This is the third part of the three-part series on ‘casteism in educational spaces’ as a part of the Justicemakers’ Writer’s Training Program, run in partnership with Agami and Ashoka’s Law For All Initiative. You can find the first and second part here and here.
__
Historically, formal education, be it literacy or higher education, was never accessible to certain sections of the Indian society. It remained a prerogative of the propertied and socially advanced i.e., the Savarnas.
“Dalits” are officially termed as the scheduled castes (SCs). For centuries, they have suffered from the practice of untouchability, leading to segregation in socio-economic spaces, a lack of political power and low literacy levels among Dalit communities. All these factors working together have seriously worsened the socio-economic mobility of Dalits.
India began its endeavour to establish a system of mass education to improve the educational status of Dalit students.
The propertied and privileged classes succeeded in tilting the approach in favour of dualism in education giving rise to the New Education Policy (1985), which brought in elite schools within the state. They actively encouraged the private sector which degenerated into the commercialisation of education.
Why Co-Educational Spaces Are The Way Forward
“According to me, the conflict originating in casteism can be removed by encouraging inter-caste marriages. Co-education should be introduced at the primary level and boys and girls should be given the opportunity to come together. This will lead to improvement of behaviour between different sexes simultaneously, with which casteism will be actively refuted.”
Mondal advocates for the creation of optional groups, through which the cooperative tendencies of people can be manifested. She believes that as and when such tendencies increase, casteism is bound to decrease as people will have the chance to express themselves outside their caste.
She further adds:
“Literary programmes must be taken up in campus as the caste feelings, which further perpetuate casteism, are more in rural areas. These feelings of casteism can be minimized by the provision of social education among rural population.”
Be it families, schools or mass media, all these social agencies must empowered to develop an inclusive and equitable outlook among children. This will in turn negate the feelings of casteism. For example, movies like “Pariyerum Perumal” and “Geeli Pucchi” create awareness about the ill-effects of caste system.
Fighting The Commercialisation Of Education
Commercialisation of education is no more a mere rhetoric, it is now an established fact. Commercial institutions offering specialised education, have come up in big way from big cities to small towns.
Their product prices are not only based on the demand-supply equation in the market, but are also manipulated by their promotional strategies.
The smartest way to uplift the Dalit community is to fight the caste supremacists among us. Here are some solutions to tackle this problem:
- Report caste supremacist crimes – Instances of social and economic exclusion in school and college campuses should not be treated lightly.
- Support affirmative action – We ought to encourage reservations, scholarships and educational loans. Also, we need affirmative action in private companies and workplaces.
- Respect Dalits for what we are and have been through – Listen to our stories and Dalit history. These narratives should be included in educational curriculums.
- Stop patronising Dalits – We don’t fall for politicians misusing us. We know who is looking out for us, and who is using us for political gains. Leaders need to do the work before they expect our support.
- Stop attempting to split Dalits in groups – I think that we should stop using terms like “Dalit” and “maha Dalit”. In my opinion, the term proposed by mahatma Gandhi (harijan) was far more positive.
Stop Blaming Us, Start Doing The Work
Make caste supremacists own up and take responsibility for the crimes they perpetrate. A social movement within the backward community to ensure that folks from the backward class are able to access education, is the need of the hour.
Also, we need the fleet of IAS officers, government officials, politicians, engineers, doctors and others from the SC community, to take on the responsibility of the upliftment of the deprived members of their community.
Within the community, those people who help fellow community members to gain respect, instead of those who “only” spread hatred, whether it is against temples, Brahmins or political parties. This can lead to a “big” mindset shift and will uplift the SC society significantly.
We need to build educational institutions and provide government services in places predominantly occupied by SC communities. The intention right now seems to be about scoring high marks in examinations, rather than carrying a student forward into higher education.
We need to question these traditional ideas around Indian education. Such apathy to the potential of the meaning of education results from attitudes that support education as an avenue to privilege, rather than a tool of empowerment.
Even within the educational spaces, there need to be support groups for students from the SC. These support groups will help students seek support from each other, mobilise for their concerns, and help each other sail through these spaces with flying colours.
If reservation is implemented in the truest sense, it can emerge as an effective solution to the problems of Dalits. Only then will we become truly independent, and not remain dependent on affirmative action for our empowerment.