The allegations of private schools denying children of rag pickers under the EWS category on the grounds of being “dirty” were found true in a survey conducted in the Ghazipur and Gharoli area of east Delhi.
The survey includes case studies of those whose children were denied admission purely because they were ragpickers. The condition is not only restricted to the ongoing nursery admissions but general admissions as well, the survey revealed.
According to the survey, there are around 800-900 families in Gharoli, but only children of around 400 families go to school. “Even these children go to Government schools. Not a single child from the area has been admitted to a private school. They are going to schools run by either the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) or the Government. The rest don’t even get into Government or DMC schools,” said a ragpicker who initiated this survey.
With the survey, these students have on record stated their experiences with private schools. “When we went to schools for admission, at the gate we were asked where we are from and what we do. The moment we gave our particulars they shooed us away. They said that there was no place for us in the school as ragpickers are dirty and unhygienic,” said a parent in the area.
In the Ghazipur area out of 250 families, only children of around 70 to 80 families go to school which are again either MCD or Government-run. Another parent said, while the survey was being conducted, that lame excuses were given to him by schools for rejecting admission. He said, “We were asked details about our family, way of living and how long we have been in Delhi. The moment they came to know that we had migrated to Delhi a couple of years back, they asked us to go away. They were looking for an excuse to shoo us away that’s why they asked us so many questions. Some schools didn’t even let us in and asked us to wait outside, away from the other crowd.”
People belonging to both these areas have now associated themselves with an NGO called Waste Picker Welfare Foundation which is now educating the children who didn’t get admission anywhere. However, there is no body which is looking into this discrimination. “This has been happening for years now and there is absolutely no sign of change. Ragpickers’ children are considered untouchables and dirty. That is why they are not even getting their right to education,” said a parent who for six years in a row hasn’t managed to get his child admitted in a school.