4 - Caste and Unequal Schooling: Does Accessibility Ensure Educational Equality?

Does educational access overcome caste background? Does the provision of access to school ensure equality in education? The paper argues that accessibility and equality are not synonymous when it comes to education in India as the caste-based structural barriers largely exclude the marginal communities. In India, equality is central to the question of educational debate, and the discourse is largely centered around the struggle of marginalized communities to access education. Lower caste, as well as Dalits (formerly ex-untouchables) were denied educational rights, and, as such, put at the margins of society. This denial depicts their marginalized condition as a community, which continues to prevail across the educational landspace. The question of educational equality in the contemporary period remains persistent as the phenomenon of unequal schooling, subtle discrimination, and dropping out occurs mostly among marginalized communities. The paper specifically looks into the different processes of marginalization that operate through differential schooling and lack of educational resources. Based on primary data from two districts of Uttar Pradesh, Deoria and Kushinagar, the paper argues that equal participation in education remains elusive for Dalit students as caste status, school choice, and parental occupation, each reinforcing the other, creates caste barriers and perpetuates educational inequality.