RTE gets ‘marginalised’ in classroom: HRW report

The 77-page HRW report ‘They Say We’re Dirty: Denying Education to India’s Marginalised’ says instead of being brought into the education mainstream as envisaged, students from disadvantaged sections face discrimination, get segregated in class and are insulted in public.

“The discrimination takes various forms, including teachers asking Dalit children to sit separately or making insulting remarks about Muslim and tribal students, and village authorities not responding when girls are kept away from classroom. Teachers and other students often address children using derogatory terms for their caste, community, tribe, or religion. In some schools, children from vulnerable communities are not considered for leadership roles such as class monitor because of caste or community. Many are expected to perform unpleasant tasks like cleaning toilets,” says the report.

Schools in marginalised neighborhoods often have the poorest infrastructure and least trained teachers and many have fewer teachers than required, says the report.

Jayshree Bajoria, India Researcher at HRW and author of the report said, “India’s immense project to educate all its children risks falling victim to deeply rooted discrimination by teachers and other school staff against the poor and marginalized”.

“If schools are to be child-friendly, the government needs to send a strong message that discriminatory behaviour will no longer be tolerated and those responsible will be held to account…India’s political parties have focused on education during the election campaign. Whoever assumes office will need to do more to ensure children attend classes. An important law is set to fail unless the government intervenes now,” she added.

The report observes how, socially and economically disadvantaged children who require special attention and encouragement to remain in school are vulnerable to exclusion and denied right to a child-friendly and equitable environment promised under RTE. Poor monitoring resulted in children dropping out to get pushed into work or early marriage.

The report recommends more focus on retention of children in school till they are 14, a system to monitor and track all children from enrolment to the time they reach grade VIII, and a uniform protocol for identifying children who are out of school, have dropped out, or are at risk of dropping out.

HRW has also recommended clear indicators to improve detection of and response to discrimination.