Universal education is vital means for transformation of any backward society to a more equitable, egalitarian and democratic one. But due to a number of reasons, the scope of education has not been available to all and it still remains limited with elite few.
With emergence of nation State and constitutional governance, education has been identified as a fundamental human right to be ensured by the State equally for all its citizens.
Internationally the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948 and Convention on Rights of the Child (CRC),1989 recognises education as a human right for dignified life. The intuitional arrangement for higher education in India has increased from 605 institutions of higher education in 1950 to 23,505 in the year 2007-2008 as well an increase in enrolment. Though globally Indian universities are not featured as best performers with not even one Indian university figuring in the latest list of the top ten universities in the world, the Indian students are found in abroad, mostly in the US, Australia, the UK, Russian federations, New Zeeland, Germany, Canada and in about 80 countries. Indian students constituted about 1,77, 000 in 2007.
In spite of substantial progress of the country in higher education, the higher education access of marginalised groups such as SC, ST, OBC, and Muslims remain below national average. This has been a matter of concern and the ongoing privatization process has thrown a challenge in many ways.
In India, it is fact that historically there are communities which are being deprived of access to education and later on as part of reparation initiative, the State has ensured their education by making special provisions through law and State sponsored programmes. During the freedom struggles, the makers of modern India made a mission of spreading education among the masses, especially among the poor and deprived ones, by way of a number of private initiatives, involving people. The Constitution of India recognizes education as a fundamental right and after 60 years of the implementation of the constitution, the RTE Act 2009 came into force which speaks about universal, free and compulsory primary education. There has been continuation of low budgetary provision for education in the country in terms of its percentage of GDP in comparison to developed countries and backward States such as Odisha.
Way back the history of education in Odisha recalls the Puspagiri University which was centre of learning with students from abroad as mentioned by Huien Tsung the famous Chinese traveller of 7th century. The education development in Odisha has become visible during British rule with schools and colleges opened by missionaries in Cuttack in 1822. The present education status of State does not show a very promising picture from the prospective of the poor and marginalized which constitute a majority in the State.
Census of 2011 shows the literacy percentage of the State is below national average i.e. 73 per cent and 75 per cent respectively where as it is further less in case of women, SCs, STs, PTGs in the State. While the private educational institutions are mushrooming in urban locations of the State, the quality of education in primary and higher secondary level in Government run institutions has been challenged with lack of basic minimum such as teaching staff and infrastructure. There has been continuous strike by the Government run primary school teachers pressing for minimum salary and other social security benefits. This has been impacting over the school education system where mostly the poor and marginalized sections of rural area depend for education of their children. The dropout and child labour issues are continuing unabated. The dropout rate is higher in case of SCs and STs as well as a major chunk of child labour belongs to poor household of SC and ST communities primarily in rural areas. The weak primary education system in the State gives a very poor foundation to students depending on Government run schools in rural areas and that further weakens their participation in higher education. There has also very insignificant presence of SC and ST faculties in universities of the State and the campus are dominated by dominant caste groups without social inclusiveness. An all India survey of higher education report 2013-2014 on State wise number of teachers among various social categories says out of total 41,714 teachers in Odisha, there were 1,172 SCs and 451 STs and 4,597 OBCs. The survey covered 850 colleges and 21 universities which include one Central University, three institute of national importance, 12 State universities, three private universities and two deemed private university. The report says at all India level SC students constitute 13.2 per cent and ST 4.5 per cent of the total enrolment, 32.4 per cent student belong to Muslim minority and 2 per cent from other minority communities. The data shows inadequate representation of SCs and STs in higher education in spite of the policy of affirmative action by State.
Our society has unequal power equations based on gender, class, caste, race and geographical locations which determine the social status and opportunities to get education. So the State has to ensure balance for inclusive representation of all in building an egalitarian society. The State has a major role in promoting education as a process of distribution of knowledge and information. Knowledge is a creation of human society and it is the role of the State to see its judicious distribution among all its citizens while developing a political society based on modern political citizenship with equal rights and opportunities for all. The State creates scope of education out of public spending. It has to create scope for the poor and marginalized in an unequal society and give representation to them as matter of rights and ensuring inclusiveness in a diverse society.
The ongoing trend shows an increasing privatization of education in the country, including Odisha, where a number of private educational institutions, colleges, deemed universities with huge private investment and Government support have been coming up and education becoming a more and more expensive. This has been helping the upper class to avail hassle free entry to educational institutions by payment of donations. The low income groups mostly a major chunk of marginalized sections are not in a position to pay such huge donations, particularly for higher education, medical, engineering, management and information technology etc. The marginalized poor are availing relaxation only in Government run institutions for admission. The scholarship given to SC and ST students is very nominal in comparison to the total expenses for education.
The Government Odisha has denied higher education to the SCs and STs by depriving them of their legal right of availing reservation in all educational institutions run by Government and private bodies as per their percentage of population but it was only 8 per cent and 12 per cent for SCs and STs respectively till recent days. As per law in Odisha, the seat share should be 16.25 per cent for SCs and 22.5 per cent for STs. But this has been denied to them till April 2015 when a revision was made by the Government to implement such provision from the academic session 2015 -2016. Apart from reservation for students in admission, there has been very nominal stipend given to the SC and ST students. The educational institutions, class rooms and hostels are not a culturally inclusive space for SC and ST students who usually face social discrimination in many ways by the fellow students due to their subjugated social identity and poor economic status. Many of the students are first generation of learners who face all kinds of difficulties to cope with the situation dominated by upper class superiority and dominant cultural practices. The injected inferiority and discrimination lead to suicide of students in many educational institutions as reported by UGC. It has opened counselling centres for SC and ST students in universities to help them with all kinds of information and support. The educational institutions benefited by State should strictly follow the principles of inclusion in building an inclusive society as legal mandate and constitutional commitment in nation building. The State has to ensure equal opportunities for all its citizens while protecting the poor and marginalised from unfair competition.
(The writer is a researcher and rights activist, who can be mailed at manasbbsr15@gmail.com Mob -9437060797)
