Missing Affirmative Actions

by Indra

May 8, 2006

The media is agog with the news of students of medical and other professional institutes all over the country protesting against the latest enhancement in reservation in institutes of higher learning. As it appears, the cabinet has deferred any legislation on reservations in private sector in favour of the industry’s proposal of volunteered affirmative actions for under-privileged categories of the society. However, the problems in our education and its support system remain elsewhere and that remain very acute.

• While enrolment ratio has improved, still more than 10 million kids in 5-14 years age group remain out of schools.
• Drop out rates are very high. In 2003-04, drop out rates for class I to X were 73.13% for SCs, 79.25% for STs, and 62.69% for general categories.
• A FICCI study points out that 40% SC and 60% ST vacancies remain unfilled in vocational institutes.
• At institutes such as IIT, recent studies say that less half the official quota was being filled with SC/ST students. In 90s, SC/ST students constituted only about 11 % of the total IIT strength. In 2001, IIT-Madras said, the institute was filling only 6.35 of the seats reserved for the SCs.

Do we require further enhancement in percentage or look into the reasons of the problems narrated above? What are the affirmative actions necessary to overcome this abysmal condition?

Perhaps as a first affirmative action, a nation wide promotion for the necessity of universal education with convincing reasoning is necessary. People at the bottom of the pyramid must know and be convinced that education is not only necessary to end poverty, it is possible too to get their children educated and finance is not a constraint. The parents must not consider the children just as extra hands to add to the household earning for their immediate ease in living. They must not consider expenses on education of children as expenditure but as one for building assets for future. Perhaps, what required more are the orientation and education of the parents.

Let me tell you my own experiences. I have a person living in a half built house next to mine. He is from Mahoba area in central India. He has three daughters and two sons. All the daughters are working as maid servants earning anything between Rs 600-Rs 1000 per month. His wife works as menial labourer at construction sites. He himself works as a security man on any construction site or as menial labourer as and when he gets jobs. Every time I find him in good mood, I try to convince him to send his sons to a school that is being run in Sai Temple. I convince him that the boys will get school dress, midday meal, as well as all books and learning aids. I also promise him to pay anything extra that he will require. Even after many sessions over last six months, I am still not successful in making him send his sons to schools.

Yamuna, my wife is attached with some social service group that works for the village school. She convinced my maid, Prema to send her two daughters to that school. She sent them too for few days, but then withdrew. She thought she is losing some regular monthly earnings. Now they assist her in different houses where she works.

Every day near the temple I stop and talk to the kids of these menial workers of Noida who collect there for getting ‘prasad’ or some even asks for money as alms from the visitors. Usually, we Indians feel great by offering these charities or Bhiksha. I have been convincing them to join school in the Sai Temple. But I have made no success till date. Unless the parents get convinced, press, and follow, the kids will not go to school. The schools and teachers also must come out with some innovative methods to attract them to schools and stick there. One such idea may be to create some creativity centres in each school that can interest the kids.

In 50s and 60s, the government took a drive for adult education. Perhaps, that is the most important thing to continue with. Unless the parents understand and get excited about the changing scenario of education for useful engagement, and the overall transformation happening in country, the spread of education will remain limited. They will not send their children for education. They hardly understand that just with the skill of communicating, the knowledge of English, one can get a good job today, such as one in call centers or retail stores.

For our ITIs, the qualification for entrance must only be aptitude and not the marks in class X or XII. For all the under-privileged class, the trade education must not only be free, but must offer compulsory stipends. Our industry must adopt these institutes and employ from them. Further, I wish all the industrial enterprises must see that the children of their employees get good education.

Bharati Group has announced a huge education scheme for rural India. As affirmative action, the group will open 200 primary schools in rural India. A number of other industrial houses are already having similar projects. I know about the projects of ITC, Wipro, and Infosys. Many more of the industrial houses must join the task of educating and skill creation of the next generation. Many religious institutions, such as RK Mission and temple trusts are also helping the cause. But the largest network of education is that of the government that covers the whole country and if made effective and efficient can transform the human resource requirement of the country. However, it requires drastic reforms.

With good primary education ensured, all the reservations can be done away with, if the politicians keep themselves out of this task.

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