Abstract
According to the state government report, 4% of Scheduled Castes (SCs) population in Bihar is able to study up to the graduate level or above, and the representation of SC communities is negligible in senior positions in government jobs in the state. In this report, discrimination and poverty have been identified as a contributing cause for the current situation of SCs in Bihar. In this context, this study examines the level of discrimination and constraints that SCs students face at school and college levels in Bihar. The analysis done in this article is based on primary data collected from five districts, namely, Kaimur, Gaya, Siwan, Katihar and Patna of Bihar state. This study examines the level of achievements, constraints and discrimination faced by SCs students at different institution levels and identifies the reasons behind the existing situation. The study finds discrimination between SCs and Non-SCs students in case of use of service/ facilities available at educational institutions in Bihar, state. SCs students get less benefits from education, as they face problems related to classroom teaching and understanding. Considering these facts, the state government should provide free guidance/counselling, vocational training and capacity building classes to SCs students in Bihar.
Introduction
In a rapidly globalizing environment that is driven largely by the internet revolution, quality teachers and quality educational institution supply-demand gap, new technologies and an evolving marketplace that is constantly placing new demands for education by the society are some of the significant challenges that the education sector is facing in India at present. Here, the government is not only responsible for ensuring the right to education of its citizens but also for the right to quality and equal education. It requires a dramatic shift in mindsets and the introduction of substantive policy interventions that are innovative and immediate. According to the current statistics, more than 37% of Bihar’s current population is below the age of 14 (Census, 2011). At present, this is an opportunity for a state such as Bihar (demographic dividend), when compared to countries like China, Japan, Australia, Germany and many others who facing demographic uncertainty. However, age alone cannot be the only requirement for Bihar to emerge as the talent pool. In reality, unless the population, especially those that are marginalized, becomes employable, the demographic dividend will only rapidly convert them into a demographic liability for the whole country.
After the implementation of the RTE Act 2009, Bihar has been partially successful in providing access to education; however, it has not been able to ensure the quality of and equity in education for many of its students
1
(ASER learning trend 2012–2018
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). Considering
The report by the Government of Bihar (2012) also shows that persistent social backwardness and relatively disadvantaged economic status added with limited educational achievements have hindered the pace of SC/ST communities’ development in comparison to other social groups in Bihar. Over 90% of the total SC and Schedule Tribe (ST) populations live in villages. Two-thirds of SCs and STs in Bihar are poor, 71% of them are illiterate, and only 4% of SCs and STs in the state could manage to study up to graduation and above. The representation of SC and ST communities is negligible in senior positions (Government of Bihar, 2012). It has been advocated that exclusion and discrimination have been the main factors for low participation of SCs for attaining education. Against this backdrop, this article tries to present the level and nature of exclusion and discrimination that Schedule Castes (SC) (SC and SCs have been used interchangeably in this article) students face in schools and colleges in Bihar and their level of aspirations.
This article mainly discusses the nature and extent of exclusion among SCs in Bihar. This article is divided into five sections, excluding the introduction. The first section provides a detailed review of literature. The second section presents the sampling design and sample profile. The third section discusses about the differences in learning, performance, opportunities and aspirations between SC and non-SC students in Bihar. The fourth section presents the findings of observation from a village level survey. The fifth section provides the conclusion and policy suggestions.
Literature Review
Inequality in access to education/quality education between different social strata still persists, and at times, it widens, in spite of economic growth (Dennis, 2006; Halsey et al., 1980; Hauser & Featherman, 1976). Educational inequality remains unchanged until enrolment at a given level reaches the saturation point, which is estimated to be around 95% of the population completing that level of education (Raftery & Hout, 1993). This has been achieved in the case of primary and secondary education in India, but not in the case of college level education. The level of attendance is very low in institutions, the quality of education is very poor, and the number of dropouts are very high. The situation is more pathetic for lower castes and poor people in a state such as Bihar (Ram & Kumari, 1991). The caste discrimination, particularly in India, has been studied by many researchers. In a survey done by the National Sample Survey Organization in year 2005 (IER, 2014), 43 districts in India were found to have significant disparities in attendance rates and learning achievements between children from SCs and other backward classes (OBCs). Studies have also noted that physical distance to school and teacher’s discrimination are major barriers for children in India, particularly at the higher levels of middle and secondary schools, and they are of particular importance for SC children as they often live in hamlets, which are on the outer edge of the village. Besides, all reliable data at the micro-level related to the perception or levels of sensitivity of teachers to caste based discrimination are not available (Kabeer, 2011; Ramachandran, 2004).
The increasing number of private schools in rural and urban areas is also playing an important role in creating a divide between castes, as children from SCs cannot afford the cost of education for private schools as compared to the children from other castes. Studies show that the SC children predominantly attend government schools or alternative schools (Jha & Jhingran, 2005). The public school system is slowly turning into a system for SCs children alone (i.e., children of other castes attend private schools) (Jha & Jhingran, 2005). Overall, studies shows that characteristics and processes within the school, processes within the community, and household characteristics affect an SC child’s chance of accessing school, regularly in attending classes, completing and, ultimately, achieving a certain level of learning.
The above-discussed contributions of scholars provide a firm ground to assess the current extent of discrimination in education in Bihar, where the majority of SCs are poor and live in rural areas. It is also important to understand why SC students are not continuing education in Bihar and how access to private tuitions/schools have affected SC children’s education in Bihar. Thus, the objectives of the study were (a) to explore the socioeconomic situation of students, (b) to understand the forms of discriminations among the students and (c) to assess the facilities that they availed and the problems they face in education in Bihar.
Caste Discrimination in Bihar: Secondary Data Findings
Bharti (2018) in his work entitled ‘Wealth inequality, class and caste in India, 1961–2012’ showed how inequality has grown across castes in India. The marginalized caste groups such as the SCs, STs earn much less than the national average household income of ₹113,222. However, this article does not provide details on caste-wise inequality across states of India. However, one can understand that the situation may be more difficult in a state such as Bihar. According to the report by NSSO (2015), the monthly per capita income of SC households in Bihar was the second lowest in India. On the other hand, data on crime against SCs based on the crime report of the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) shows that Bihar reported the second highest number of crimes against SCs in India. In most cases, an FIR was registered for simple hurt, trespass, mischief, use of abusive language/acts, criminal intimidation, etc. This may be an indicator of the existing level of social division in Bihar. Here, one can see positive changes in crime against SCs in Bihar in recent years (Table 1).
Crime/Atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SCs)—2014–2016.
Between 2014 and 2016, crimes against SCs have reduced in Bihar. The crimes against SCs has reduced at higher rate in Bihar in comparison to that in India. Nevertheless, Bihar contributes 14% in total crime against SCs in India. In case of cognizable crimes, the rate is significantly higher in Bihar than India’s (20.6%). However, it has been widely accepted across society that the government interventions are resulting in decrease of caste discrimination in Bihar. Schemes such as JEEViKA are not only economically empowering them but also promoting education of their child. Their active presence in education systems is reducing the level of discrimination in Bihar. However, we found a mixed picture of discrimination in educational institutions in Bihar. Thus, it is important to assess the level of caste discrimination in educational institutions in Bihar. In this article, we have covered the discrimination at the student’s level.
Sampling Design
Selection of Sample Households and Educational Institutions
This study is based on primary data collected from Bihar. The aim of the primary survey was to identify discrimination among students in Bihar, especially with respect to SCs. We have collected information at two levels: (a) the institution level and (b) the household level. Responses have been collected from teachers and students at the institution level and children’s guardians at household level. The state of Bihar has 38 districts. However, for the primary survey, we have used the stratified random sampling method to select samples (can be seen in Figure 1). Districts were selected in a manner so that they could represent Bihar in terms of socioeconomic conditions and other important variables. Our main consideration was to identify factors responsible for low literacy in SCs when compared to non-SCs, and hence, we emphasized on selecting those districts for the primary survey where the population of SCs was on both sides, higher and lower. To understand the educational dynamics, we also gave due consideration to the literacy rate (district wise literacy rate of SC population can be seen in Figure 2) and selected districts where literacy among SCs was on higher side and also where literacy among SCs was on lower side. In the first stage, all districts were categorized into four parts: (a) High population and high literacy (HPHL) district: districts having high share of SCs population in total population than the state’s average and districts having high SC literacy percentage than the state’s average (first common district
In the second stage, within districts blocks were categorized into three parts and three blocks were selected (one block from each part) from each selected district. In each district, one block of 4,000–10,000 population and, one block of 10,000 and above population were selected on random basis. The average method and 45% distance from the average population method were used in those cases where population of all blocks was more than 10,000. In such cases, we selected one block (on random basis) above the average at the 45% distance and one block (on random basis) where the population was below the average at the 45% distance. For cases where only one block was found in the range of 4,000–10,000 population, they were selected without following any method and in second 45% rule was applied. The third one was the block of district headquarter, which was selected without choice from each district. In the third stage, three villages were selected from each selected block on the basis of SC population. Villages were categorized into two parts; one where the SC population was 45% higher than the total village average SC population (at block level), and one where the SC population was 45% lower than the the total village average SC population (at the block level). The village of block headquarter was also selected for the survey from each block. Villages having a population of more than 300 SCs (expecting 50–100 villagers can migrate) were only taken into consideration. In the fourth stage, within the village ward where 50% of the population were SCs were taken into consideration, and in some cases, samples were selected from two wards on random basis, and non-SC sample households were selected from the adjoining ward/wards. Finally, 25 SC and 10 non-SC households were selected from each village. Separate lists of primary/upper primary schools and secondary schools of selected locations were prepared.
In case of primary/upper primary and secondary schools, two government institutes and one private institute were selected on random basis from each block for survey. In case of higher education, we were not able to find private colleges or government colleges at block levels for some blocks, and thus, the actual sample size is different from the expected sample size. Colleges were selected on the basis of availability of colleges in blocks. Students were selected from 6th class in the upper primary case, 9th class in the secondary case and from BA second year in the college case. 9 SC and 3 non-SC students were interviewed from each institution. Students were selected randomly from the first bench, the second bench and the third bench of the respective classes. In cases where we did not find the required number of students in respective classes, we skipped that school first, and if no other option was available, then we proceeded towards class 7th in the case of upper primary, 10th in the case of secondary school and BA third year in the case of college level. If the number of schools/colleges were not sufficient in one block, then we doubled it in the next block. Overall, in some cases, we could not find the appropriate number of samples (of different categories) for survey on time/place; hence, the actual number of sample households/institutions/students/teachers are less than the expected sample size.
It was expected to collect information from three teachers (one SC and two non-SC) from each type of institution. Unfortunately, we could not receive responses from some teachers; therefore, the actual sample size is different from the expected sample in the case of teachers in our study. Thus, in this study, information was collected using well-structured schedules. Out of the total 1,116 SC students (Table 2), around 27% were pursuing higher education.
Final Selected Sample of the Study.
Sample Students’ Profile
We have covered three major levels of education, from primary to higher education, in our survey. However, we have gathered information on several issues. Here, in this article, we have addressed issues like social background of SC and non-SC students, facilities availed by students and the level of discrimination faced by students in the relevant educational institutions, both in private and government/government aided institutions in Bihar. A total of 1,488 students were selected for the survey, which included 1,116 SC students and 372 non SC students. The majority of SC students were in the age group of 9–14 in the upper primary school case, 12–17 in the secondary school case and 17–22 in the college case (Table 3). It is expected that normally SC students join the education system at older age than the non-SC students. However, we did not find such a situation in the case of selected students in Bihar.
Age Profile of Sample Students (Age/Age group in years).
The age of the households’ head also plays a major role in their children’s education. In the case of Bihar, most of the sample students reported ‘father’ as head of their respective household. In our sample, Figure 3 shows that guardian’s (households head) illiteracy was higher in SC than in non-SC households. In the case of secondary and college education, comparison of distribution of household head’s occupation/business also shows another social dynamics of Bihar. It is expected that good jobs (occupation) provide better income to households, and thus, it promotes healthy environment at home. A healthy environment being available for students at their home also depends on the households’ economic situation, and the economic situation is directly linked with the types of occupation of the household head’s. Figure 4 shows distribution of samples as per occupation of households’ head. In cases of upper primary students, secondary students and college students, a majority of the SC households’ heads were either working as non-agricultural labour or as wage labour. In the case of government jobs, most of SC student’s household heads were working in grade III or grade IV jobs. Overall, these situations show that in terms of the quality of occupation, non-SC students’ household heads were economically better placed than SC household heads.
Discrimination in Bihar
Difference in Learning, Performance and Opportunity among Scheduled Castes and Non-Scheduled Castes Students in Bihar
One of the persistent issues that always attract attention of Dalit thinkers is the level of discrimination in educational institutions in India. Such issues attract attention of the media when it occurs in colleges or universities. Unfortunately, we do not give much attention to what is happening in primary or secondary schools in a state such as Bihar. In our survey, we have covered several aspects of problems and discrimination faced by SC students; thus, in this article, we have covered aspects related to learning and discrimination faced by SC students in Bihar for analysis purpose. Generally, we found low discrimination at the level of facility in any institution between SC and non-SC students in Bihar. Currently, the government is also following a bottom-up approach in providing access to public services. Also, it has been widely accepted that the economic empowerment of SC households is essential for making society inclusive and sustainable. But, recent news report also confirms that discrimination is still present among castes in India and in a state such as Bihar. This used to be very high in the educational institutions. It is a well-recognized fact that education is a medium that can empower someone to cross the minimum equilibrium trap, and hence, education has been a point of exclusion in India for a long time. It has been found that the SC community is facing problems not only in the case of access to education but also in the case of use of services. It can be seen that in the same class, some students are getting more benefit than the other. One can find that this division is also based on caste differences. Thus, assessing the level of understanding of classroom teaching among students is also important, as it also indicates the level of discrimination faced by students from marginalized community in any society, including Bihar.
In this article, we have tried to cover how discrimination is present in educational institutes of Bihar in terms of getting benefits from the education system. Figure 5 shows that a higher percentage of SC students reported problems in understanding classroom teaching than non-SC students in primary schools in Bihar. It was also felt during field survey that teachers were not very much responsive to guardians of SC students, which may be because the guardians of SC students had lower levels of literacy and low awareness about the quality of education. It was also felt that in areas where civil society organizations were not active for educational improvement of deprived communities, SC in Bihar were facing problems related to caste discrimination comparatively higher than their counterparts. SC students also reported problems in understanding subjects (mostly maths) as responsible factors for low classroom teaching understanding. This problem was highly reported by SC students than by non-SCs students. In comparison to non-SCs students, SCs students were less responsive towards questions asked by their teachers. This shows that SCs students require special attention.
Figure 5 also shows that regularity was higher in non-SC students than in SC students in primary schools. This also may be one of the possible reasons for low understanding among SC students in Bihar. In the case of responsibility given to students, only 28% of SCs students reported that they were ever given responsibility of monitoring in any class of their school. Moreover, 41% of non-SCs students reported that they were given responsibility of monitoring in class of their school. In other cases given in Figure 5 we did not find much difference between SC and non-SC students in Bihar. It may be true that discrimination is not visible in the case of delivery of services in institutions like schools in Bihar, but the nature of discrimination has changed. Here, a serious question is whether the analysis in this form shows the existing discrimination.
Figure 6 shows differences in learning, performance, and opportunity among SCs and non-SCs in secondary schools in Bihar. We found significant differences in terms of learning between SC and non-SC students in Bihar. Around 80% of SC students reported problems in understanding classroom teaching in secondary school. Around 67% of SC students reported problems related to subjects. The interaction between teachers and students was lower in the case of SC students. In the case of opportunity, we also found differences between SC and non-SC students in Bihar. Discrimination may be a possible reason for low learning outcome among SC students in secondary schools in Bihar.
Figure 7 shows differences in learning, performance and opportunity among SC and non-SC students in colleges in Bihar. In the case of higher education (college), we found low gap between SC and non-SC students in Bihar. In the case of special assignment/duties and teacher-student interaction, we found differences between SC and non-SC students in colleges. We found low regularity in class among SC students and also among non-SC students in the case of college education. But, this aspect was higher in the case of SC students than in non-SCs students in colleges of Bihar. We also found significantly better learning outcome in colleges for both categories, but there was low regularity in college education in Bihar. Here, special attention is required in the case of higher education to increase regularity in attending classes among students.
Discrimination Faced by Students in Bihar
Discrimination has many dimensions. It also depends on the place and nature of work. It is really difficult to understand caste discrimination in a state like Bihar, especially after government’s initiatives and affirmative actions. However, the nature of discrimination has changed significantly in state. The discrimination faced by students in educational institution also affect their capability and capacity to grow. It also affects their learning outcomes. Thus, it is important to assess the level of discrimination faced and felt by SC students in Bihar. In this subsection, an assessment of discrimination faced/felt by students in terms of level of social networking in Bihar is discussed.
Here, Figures 8–10 show the level of discrimination for SC students in terms of their size of social network. We asked questions related to the acceptance of SC students among non-SCs students and their family members. We have presented here major findings of questions related to discrimination. We asked students to report the number of their total friends they had that time. In terms of social network access, both categories of students were found to be equal. This shows that among students, the level of inclusion was higher. It was observed during field survey that they used to play games together and attend classes in education institution; thus, they did not practice discriminative behaviour with each other. We also asked questions to know the level of inclusion between students of different castes, such as home visit by their friends from both categories. We did not find any major gap between SC and non-SC students in this case. Comparison of the different levels of educational institution (primary, secondary and college) shows that the level of inclusion was lower among students of primary and college level than among students of secondary school. In most cases, students reported ‘fear’ as a reason for low assimilation between SC and non-SC students.
Access to and Use of Facility
The analysis of access to facilities available in institutions is discussed in this subsection. It was found that access to water and playground was normally the same in all educational institution, except for few. But there were differences in terms of availability of library and computers in different institutions. Here, we have categorised category-wise differences in the case of access to facility and use of facility in Bihar. Figure 11 shows that in all three cases (upper primary, secondary and college level), access to library was greater for non-SC categories of students than for SC categories of students. We found a similar response in the case of access to computer in different institutions. But, we found a positive situation that the use of library by SC students was higher than that by non-SCs students. The use of computer was higher among students of non-SC categories in secondary and primary schools in Bihar.
Aspirations among Students in Bihar
In recent years, the government of Bihar is emphasizing on reduction of the level of caste-wise discrimination in the state. The government is also emphasising on increasing enrolment of students in educational institutions and providing financial support to students from marginalised castes. On the other hand, there is discrimination between SC and non-SC students in terms of access to benefits and use of benefits. Thus, it is expected that all these have significant impacts on the aspiration of students in Bihar. In this subsection, we have analysed the level of aspiration related to the continuation of education in different categories of higher classes of students from both categories of students. We found that there were differences in response of students from both groups only in the case of education up to PhD level. In other cases, we did not found any significant gap between both groups of students. Thus, it seems that there is a positive impact of governments’ initiative and social and economic progress on the level of aspirations of SC students in Bihar (Figure 12).
Observation from Village Level Survey
In the backdrop of the objectives mentioned in this article, we would like to bring certain recent observations of village level schools of Arwal district of Bihar (discussion with guardians of children, school teachers of the concerned schools). We observed inequality among SC and non-SC students in terms of regularity in schools, understanding of classroom teaching, access to books, use of library, access to private tuition/coaching, access to TV at home, use of smartphones and aspiration for higher studies. The absentee rate is very high among SC students (around 70%–90%). The quality of education is poor as there was lack of innovative practice of teaching (like no use of maps in geography classes, no use of geometrical equipment in mathematics classes, no games classes, no use of practical sessions by science teachers), low interest of ad-hoc school administration authorities for quality improvement, no content update for smart classes and lack of motivation among children from the parents. We observed that there was no correlation between attendance and scholarship and other benefits in schools (due to political compulsions and COVID-led issues). We learned from the observations that providing scholarship and other benefits are not the solution to the quality/regularity aspect of education in Bihar. The overall assessment of students shows that the performance of students also depends on access to private tuition facilities including other factors. Students from SC community do not attend classes regularly due to their engagement in household chores/business activities/other economic activities of families and low understanding due to a two-way relationship between high absentee and other factors. Guardians of children reported that their child cannot read a sentence properly and cannot add numbers. The deteriorating quality is forcing guardians to send their children to private tuition centres. But the access to private tuitions/coaching was lower among SC students than among others. The economic conditions of guardians of SC students are not good; this also explains the low performance of SC children. The poor performance of children is one of the major reasons that the drop-out rate of SC children is high in Bihar. Also, hidden discrimination is present in the minds of upper caste families in Bihar.
Summary and Policy Suggestion
The analysis leads us to rethink on the issue that discrimination in educational institution is affecting the level of presence of SC students in educational institutions of Bihar, state. Here, it is also a matter of serious research regarding how to reduce discrimination among SC and non-SC students in educational institutions in Bihar. We found discriminations in terms of use of services/facilities. SC students were getting low benefit of education, as they were facing problems related to understandings of classroom teaching. This issue requires special attention. Government should provide free guidance-counselling, vocational training and capacity building classes to SC students. Modern equipments like computer play an important role in the present education system. It was found that the use of facilities like computers were higher among non-SC students in Bihar. This also creates discrimination among SCs and non SCs students in the state. Here, access to modern equipments may be ensured by the government in the case of SC students and government schools in Bihar. Some behavioural modification programme should be organized in educational institutions to make faculty, teachers and staff more sensitive towards SC students.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: The authors duly acknowledge the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) for providing technical and funding support for this study.