The Right to Education Act and Private Schools in Delhi, India: Experiences of Households from Scheduled Caste Groups
Abstract
Section 12(1)(c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) in India states that private schools are required to allocate 25% of seats for free to children aged 6-14 from weaker sections and disadvantaged groups until they complete elementary education. Scheduled Castes, who are amongst the most marginalized in India, are designated in the category of disadvantaged groups. There is a lack of research from the perspectives of Scheduled Castes households on education access and inclusion and on the RTE Act.
This study aims to understand the experiences of households from Scheduled Caste backgrounds. It examines issues of free seats provision awareness, schooling access patterns, and schooling experiences. This mixed methods study analyses survey and interview data from the larger, Insights into Education, research project. The survey data were gathered from 851 households in one catchment area in Delhi in 2015. The semi-structured interview data were collected in 2017 from 43 Scheduled Caste households who were successful in securing at least one private school under the free seats provision in 2015. The interview sample was drawn from the larger survey sample.
The study applies the Sen-Bourdieu analytical framework (Hart, 2019), which furthers the understanding of the developmental process of individual capabilities and the relevant role of education system. There was a significant relationship between caste and school management type, and income and school management type. There was also a significant relationship between income and freeship awareness, as well as between caste and freeship admission success of the households. There was not a significant relationship between income and freeship admission success of the households. Households reported financial strains, academic related challenges, and perceived social differences in interactions.