate attention to: improving the unattractive school environment,

the unsatisfactory condition of buildings and the inadequacy of instructional materials; andLaying down minimum levels of learning that all children completing different stages of

education should achieve, in accordance with 86th Amendment of the Constitution, which made

Right to Education a Fundamental Right.

There is a huge section of the society at large who are unaware of the right to education and allthe amendments in general in the Constitution to support the implementation of this right. The

most recent bill is The Right to Education Act. This Act is yet to become a legislation.

Surveys conducted by the NSS, NFHS and RCHS state that a very small percentage of children

actually pass elementary school.

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Percentage of Children who have completed elementary education

Survey Percentage

NSS 52

(1995-96)

32.8

NSS 55(1999-00)

36.8

NFHS-II

(1998-99)

37.7

RCHS-II

(2002-04)

37.8

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India has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1992. Article 28 of this

convention makes it obligatory for the State parties to take measures to encourage regular

attendance at schools and to reduce the drop-out rates. By virtue of Article 29, the State partiesagree that the education of the child shall be directed to the development of the child's

personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential. But the prevailing

trend is on a different track.

In terms of allocation for education, it needs to be underlined that the present 3.6 percentof GNP is less than

(a) the requirement of the education system to provide reasonable levels of quality education to

all the students enrolled presently,

(b) the requirements of the system to provide universal elementary education of eight years for

every child of the age-group 6-14, and consequent growth in secondary and higher education, as

universalisation of elementary education in a comprehensive sense, includes universal provisionof resources.

The primary issues with education in India today are access, quality and equality, focusing onwhich, the team has prepared this report.

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METHODOLOGY

The methodology the team followed includes both the doctrinaire and the non-doctrinaire

method of research, i.e., the team not only referred to published books, articles and other

materials but also undertook field work. The initial phase was on developing detailedunderstanding about the topic, issues faced by the masses by attending CRY orientations and a

lot of secondary research about the same. The team referred to many Acts and amendments,

Laws relating to right to education and articles on quality of education. Acts and bills like Right

to Education Bill, 2005, Child Labour(Protection and Prohibition) Act, the Indian Constitution,Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan(SSA), National Policy on Education. The team also collected statistical

data about the present Indian scenario, incentives that the government has provided to raise the

enrolment rate and other studies related to the same issue by other organizations.

The group had taken the decision to divide the sample interviewee into three categories, as

marginalized, middle and affluent classes. The division was based on location of where the people reside and the amount of money they earn in a year. This helped the team to understand

the mindset of people about education scenario and psychology of each to create a larger picture.

The group also drafted questionnaires to gather primary data which was first piloted for a few

days, later a few minute changes were made in the questionnaires after the piloting phase. Then

the final questionnaires were used to take and gather all the relevant information from personal

interactions. The questionnaires and other articles that we referred to are attached to this report atthe end.

Then, the group spent fifteen days on data collection, with a sample size of a 100 families of which 10 were affluent, 30 -middle class families and 60 marginalized families. The sample size

was divided in such a way because the group wanted to focus on marginalized sections. The

team wanted to look into the difficulties and grievances of the marginalized sections andcompare it with the difference in opinion of the affluent and middle class. The surveys were

conducted in various villages of Hoogly district, like the Malatala village, Kolbajar,

Dhatrigram, Kulti, Jamgram, Subashgram etc, various slums like the Golf green and Lake

Garden slums, Bansdroni slums and various other places in Kolkata.

While surveying the team followed certain ethical guidelines that the team decided and abided

by, like the team members had to be non-intrusive, non-judgmental, and non threatening! Theteam also took a thoughtful decision of not taking pictures/ clips if it wasn’t felt appropriate by

the interviewee and of maintaining confidentiality. After having surveyed our target sample the

group started compiling the data, interpreting and analyzing it, which was the final phase of internship. On the basis of compilation of all the data and secondary research materials, this

report has been written.

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DATA FINDINGS & ANALYSIS

(A) AFFLUENT CLASS

0

20

40

60

reputationproximity

no other

choice

REASONS TO SEND THE CHILDREN TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS.

From the above figure it is evident that a majority (60%) of the affluent class parents send their

school on the basis of the reputation of the school. The affluent class parents think that the

government schools provide very poor quality of education, they lack satisfactory infrastructureand have irresponsible teachers, who do not take any initiative to look into the child’s progress.

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0%10%20%

30%40%50%60%

WHO TEACHES AT HOME

WHO TEACHES AT

HOME

From the above figure, it is seen that 60%, i.e., a majority of the children at taught by tutors at

home, reasons being that firstly they can afford it and the child gets personal attention.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

AWARE UNAWARE

Level of awareness of Right to Education

LEVEL OF AWARENESS

The affluent class parents are well aware of the Right to Education, being a Constitutional provision, as seen in the above figure 90% of the parents are aware.

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(B) MIDDLE CLASS

0.00%

10.00%20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

PRIVATE

SCHOOL

PUBLIC

SCHOOL

PUBLIC- PRIVATE SCHOOL DIVIDE

PUBLIC- PRIVATE

SCHOOL DIVIDE

The graph indicates that the middle class families mostly send their children to private school . infact very few of them send their children to public school because of lack of good infrastructure,

poor quality of teachers and irrelevant education.

REASON FOR SENDING CHILDREN TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS:

42.00%

44.00%

46.00%

48.00%

50.00%

52.00%

54.00%

Proximity Reputation

It is evident from this graph that the reason that families send their children to the particular

school is mainly due to proximity and a few who are sending their children to public school, are

they doing it due to the decent reputation the school has rather than compromising on quality, in

comparison to the affluent class who sent their children to school because of its reputation.

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(C) MARGINALISED SECTION

Public-Private Divide

public school

private school

don’t attend school

In the marginalized section we see that 64.5% of the families send their children to public school

and rest 15.5% of them send their children to private school. And 20% of them do not send their

children to school at all.

SATISFACTION LEVEL WITH SCHOOL:

64.00%

66.00%

68.00%

70.00%72.00%

74.00%

76.00%

78.00%

80.00%

education co-curricular

activities

quality of

teachers

satisfaction

The above figure shows that 77.7% of the families are happy with the quality of education,

73.3% of them are happy with the co- curricular activities, and 68.8% of them are happy with the

quality of education as they have just blindly accepted what is there and are happy with it, andexpect no more.

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MODE OF TRANSPORTATION:

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

bus public

transport

school bus walk not

applicable

Column2

From the above graph we see that most of the children go to school by walking, because the

schools are in proximity and to save money and a relatively small population use the bus and public transport. A very few avail the school buses as well. These are those parents who are very

particular about the schools which the children go to and the kind of education they receive.

REASON FOR NOT ATTENDING

SCHOOL

fees

distance

irrelevant education

infrastructure of school

not applicable

From the above figure it is seen that for the question is not applicable to the majority because

they send their children to school, and amongst those who don’t send their children to school, themain reason for doing so is the poor infrastructure of the school, followed by the fee structureand distance. It is also clear that 2.2%, i.e., a miniscule of the people believe that education is

irrelevant. Majority of people believe that the reason that the marginalized people do not send

their children to school is that because they think education as something which is irrelevant.However , we can see that the myth that most people believe in is broken because only 2.2 %

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of the families so far interviewed believes education to be something irrelevant and hence do notsend their children to school.

What children do after they drop

out from school?

Work, earn money

Marriage

Taking care of

siblings, family

others

The above figure indicates that the main reason for increasing drop-out rates of children from

school is that they work and earn money for supporting their family during the time they would

have spent studying in school. The other reasons being marriage and taking care of siblings inthe family. Interestingly, almost half of the people surveyed do go to school and haven’t dropped

out.

Breaking the myth that the marginalized sections are not aware of mid-day meals, the figureshows that above 60% of the parents are aware of the mid day meal schemes, but even then only

very few schools, i.e., 26.6% of the schools actually provide mid day meals.

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(D) COMPARISONS

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

marginalised

section

middle-class affluent class

Tuitions

Tuitions

From this graph we see that the affluent class and middle class send their children to tuitions because they can afford it and that the children get personal attention where as only a miniscule

of people from marginalized section are able to afford sending their children to tuitions. The

reason behind poor families feeling the need to send their children for tuitions is that what thechidren learn in school is inadequate and it affects the children’s performance in contrast of the

fact that the other sections send because of bettering results and additional educational support .

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

marginalisedfamilies

middle class affluent class

awareness of right to education

awareness of right to

education

From the figure it is seen that the affluent class are mostly aware of the right to education and the

middle class and marginalized class are also aware of the right in the sense that they brieflyknow that the government is supposed to provide with schools imparting free education, yet they

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do not raise their voice and keep quiet because they have resigned to their fate and they believethat nothing is going to change, they have almost lost their faith in government system.

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CASE STUDIES

RURAL MARGINALISED SECTION:

CASE 1: Mohammad Amir

He is a respected ‘maulavi’ in a small village called ‘Kolbajar’ in Hooghly district of West

Bengal. He earns his living by preaching ‘Islam’ and enlightening people of the village. He is the

proud father of three sons and two daughters. His children are educated in the village

‘Madrassah’. The ‘Madrassah’ is not recognized by the Government of India. The basic

education in science, literature and mathematics is not imparted in such ‘Madrassah’.

When asked about the basic education requisites of every child, he says that his children are

getting more than just basic education in the Madrassah.

“Quran not only enlightens one about the religion. It also teaches one to deal with life in an

honest way. It is more than a religious text.” And when asked why his children were not

admitted to the village public school; he said, “I don’t have faith in the present and prevailing

education system. It is not enough to learn science and mathematics. It does not teach humanity

and that’s the reason why girls of the village elope with the local boys after a certain age. They

have no decency or virtue in them. It is a complete nuisance and useless.” He thinks his children

will grow up to be better human beings and true children of ‘Allah’. He is completely ignorant

about right to education and the free and compulsory education guaranteed by the constitution.

Neither is he aware of national schemes and initiatives by the Government like the SarvyaShikshya Avijan (SSA . Talking about Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBVs) — a scheme

for girls from rural and disadvantaged groups from educationally backward blocks (EBBs), to

acquire knowledge; he is not interested at all. Lastly, when asked what he aspires his children to

do in life, his honest answer is, “I just want them to grow up to be true Muslims; the rest will be

taken care by ‘Allah’.” The need for education and Government’s effort to bring the rural and

marginalized sections of the society to the mainstream along with other children of the rural

India seems ineffective- in this case, where most of the community remain ignorant of the

benefits of government education system and their thoughts stay conditioned by a few people

who are able to influence them to opt for a certain type of education

CASE 2: Kalu

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He is a person with disability is a beggar in the small railway platform of Boichigram in the

Hooghly district of West Bengal, is the father of a five year old son. He is completely ignorant

about the need for education. He has a hand-to-mouth existence and struggles to feed himself and

his son. His wife went to the city to earn a living but never came back. His son has picked up the

skill in pick pocketing and shop lifting at the very tender age of five. This brings out the most

inhuman form of child labour. The child will not be able to lead a normal life in future even if he

wants. He says his son earns more than him and gets more money per hour in begging.

There is a nearby primary school where children of the village get free education but Kalu is not

interested in educating his son. When asked about the benefits of yearly clothes from the school

and the daily mid day meals, he laughs away. His son gets better meals in the nearby hotel on

sympathetic ground and also brings some for him. According to him, “ Education will not satisfy

our hunger.” When asked about the future of his son, his eyes lit up and he explains his future

plans and how he saves the extra income in the nearby post office. One day he aspires to save

enough capital for his son to open a tea stall or snacks stall in the railway station and gradually

over time, build a house for them to stay in.

Thus this was the darker and sadder side of rural perception of education. Poverty drives them to

consider education to be not a choice at all. The uncertainty that they won’t be able to reach the

stage which will ensure them the benefits of education keeps them away from imparting

education to their children.

CASE 3: Ratna Tudu

A mother of three sons and a daughter who proudly boasts that all her children have been

imparted the basic primary education. She feels extremely proud of the fact that in spite of her

husband being a drunkard and a ‘good for nothing jerk’, all her children are educated. She is a

resident of the small village of Gosaimalipara in the Hooghly district of West Bengal.

When asked the reason why her children did not go for higher education inspite of the benefits

of reservation, she has a different logic. Firstly, she is not economically strong enough to ensure

higher education to all the four children. Secondly, her eldest son has made a fortune as a

goldsmith in Surat followed by the other sons. All his sons after the age of fifteen have been send

to Surat to earn their living. But according to her if they were here, trying to earn by getting

proper education it would take a long time and the family would perish by then because of the

dire economic conditions prevailing.

Thus, the benefits of reservation given by the Government for the marginalized and stigmatized

section of the society hardly reach the needy ones since it is not rooted in the reality and

vulnerability of these communities!.

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CASE 4: Gafoor Ali

A rickshaw puller all his life of 28 years. Gafoor has a wife and one child to feed. His child is 10

years and goes to a local English medium school near Golf Green in south Kolkata. When asked

about his aspirations for his child he hopes for his child to do something in his life. Rather vaguestatement but with a sparkle in his eyes. He had immense pride to see his child going to an

English medium private school. When asked why he has not sent his child to governments run

local school, in great disgust he stared, only to answer in sarcasm. “I don’t want to see my son in

the same way that I was, dropping out of government school, no studies, nothing. No place to sit

and nothing to do. Just a school to call itself a place where children come and while away their

time to eventually drop out. What else could happen? I don’t want the same for my son at all.”

His words clearly stated the irony that he faced in his life and did not want his only son to face at

all.

CASE STUDY of people in a slum in Bansdroni, Tollygunge

The team visited a locality where a section of the marginalized families reside. Most of the both

the parents are working, the wives are mostly domestic helpers and the husband’s are drivers,

rickshaw pullers, watchmen, care takers or even sweepers. The group’s general observation

regarding the parents was that surprisingly they were very serious about their children’s

education irrespective of whether the child is a girl or a boy. No matter what, they would not

compromise on education of their children. All the children in this particular locality go to school

on a regular basis and none work, but most girls during holidays help their mothers with their work. None of the children ever dropped out of school, and they are sure that even in future their

children will not drop out. Supriya Mondal, a mother said, “I am earning to give a better future to

my children, and I will do whatever is possible to give them good education, so that they don’t

have to struggle later on in their lives, and can do what we couldn’t”. The schools that the

children are being sent to are not because they are the closest to the house, but the parents took

very thoughtful decisions after taking due information about the schools. Bimala Sharma, a 32

year old mother of 3 sons said that she was aware of a school providing free education and mid

day meals but she didn’t send any of her children there as the quality of education in that school

is not good.

All the children of the locality go to public schools. In spite of a lack of many facilities like good

drinking water, co-curricular activities, a proper playground, on being questioned as whether

they were satisfied with the school infrastructure, the answer was in the affirmative. Nine out of

ten families in the locality spend Rs. 200 per month on sending their children to and from school.

All the parents have appointed tutors for their children as they have very little time to teach the

children themselves and in tuitions the child gets more personal attention than in a class with

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seventy students and one teacher. The parents spend more money on tuitions than in school.

Moreover, they even send their children for extra-curricular classes like dancing or drawing as

per their interests, as the school does not give that facility to children. In Muktadhara Primary

School, the child needs to pay more fees, to learn better English, and Rajendra Mahanta, a 30

year old father, a liftman in an apartment pays that extra fees! Most of the schools do not have a

regular systematic system of interaction between the students and teachers, the parents have to

take the initiative to talk to the teachers, the teachers wouldn’t call them, unless the time at the

end of the academic year when the report cards are handed over. None of the public schools

provide the mid-day meals to the children, they have to take their own tiffins. Most of the parents

do have an idea of the mid day meal schemes, and a few were also discussing amongst

themselves about such a school which used to provide these meals but have stopped doing so.

Most of the parents gave no answer or just kept thinking when asked about their concerns

regarding the education system in India. Except for one, nobody knew about right to education,

i.e., primary education is free. They were in fact surprised when it was explained to them. The

one who knew about it also mentioned that there is a certain school that she knows of, they

charge fees, but that is not for education but for the facilities and other charges of the school likeelectricity etc. so, in spite of free education, the students do pay to get educated. However, Sabita

Patil wasn’t aware of the meaning of fundamental rights and that education was a fundamental

right as provided by the Government in the Constitution. Finally, on being asked what their

hopes were and what future do you see for your children, some weren’t really ready to answer

and avoided by just saying “lets see” but most as said that they would be happy with whatever

the children want to do in future, provided they are financially independent.

MIDDLE CLASS:

CASE 6: Mukul Ghose

“I have been to a government school and have successfully completed my education, why should

my child not take the liberty of a government school. When all the citizens on India are paying

taxes for the benefit of the nation why should we not take liberty of this investment?” He comes

form a middle class family residing in Lake Gardens and refuses to send his child to a private

school. He is content that the education his child is getting is a complete and holistic. He feels

that the government is doing a brilliant job in providing for the education of the children but thestaff that runs these schools take the parents for a ride. Since most of the lower classes are not

educated the schools are exploiting them.” A committee of some sort to regulate the working of

all these schools should be set up, with surprise checking in the schools to make sure that all

facilities in the school are being provided for the child, also talk to the parents from time to time

to know what the parents think of the free education the government is giving their children.”

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CASE 7: Shweta Kabra

Shweta Kabra is a 29 years old housewife, a mother of two sons, aged 2 and 5, residing at

Tollygunge. She sends her elder son to A.G.Church, Park Street and is happy and contended

with the performance of the school and teachers but has two things to complain of. Firstly thereis too much of pressure on children at such a young age which she also considers as a drawback

in the education system in India other than the prevalence of bookish knowledge. Secondly,

surprisingly she is against inclusive education in her son’s school. When asked the reason she

said that her son was picking up slangs from other children. There are many muslim children

studying there as well and this was a reason big enough for her to drop out her son from such a

good school. It is shocking that a modern mother in this era would think in such a way. When

asked the question as to why she did not send her child to a public school rather than a private

school, her reply was “what a stupid question is that”! She couldn’t even think of sending her

child to a public school, on being forced to give reasons she mentioned that the quality of

education is not up to the mark, teachers don’t take any initiative in seeing the child’s progress,too many students for 1 teacher and lack of facilities. She is completely aware of the right to

education being a fundamental right. She appreciates it but at the same time doubts its

practicality. She even knows about the mid day meals schemes and that some children go to

school for the sake of that meal. She reacted very negatively on being asked the probable reasons

for the marginalized section of the society not being able to educate children or dropping out of

schools very early. She said that the reasons were very obvious, i.e., they are very poor so they

can not afford it, or they are not aware of the importance of education or that s/he is a helping

hand to the family, so he is made to earn rather than study. Finally, on asking her what future

does she see of her son, she said she would be happy with whatever her son did but she

specifically mentioned that she would prefer her son to do some service rather than continue his

father’s business.

CASE 8: Rita Saha

A housewife and mother of a daughter of 18 year old who is now in college said that the reason

she had sent her daughter to a private school was because she believes that the quality of

24 | P a g e



education in a public school is poor. Moreover the infrastructure facilities is bad and proper care

and attention is not given to the students. She shares her concern about the prevailing education

system and has certain grievances to share which includes the increasing pressure and burden of

studies. She feels that the children today are losing on their childhood. They do not know about

anything beyond their syllabus and course of studies. Moreover their studies includes a lot of

mugging up and learning they do not get chance to be creative. Her domestic help has a

daughter who goes to public school called the Behala Girls High School. Her domestic help often

complains about the lack of facilities. When asked about the reason why there has been a steady

dropout rate among the children of marginalized section, she attributes the reason to be

primarily because of poverty. ” Parents often use their children as domestic helps because they

are of the view that the child can earn if he works which he is not being able to do when if he

studies. They think it is of more help to them as it lessens their burden if the children too work”.

It is a fact that public education today has become weak and ineffective over the years though

earlier children who went to government school grew up to be successful in their life. In this

aspect it should be noted that a common school system is very important as it helps in addressing

the existing social divide.

AFFLUENT CLASS:

CASE 9: Abhinav Kumar Das

He is a music artist by profession. He belongs to the affluent class. He has two daughter’s aged 6

years and 11 years respectively. He believes that holistic education includes not only

emphasizing on studies but also other co- curricular activities which is equally necessary for the

all round development of the child. Hence, besides studies his daughters are engaged in other

activities like music, dance and sports. The daughters go to a private school. He is happy with the

school infrastructure and the quality of education that is provided. When asked the reason for not

sending his daughters to a public school, he said that it is mainly due to poor infrastructure, bad

quality of education and the lack of attention given to the students in a public school . Though he

did not elaborate much on the matter but it was clear that he was horrified by the idea of sending

his daughters to a public school. When asked to share some of the concerns about the education

system. He said that he finds the education system faulty. His main reason for stating so is

because of the increasing burden and pressure of studies that the children have to face. As aconsequence of which they hardly get time to learn anything else other than the daily routine of

studies and tuitions. He says “I am tired of seeing them carrying their heavy bags all the time’.

Moreover, he adds that there is a total lack of emphasis on the Indian music and Culture in the

educational system which according to him is very essential.

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When asked about reason behind the increasing drop – out rates of children of marginalized

classes, he came up with interesting answers. He said that mainly this was due to the lack of

awareness and importance of education. This was also due to the fact that in a country like India

which is overburdened with population pressure education don not always lead to employment,

i.e., people are still unemployed even though they have qualifications. This discourages people

from marginalized sections to send their children to schools because they think that after

investing on their education if they fail to get jobs it is better that they help in household chores

from the very begging at least that would save their time , energy and money. Besides, there is

always the problem of lack of facilities available to marginalized sections. Most of them are

illiterate and they cannot help their children in studies, moreover they are not in the position to

afford tuitions for their children. Hence they are at a disadvantaged position. Then there is also

the transportation problem. Lastly, the financial constraint that the parents face, prevent them

from sending their wards to school.

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

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The team derived that the marginalized sections are not as unaware as common man perceivesthem to be. They too, like any other parent want to get their children educated and are trying hard

to give a better future to their children. The educated middle-class and affluent class still think on

the lines that the poor don’t go to school because they are unaware of the importance of

education; however the truth unveiled via this report is that although most of them are well awareof the benefits of education, they don’t send their children to school because they have lost faith

in the kind of education being imparted by the Public Schools and this shows the failure of theGovernment in the implementation of the provisions in The Constitution which has made Rightto Education a Fundamental Right via the 86th Amendment. Although, ideally a public

(Government) education system should offer for all children so that education becomes a means

to bridge the divide and promote equity in education and not reinforce the existing socio-economic discrimination.

The team inferred from the surveys that the better offs are getting quality education since theyare in a position to make choice and afford, and the marginalized communities are left behind

since they are not aware of the rights which their children are entitled to for ensuring elementary

education and are left behind and the divide remaining between the different sections.

AFFLUENT CLASS

Among the persons interviewed 68% of them were men and the rest 32% of them were women.

All the families interviewed send their children to a private school. Among these 60% of thefamilies sent their children to private school because of reputation, and 20 % of the rest send

their ward to private school because of proximity or because they thought that their was no other

choice except from doing so. Moreover majority of children that is 64% of them travel to school

by means of personal car. 60 % of them have tutors at home to guide them. When asked aboutawareness about the right to education it was seen that 88% of them are aware about the right to

education.

It is seen that all of the affluent class sent their wards to private school .They are prejudiced

against sending their wards to public school. According to them the quality of education

provided in public schools are very poor. Proper care and attention is not given to the students.Moreover there is lack of proper infrastructure. So they feel that overall development of the child

is not possible.

Since the affluent class is being able to provide the best education possible to their children they

have a few concerns to share about the education system prevailing today. They mainly find the

education system faulty, because of the increasing burden and pressure of studies that the

children have to face. As a consequence of which they hardly get time to learn anything else

other than the daily routine of studies and tuitions. They also complain that the course structureand syllabus is too much of a burden for the child to cope up with and the importance given to

bookish knowledge in our education system. Moreover, that there is a total lack of emphasis onthe Indian music and Culture in the educational system.

When asked about the increasing drop – out rates among the children of marginalized classes,most of them replied that mainly this was due to the lack of awareness and importance of

education among marginalized families. They also feel that child labour is a major reason, i.e.,

27 | P a g e



the child prefers to earn money by working rather than getting educated in school. This was alsodue to the fact that in a country like India which is overburdened with population pressure

education don not always lead to employment, i.e., people are still unemployed even though they

have qualifications. This discourages people from marginalized sections to send their children to

schools because they think that after investing on their education if they fail to get jobs it is better that they help in household chores from the very begging at least that would save their time ,

energy and money. Besides, there is always the problem of lack of facilities available tomarginalized sections. This is where the government fails to play its role. In spite of the prevailing provisions regarding education of children, the provisions are not implemented well

enough by the Government. Most of parents are illiterate and they cannot help their children in

studies, moreover they are not in the position to afford tuitions for their children. Hence they areat a disadvantaged position. Then there is also the transportation problem. Lastly the financial

constraint that the parents face, prevent them from sending their wards to school.

Some of the families say that the marginalized families are not interested to send their children to

school which has been proved wrong in this survey. Moreover the public education is in such a

condition that sending their children to such schools will not help them at all.

MIDDLE CLASS

About 86.6% of them go to private school where as 13.3% of them go to public school. Mostly

the parents do not send their children to public school because they believe that the quality of education in a public school is poor. Moreover the infrastructure facilities is bad and proper care

and attention is not given to the students. 60% of the families are happy with the quality of

education, 53.3% of them are happy with the co-curricular activities and 63.3% of them are

happy with the quality of education. The middle class is less satisfied about the functioning of the school in comparison to the parents sending their children to public schools because they are

more aware of their rights and expect more from the schools. Around 60% of the families send

their children to tuitions. All the families interviewed have domestic helpers and moreover outof them 60% of them send their children to public schools, 6.6% of them send their children to

private schools and 33.3% of them do not send their children to school at all.

The perception of the middle class parents and the affluent class parents were quite similar.

MARGINALIZED SECTION

Among the persons interviewed 55.5% of them were men and remaining 45.5% of them werewomen. 64.5% of the families sent their children to public school and rest 15.5% of them sent

their children to private school, so 20% of the children don’t go to school or have dropped out

from school. 55.5% of them sent their children to school because of proximity.

28 | P a g e



77.7% of them are happy with the education facilities, 73.3% of them are happy with the co-curricular activities, and 68 .8% of them are happy with the quality of teachers. So most of the

parents said that they were satisfied. This was probably because they were ignorant of the other

kinds of facilities that the child has the right to. Being in the condition that they are in, they

don’t really expect much from life in general and this is what leads them to give positive answersabout the schools which are in appalling conditions. Most of the children i.e., 55.5% of them

reach school by walking. Most schools do not provide mid day meals.

Focusing on the reason why parents do not send their children to school it was found out that

only 2. 2% of them do so because of irrelevant education. This proves that the marginalized

section are really willing to send their children to school and are working hard and doingeverything possible to educate their children and to hope to see them in the better condition than

the parents themselves. However, 11.1% of them cannot afford to send their children to school

because of not being able to afford the fees.

26.6% of the children who drop out work and earn money, where as 8.8% of them take care of

their family and siblings. When asked about the awareness to right to education 20% of them

preferred not to answer the question, showing their lack of awareness. Among the rest of them

57.7% of them are aware of the right to education and rest 22.2% of them are not and those whoweren’t were extremely surprised to know about such facilities.

Most of the schools do not have a regular systematic system of interaction between the students

and teachers, the parents have to take the initiative to talk to the teachers, the teachers wouldn’t

call them, unless the time at the end of the academic year when the report cards are handed over. None of the public schools provide the mid-day meals to the children, they have to take their

own tiffins. Most of the parents do have an idea of the mid day meal schemes, and a few were

also discussing amongst themselves about such a school which used to provide these meals but

have stopped doing so. Most of the parents gave no answer or just kept thinking when askedabout their concerns regarding the education system in India. The one who knew about it also

mentioned that there is a certain school that she knows of, they charge fees, but that is not for education but for the facilities and other charges of the school like electricity etc. so, in spite of free education, the students do pay to get educated.

In conclusion, the team derived that the marginalized sections are not always ignorant of theneed of their children’s education and rather do not get the required support from the state and

people at large to savour the benefits of education. They too, like any other parent want to get

their children educated and are trying hard to give a better future to their children. The educatedmiddle-class and affluent class still think on the lines that the poor don’t go to school because

they are unaware of the importance of education. When asked questions regarding the probable

reasons for the increasing drop out rates in the marginalized section, the team inferred from their

reactions that even if the affluent/ middle class are aware of the vulnerabilities of themarginalized section or but they are yet to play a very significant, proactive and empathetic role

in ensuring right to education for all children, irrespective of the existing divides!!!

The Government has a role with regards to making the education system more effective and

ensuring a more just and humane society. The operationalisation of the Right to Educationlegislation and increased rights awareness amongst people will make it possible and thrust

should be given on that- which will make the education system more accountable, transparent

29 | P a g e



and useful for all children. Hence, more emphasis should be given on making the educationsystem more rooted in reality and sensitive to the diversity in the Indian society.

ANNEXURES

QUESTIONAIRE: FORMAT 1 (AFFLUENT CLASS)

1. Name:

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2. Guardian: Father / Mother

3. Area: Rural/ urban (specify name of location if possible)

4. Number of children:

5. Gender of children/child and their age

Male(s)

Female(s)

6. What is the occupation of the parent or guardian?

7. What is his/her educational background? (parent)

8. Do the children go to a

Public school

private school

9. What is the name of the school?

10. Why was the school chosen to be the most suitable for children to go to?

Proximity

Reputation

No other choice was available

Other reasons(specify)

11. What is the fee structure of the school the child/children go to? What is the total amount

spent on their education inclusive of incidentals (incase the child/children, take tuitions,

transport, excursions, trips)?

12. Are you happy with the quality of teaching-learning process in the school (if No, then

why?) (try to get information as per fear free environment in school, teaching quality, learning

and co-curricular environment, inclusive atmosphere for children from all backgrounds/sections,

good performance of the school in various sectors (sports, cultural progarmmes etc..)

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13. How do your children travel to school?

Car pool Bus Public transport School bus

Others

14. Does the school have regular interaction with the parent? Are you aware of the progress

of the child, any school issues that the faculty is facing? Are you in touch with the teachers? ? Is

there a systematic process to interact?

15. How do the children/child study at home? Who teaches them/him/her at home?

Parent (mother or father)

Grandparents (grandfather or grandmother)

Tutor (home tutor)

Themselves

16. What do the children/child do in their/his/her spare time?

17. Since you have chosen to send your children/child to a private school. Why did you notsend him to a public school?(only in case of private school?)

18. What are your concerns about the education system in India? Do you see any faults in theway our education system functions?

19. Do you have domestic help/helpers?

Yes

no

20. Which school do the children of your domestic help/helpers go to?

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21. Are you aware of Right to Education? What is your take on the right to education?

(Check if they are aware of the meaning of fundamental rights, education being a fundamentalright, if they know that education till the age of 14 is free)

22. What are your hopes, what future do you see for your children/child?

23. Why do you think- that the children from the marginalized section of the society, do notgo to school or soon drop out and most of them don’t finish their education beyond class five?

QUESTIONAIRE : FORMAT 2( MIDDLE CLASS)

1. Name:



4. Number of children:

5. Gender of children/child and their age

Male(s)

Female(s)




Public school

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private school



Proximity

Reputation

No other choice was available

Other reasons(specify)


spent on their education inclusive of incidentals (incase the child/children, take tuitions,

transport, excursions, trips)?

12. Are you happy with the quality of teaching-learning process in the school (if No, then

why?) (try to get information as per fear free environment in school, teaching quality, learning

and co-curricular environment, inclusive atmosphere for children from all backgrounds/sections,

good performance of the school in various sectors (sports, cultural progarmmes etc..)


Car pool Bus Public transport

School bus Others


of the child, any school issues that the faculty is facing? Are you in touch with the teachers? ? Is

there a systematic process to interact?



34 | P a g e




Tutor (home tutor)

themselves


17. Since you have chosen to send your children/child to a private school. Why did you not

send him to a public school?(only in case of private school?)

18. What are your concerns about the education system in India? Do you see any faults in the

way our education system functions?

19. Do you have domestic help/helpers?

Yes

no

20. Which school do the children of your domestic help/helpers go to?

21. Are you aware of Right to Education? What is your take on the right to education?(Check if they are aware of the meaning of fundamental rights, education being a fundamentalright, if they know that education till the age of 14 is free)


23. Why do you think- that the children from the marginalized section of the society, do notgo to school or soon drop out and most of them don’t finish their education beyond class five?

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QUESTIONAIRE: FORMAT 3(MARGINALISED SECTION)

1. Name:



4. Gender of children/child?

Male(s)

Female(s)

5. Age of the children/child?




public

private school



Proximity

Reputation

No other choice was thought appropriate

Other reasons

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spent on their education inclusive of tuition fee (incase the child/children, take tuitions) (looking

into the awareness of the fact that education is a fundamental right and free)

12. Are you happy with the school infrastructure?(Toilet, drinking water, playground, ramp,

electricity, adequacy of teachers, schemes catering to specific sections of children in practice?

Text book and uniforms provisioning on time.) In references to the above the interviewee should

answer.

13. Are you happy with the quality of education, co-curricular activities and teachers?(if No,

then why?)


Bus

Public transport School bus

walk


of the child, any school issues that the faculty is facing? Are you in touch with the teachers?

16. Are you a member of PTA/ VEC/ SMC? What is its role?

17. Are you aware about mid day meals schemes?

18. Does the school provide mid day meals?

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Tutor (home tutor)

On their own

others


If the children/child does not, do not got to school .

21. Why? Focusing on the root cause of their issues of not sending the children/child to

school.( this needs to be asked to parents whose children/ child has never been to school but is of

school going age, or a drop out)

Fee

irrelevant education

distance

infrastructure in school

gender

disability/ teachers attitude

family too poor (hidden education expenditure they have to bear with)

Others. If others elaborate(discrimination/ abuse…).

22. Why did the children/child discontinue with their/his/her education?

23. What do the children/child do after he drops out of school?

Work, earn money.

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Marriage

Taking care of siblings, family

Others

24. What is your (parents) take when the child drops out? Do you allow her/ him to do so?

25. What are your concerns about the education system in India? Do you see any faults in the

way our education system functions?( try and find out how aware they are)

26. What do the children/child do in their/his/her spare time? (To find out about the leisure

activities, what they enjoy doing, what labour work, what liberties do they have etc.)

27. Are you aware about the right to education?

28. What is your take on the right to education? (Check if they are aware of the meaning of

fundamental rights, education being a fundamental right, if they know that education till the age

of 14 is free)


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REFERENCES

The Constitution of India

National Policy on Education, 1986

Right to education Bill, 2005

Child Labour( Protection and Prohibition) Act

Human Development Report 2007/2008-Country Fact Sheets-India

(URL: www.hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_IND.html)

Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan (URL: www.ssa.nic.in)

Articles :

o Our children may go to school, but do they really learn?-By Rukmini Banerjee

(URL:http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?

Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA5LzAxLzEz10FyMDE0MDA=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-

custom)

o The ‘poor’ condition of government school-By Mrinal Pandey

(URL: http://livemint.com/2009/01/12214943/The-8216poor8217-conditi.html)

o AGENDA Class Struggle- India Today

(URL: www.india-today.com/itoday/13101997/agenda.html)

o Education scenario and needs in India: Building a perspective

for 2025- By- Suman Sachdeva

(URL: www.planningcommission.nic.in/reports/sereport/ser/vision2025/edu2025.pdf )

40 | P a g e

http://www.hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_IND.html

http://www.ssa.nic.in/

http://livemint.com/2009/01/12214943/The-8216poor8217-conditi.html

http://www.india-today.com/itoday/13101997/agenda.html

http://www.planningcommission.nic.in/reports/sereport/ser/vision2025/edu2025.pdf

http://www.hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_IND.html

http://www.ssa.nic.in/

http://livemint.com/2009/01/12214943/The-8216poor8217-conditi.html

http://www.india-today.com/itoday/13101997/agenda.html

http://www.planningcommission.nic.in/reports/sereport/ser/vision2025/edu2025.pdf



o Social Exclusion of Scheduled Caste Children from Primary Education in India-

By Robert Jenkins & Eimar Barr, UNICEF

(URL: www.unicef.org/files/Social_Exclusion_of_Scheduled_Caste_Children_from

_Primary_Education_in_Indian.pdf )

o The Social Context of Elementary Education in Rural India

(URL:www.azimpremjifoundation.org/downloads/TheSocialContextofelementaryeducation in

ruralindia.pdf .)

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http://www.unicef.org/files/Social_Exclusion_of_Scheduled_Caste_Children_from%20_Primary_Education_in_Indian.pdf


http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/downloads/TheSocialContextofelementaryeducation%20in%20ruralindia.pdf








DISCLAIMER

This report has been compiled during six weeks of Internship with CRY (Child Rights and You)

Kolkata under the guidance of the Ms. Anupama Muhuri. The views that are put forth in thisreport are the perceptions and opinions of the interns’. The view point is not necessarily similar

to the organization’s view point and approaches.

Documents

PERCEPTIONS AND MYTHS ON THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN INDIA