Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Education

Supervisor

Srivastava, Prachi

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.

Summary for Lay Audience

India implemented the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), of which Section 12 (1) (c) states that private schools are required to reserve 25% of free seats for children of six to 14 years of age from weaker sections and disadvantaged backgrounds. There are many social groups under the disadvantage group category and one of which are the Schedule Castes, the most marginalized in Indian society. There is a gap in the literature as studies around the experiences of Scheduled Caste groups and free seats provision under the RTE Act are lacking.

This study aims to under Scheduled Caste experiences about the 25% reservation provision. The aim of the study is to examine issues related to freeship awareness, schooling access patterns, and schooling experiences. The study adopted a mixed methods approach, using survey and interview data from the larger Insights into Education research project. Survey data were gathered from 851 households in 2015 in one catchment area in Delhi. Interview data were gathered from 43 households from Schedule Caste groups in 2017. They were a sub-sample of the surveyed households successful in securing a freeship seat in 2015.

The analysis found that there was an association between income of the households and school management type as well as caste and school management type. It was also found that the reported household income and awareness about the free seats provision were related to each other. Also, caste and if the households were able to secure a freeship seat were related to each other. Households from Scheduled Caste backgrounds who were accessing private schools via freeships reported financial struggles, issues in helping their child with the academics, and perceived social differences in their interactions with parents and schools.

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