critically discuss about equalization of educational opportunities in india

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Equalization of Educational Opportunities (with Indian context)

After independence, India formulated the goal of equalization of opportunity in education and employment because India believed in democratic philosophy. According to the Indian Constitution, every individual should have equal opportunities for getting education, no matter which race, religion, culture, sex, caste etc. Regarding equalization of educational opportunity, the report of the Education Commission 1964-66 states, “One of the important social objectives of education is to equalize opportunities, enabling the backward underprivileged classes and individuals to use education as a lever for the improvement of their condition”. According to NPE-1986, equalization of education means “to provide for equal opportunity to all not only in access but also in the conditions for success”.

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Original research article, an overview of educational inequality in india: the role of social and demographic factors.

• 1 Department of Migration and Urban Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, India
• 2 Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
• 3 EMS & DE, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, India

Objective: To assess the change in the level of educational inequality and the contribution of social factors and demographic factors.

Data source: Three rounds of National Sample Survey viz. 64th (2007–2008), 71st (2014), and 75th (2017-2018) have been used.

Methods: Education Gini is used to study the extent of educational inequality over the time period. Decomposition method is used for "within-group" and “between group” inequality. Tobit regression model is utilized to study factors influencing average years of schooling (AYS). Finally, regression-based Shapley decomposition method is used to identify factors contributing in educational inequality.

Results: The level of AYS has improved over the period and reached to 7.7 years in 2018. Further, the level of educational inequality gone down between 2007 and 2018, but the Gini indices are still concentrated around 38%. Decomposition of the Gini and Shapley regression approach indicates that the within-group component and rural-urban division contribute the most to educational inequality. Tobit model signifies that digital exposure, household occupation, wealth quintile, and household size play a key role in determining educational attainment.

Conclusion: The paper underscores the improvement of education in rural areas by focusing on school infrastructure, e-learning, educational quality, and parent involvement.

Introduction

Education has been a long-known important factor for human development, contributing to the betterment of individuals significantly by ameliorating the level of remuneration and living standards through raising skills and self-determination. It has been documented that educated parents can influence the prosperity of future generations, as they can provide better education and healthier lives to their children ( Dreze and Sen, 2002 ; Agrawal, 2014 ). Education generates positive externalities which in turn affects the welfare of society ( Tilak, 2008 ). Further, enhancing the participation in schooling compels numerous reasons, such as indicators of wellbeing which are health outcome/condition, fertility, nutritional level, and infant mortality ( Cochrane, 1979 ; Behrman, 1996 ; Lewin, 2011 ). Notably, current competition among different countries, states, and regions for foreign and domestic investments mainly depends on the proportion of the workforce who have at least achieved a basic level of education ( Lewin, 2011 ). Maksymenko and Rabbani (2008) state that there is a positive relationship between education and economic growth. Similarly, there is a strong correlation between educational quality and an increase in GDP per capita ( Sebastien, 1999 ; Hanushek and Kimko, 2000 ). In addition, improving education is also important for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs-4), which accentuates comprehensive and better quality of education for all and encourages prolonging learning by the year 2030 ( Government of India, 2018 ).

According to the Census of India 2011, the younger population aged 0 to 14 years contribute around 39.5% of the total population, while the population aged 0 to 4 years share 9.7% of the total population. Considering this large population, providing equitable access to education is a big task for any policy maker, especially when most of the population belongs to middle-income and poor families. Moreover, the sluggish improvement in educational attainment has always been a long-known issue for our country. For instance, in the year 2001, the number of illiterates in the country was quite high compared to the total population at the time of independence. Roughly 350 million of this illiterate population were the direct result of poor performance of the policies and funding patterns persisting since the second Five-Year Plan ( Mehrotra, 2012 ). Nonetheless, later in 2004, an upsurge in the level of schooling was detected, although the share of illiteracy remained relatively high ( Pieters, 2011 ). The percentage of schooling was increased by two to three times in all the states except Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Tripura. Additionally, educational attainment is prominently higher in urban India compared to its rural counterpart ( Asadullah and Yalonetzky, 2012 ). Lack of schooling and illiteracy among females was substantially higher with a differential of 24% found in 2001. Previous studies have documented that there is significant progress in educational enrolment. Noteworthy universal educational enrolment among children aged 6 to 10 years is detected, but at the same time, illiteracy levels are moderately higher, particularly in rural India and female children, which may be associated with unabated dropout rates ( Chatterjee et al., 2018 ).

In 1968, the Government of India articulated its first National Policy on Education (NPE), while the second and third policies were enacted in 1986 and 1992, respectively. These policies have mainly focused on radical restructuring, special weightage to the eradication of discrepancies, equalizing education opportunities, and establishing a common minimum program. Thereafter, the Right to Education (RTE) bill was enacted in December 2002, as the Indian parliament passed the Constitution 86th Amendment Act, and also inserted Article 21A in the list of fundamental rights which states that “the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all the children aged 6–14 years in such a manner as the State may, by law, determine” ( Mehrotra, 2012 ). The bill aims to provide universal access to elementary education up to the threshold of secondary school for children aged 6 to 14 years. Following the success of RTE, the Government of India has planned to organize a nationwide program that mainly highlights universal access to elementary education. For this purpose, the Integrated Childhood Development Scheme (ICDS) was formulated which also involves the Mid-day meal Scheme, which has boosted the level of preschool education among children. Under ICDS, the number of children belonging to 3 to 5 + years has increased from 16.7 million to 35.3 million in 2012–2013 ( NUEPA, 2014 ).

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is another program that was brought into the picture to universalize primary education. It builds on the successful level programs of the 1990s to increase enrolments rapidly in the lower primary grades, especially for Empowered Action Group (EAG) states ( Government of India, 2002 ; Prakash, 2008 ; Govinda and Bandyopadhyay, 2010 ; Ward, 2011 ). The latest report of the National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA) suggests that this program contributed to significant progress in improving school enrolment. During the 11th Five Year Plan, the government has supplemented SSA with a new program designed to universalize access to secondary schools called Rashtriya Madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). However, despite great efforts, only a small proportion of the population in India is enrolled in secondary education compared to Russia, Brazil, China, and the other BRIC countries ( Lewin, 2011 ). The reason for poor enrolment at the secondary level is the lack of attention of NPE, RTE, and SSA on the quality of education at government schools. The RTE and SSA are formulated to universalize elementary education by emphasizing the parameters such as infrastructure, teacher qualification, and curriculum design ( Banerji and Mukherjee, 2008 ). However, RTE failed to focus on the learning parameters, whereas NPE struggled with poor design flaws and improper implementation due to which the marginalized and economically weaker section of society has to deal with a poor quality of education ( Bhatty and Weekly, 2014 ). Mehrotra (2012) pointed out that the Indian education system was half a century behind in legalizing universal schooling for children aged 6 to 14 years within 10 years of independence.

Previously, many studies have given a snapshot of educational attainment in India ( Gandhi Kingdon, 2002 ; Chamarbagwala, 2008 ; Govinda and Bandyopadhyay, 2010 ; Velaskar, 2010 , 2012 ; Asadullah and Yalonetzky, 2012 ; Agrawal, 2014 ; Kugler and Kumar, 2017 ; Chatterjee et al., 2018 ). Most of these studies have described the overall picture of educational attainment discussing the level of educational attainment at the national and state levels. Very few studies have worked on educational inequality in India which is based on the proportion of the population by their education level using the education Gini method and Lorenz curve ( Pieters, 2011 ; Asadullah and Yalonetzky, 2012 ; Agrawal, 2014 ). These studies have pointed out that the major factors attributing to educational inequality are gender, place of residence, and social and religious groups. However, these studies have used a very old dataset to present education inequality and did not elucidate major contributing factors. Studies done internationally have emphasized education inequality through the Gini method as well as factors contributing to this inequality ( Yang et al., 2014 ; Yu et al., 2015 ; Mesa, 2007 ; Picard and Wolff, 2008 ). For example, the study by Yang et al. (2014) decomposed the education Gini and found that the greatest contributing factor to educational inequality in China is the place of residence and social stratification division. The study by Mesa (2007) shows that in the Philippines, the education Gini coefficient has decreased over the last two decades, however, there are still wide disparities across regions and among provinces. Using Education Gini and decomposition method, the international literature have found regional and social stratification as the major factor for educational inequality. Therefore, deviating from the previous Indian literature and following international research, the current study aims to understand factors affecting educational attainment in India. Then, the aim is to assess the change in the level of educational inequality and the contribution of social factors (e.g., gender, place of residence, caste groups, and religious groups) attributed to inequality over the period.

Research design

Data sources.

The study utilizes unit-level information from household surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) in India. NSSO conducts the national survey on “Social Consumption: Education,” which is the primary source of data on various indicators of the education scenario of the country, like literacy rates, attendance ratios, incentives received by students, expenditure incurred for education, and so on. This is very important for planning, policy formulation, and decision support as input for further analytical studies by various Government organizations, academicians, researchers, and scholars ( NSSO, 2008 , 2014 , 2018 ). The present study focuses on three rounds of NSS viz. 64th (2007–2008), 71st (2014), and 75th (2017–2018).

The NSSO collects information on education from participants aged 5 to 29 years. Then, it classifies the information on the educational attainment of an individual into one of the following categories: not literate; literate without any schooling; literate without formal schooling: through NFEC, though TLC/AEC, and others; literate with formal schooling: below primary, primary, upper primary/middle, secondary, higher secondary; and diploma/certificate course (up to secondary), diploma/certificate course (higher secondary), diploma/certificate course (graduation and above), graduate, and postgraduate and above ( NSSO, 2018 ).

The NSSO surveys are nationally representative household surveys that follow a multistage stratified sampling design. The census villages (Panchayat wards in the case of Kerala) in the rural areas and Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks in the urban areas are the first stage units (FSU). The ultimate stage units (USU) are households in both rural and urban areas. In the case of large FSUs, one intermediate stage of sampling is the selection of two hamlet groups (hgs)/sub-blocks (sbs) from each rural/urban FSU ( NSSO, 2018 ).

Methodology

This section discusses the indicators and methods of statistical analysis used in the study. As this study discusses educational inequality in India, the average years of schooling (AYS) for children aged 18 years and above is taken as an indicator of educational attainment. However, NSS data does not provide information on years of schooling. So, the AYS can be estimated using the official years of schooling (YOS). The Indian education system is divided into seven levels, that is, No schooling, below primary, Primary, Middle, Secondary, Higher Secondary, and Graduate and above. The years of schooling for each level are presented in Table 1 .

Table 1 . Educational attainment levels.

The years of schooling shown above can also be calculated using the following formula adopted from Thomas et al. (2001) .

Suppose y is the year of schooling then:

• No schooling y1 = 0

• Below primary y2 = y1 + 0.5Cp = 0.5 Cp

• Primary y3 = y1 + Cp = Cp

• Middle y4 = y3 + Cm = Cp + Cm

• Secondary y5 = y4 + Cs = Cp + Cm + Cs

• Higher Secondary y6 = y5 + Chs = Cp + Cm + Cs + Chs

• Graduation and above y7 = y6 + Cg = Cp + Cm + Cs + Chs + Cg

Where Cp, Cm, Cs, Chs, and Cg are the completed levels of school for primary, middle, secondary, higher secondary, and graduation and above, respectively. Therefore, average years of schooling will be calculated as follows:

AYS = Average Years of Schooling

HS ai = Proportion of the population in age group a for which the level of education i is the highest level attained.

YS ai = Official duration of the level of education l for age group a at the time when this age group was in school/college.

Thus equation (1) provides the population-weighted average of AYS for each age group a.

The education Gini is the second indicator, which provides the extent of educational inequality in India. Ram (1990) mentioned in their study that the extent of educational inequality can be calculated using a standard deviation of years of schooling, but this method only calculates the dispersion of schooling distribution. The method of calculating education Gini is different from traditional Gini ( Thomas et al., 2001 ). The estimation of the Gini is based on years of schooling, which is a discrete variable, not a continuous variable. Moreover, the traditional method which most often uses income data does not have a lower or upper boundary, while in the case of years of schooling, it has both a lower (zero) and upper boundary (17 years). Therefore, the present study uses the method suggested by Thomas et al. (2001) to calculate the education Gini based on educational attainment data.

Where E L is the education Gini based on educational attainment distribution, large population; μ is the average years of schooling for the concerned population; pi and pj stand for proportions of the population with certain levels of schooling; y i and y j are the years of schooling at the different educational attainment levels; and n is the number of levels in the attainment data.

The education Gini coefficient has a value that varies between 0, indicating perfect education equality, and 1, indicating perfect education inequality. The education Gini is presented by the educational Lorenz curve using the information of all three rounds of NSSO.

Decomposing educational inequality using Gini coefficient

The inequality can be segregated into “within-group (intra-group)” and “between-group (inter-group)” inequality and can be done using the decomposition method. Gini coefficient decomposition includes two main approaches: one is decomposition by subgroups and calculation of between-group contribution and within-group contribution, such as population between rural and urban, poor and non-poor, and male and female.

The classical formula for Gini decomposition is as follows:

where Pi, μi, Ei (i = 1,2) represents the proportion of the population, mean education, and Gini coefficient for two exclusive subgroups of the population. EB is residual and is the between-group contribution to the total inequality in absolute terms. The first part of Equation (3) is the contribution of subgroup 1 to total educational inequality in absolute terms while the second part reflects the contribution of the subgroup. However, the Equation (3) method has two limits. First, it only decomposes the Gini into two subgroups. Moreover, it makes the Gini decomposition additive and decomposed, and provides a biased result. Therefore, in Gini decomposition, previous research has emphasized on adding the overlapping term, which will capture the unexplained contribution. The present study will use the decomposition method of Lambert and Aronson (1993) , which follows the following Gini decomposition form:

i = 1,2,….,n,

E L = Education Gini,

E B = Between group Gini coefficient, defined as the one which would obtain if every year of education in every subgroup is replaced by the relevant subgroup mean.

P i = Proportion of population,

μ i = mean education for each i subgroup,

E i = Education Gini for each i subgroup,

R = R is residual, which is zero if subgroup ranges do not overlap.

Statistical analysis

The study used both bivariate and multivariate analysis for all three rounds. First, AYS and education Gini are presented by states/Union Territories (UTs) 1 , sex, sector, caste groups, and religion. Then, the Lorenz curve is used to present the educational inequality for all three rounds. Next, the Tobit regression model is used to study the correlates of YOS for all three rounds. Following the previous literature, several important correlates have been taken into account for the Tobit model. Detailed information on these correlates is presented in Table 2 . Later, the decomposition of education Gini is performed by social indicators to study the “within” and “between” components. Finally, the Shapley decomposition method is used to study the important contributor to educational inequality.

Table 2 . Variable summary.

Table 3 shows the sample information as well as AYS by background characteristics.

Table 3 . Background characteristics of population 18 years and above.

Tobit regression model

As mentioned earlier, the outcome variable of the study is years of schooling, which is a discrete variable in nature. For a country like India, where a considerable proportion of the population has no formal education, it is quite obvious that YOS will be influenced by zero factors. Moreover, using ordinary least square regression will not provide correct results. Therefore, the Tobit model is used in the study to control censored information. Moreover, to understand the level of change in the effect of the covariates of YOS, separate models are fitted for all three rounds. The model is mentioned below:

where, y i * is a latent variable, ϵ i ~N (0, σ 2 ), and X i denotes the (K x 1) vector of exogenous and fully observed regressors.

The usual OLS method is used to estimate the β and σ 2 , if y i * is greater than 0. Combining equations (5) and (6), we get:

Shapley decomposition

The decomposition analysis in equation (4) gives the within-group and between-group contributions in the view of rural-urban division, gender disparity, and social-religious stratification. However, it does not provide the answer to a particular question, that is, in contrast to the factors mentioned above, which factor imparts more to overall educational inequality? Decomposition based on regression analysis is an important method that identifies the factors influencing the outcome of the study by taking a significant number of variables. The traditional Gini decomposition and general Entropy decomposition methods do not have such an advantage ( Yang et al., 2014 ). This regression-based method is called the Shapley decomposition. The Shapley decomposition function is as follows:

Here, YOS represents the years of schooling mentioned in Table 2 . Equation (8) shows that years of education is a function of social indicators viz. sex, sector, caste groups, and religious groups. Similar to the Tobit regression model, Shapley decomposition is also applied for all three rounds.

All the analysis has been carried out in the STATA 16 software.

Empirical results

As evident in Figure 1 , the educational Gini coefficient for India has abated (23.52%) significantly since 2007, including all the states and union territories. Stark examples can be seen in northern and southern regions. For instance, Uttarakhand's education Gini coefficients tapered off from 0.487 to 0.308 in 2018, although in Kerala, the corresponding figures were 0.292 and 0.245 in 2007 and 2018, respectively. Moreover, the Northern states viz. Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana have a maximum reduction in educational gaps compared to southern states such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. On the other hand, Delhi (Gini = 0.260: AYS = 10.49) and Goa (Gini = 0.230: AYS = 9.89) performed better in dwindling education inequality than all the northern and southern states. AYS and education Gini are inversely related to each other: if AYS is higher, education Gini is lower. But this is not completely true for a few states of India, specifically in Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh, where average years of schooling have amplified drastically (see Figure 2 ), though the decline in educational gaps are not significant enough. For the past 11 years, the education inequality in Goa, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh has decreased considerably by 38.75, 36.62, 29.85, 29.74, and 29.23%. Not least, the North-Eastern states have also consistently performed better in maintaining higher education levels and abating educational gaps. Over the years, education inequality might have reduced more than before, but the gaps persist between the states.

Figure 1 . Average years of schooling by state/UTs. Note: 1. Telangana state is formed in the year 2014, so data are not available for the 64th round. 2. North-Eastern includes: Assam, Arunachala Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Nagaland.

Figure 2 . Education Gini by state/UTs. Note: 1. Telangana state is formed in the year 2014, so data are not available for the 64th round. 2. North-Eastern includes: Assam, Arunachala Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Nagaland.

Figure 3 depicts that education distribution has improved over time. Further, this Lorenz curve estimates that the bottom 27% of the population has roughly 2% of the total accumulated years of schooling, though the top 3% of the population has nearly 7% of the total accumulated years of schooling in 2018. Comparatively, in 2007, the bottom one-third of the population has no education whatsoever.

Figure 3 . Lorenz curve for educational attainment.

The findings ( Table 4 ) of the Tobit model signify that the average years of schooling decreases with the increase in age. For instance, average years of schooling are −3.098 ( p < 0.001) and −7.487 ( p < 0.001) units for the age groups 30–59 and 60 + years, respectively. Likewise, a reduction in average years of schooling can be detected more among females than their male counterparts. In the case of caste groups, an upsurge in the level of AYS can be observed among others, other backward classes and scheduled castes compared to the scheduled tribe. On the other hand, average years of schooling abate significantly among the Muslim community by −2.153 ( p < 0.001) units. Further, place of residence plays a vital role, as it tends to have a positive influence on AYS. In other words, individuals living in urban areas have more years of schooling than those in rural areas. Conversely, a family with more than five members tend to have fewer years of education compared to their counterpart. Noteworthy differences can also be seen while moving from lowest to highest wealth quintiles, as AYS amplifies considerably. Although, it has been encountered that the individuals working in the tertiary sector have more years of education than those working in the secondary and primary sectors. Moreover, a predictor like digital exposure also played a substantial role in determining average years of schooling as it upsurges by 4.508 ( p < 0.001) units. Comparing the Tobit model of all the rounds, considerable changes can be observed among all the covariates. The gap of years by gender, caste groups, religion, occupation, and wealth has been reduced. However, the rural-urban difference is consistently the same throughout the year. The progress in years through digital involvement has also been observed.

Table 4 . Result of the Tobit model for average years of schooling.

The results revealed in Table 5 outline that there is substantial education inequality between males and females which has not been eradicated, even though AYS ameliorated noticeably and the educational disparity declined moderately in recent years. Moreover, considering educational attainment in rural and urban sectors, the average years of schooling in 2018 accounts to 6.44 years and 9.57 years, respectively. However, educational gaps between these two sectors are still prevailing over the decade. Further, a more striking disparity can be seen between the caste groups, as there is a reduction in the AYS gap and education Gini coefficient at the same time, but overall, the education inequality between these groups is quite high. Specifically, if schedule caste and others are considered, then there is a stark difference in educational attainment as their education Gini coefficient turns out to be 0.453 and 0.308 in 2018. Noteworthy disparities in the attainment of Muslim and other religious groups have been detected over the past 11 years. In the current survey, the calculated number for the Muslim community turns out to be 6.64 years and 44.3%, respectively.

Table 5 . Gini coefficient and average years of schooling (AYS) by social indicators.

Apparently, from the decomposition results in Table 6 , it can be observed that around 50% of the total education inequality is due to a within-group component, and the main contributor seems to be religious groups (59.6%) followed by sex and sector. However, the picture has not changed throughout the year because both within- and between-group contribution is almost consistent in all the rounds except for religion and caste groups. Nearly one-third of the inequality is concentrated within the caste groups, and among them, the other backward class holds the major share in contribution. Conversely, in the case of gender, men and women are equally contributing to prevailing within-group disparities. Besides, within-group inequalities are specifically driven by rural areas as compared to urban areas in 2018. Further, higher intensity of within-group education inequality is also detected among the Hindu community which is the prime contributor to its other counterparts. Concerning between-group contribution in overall inequalities, the proportion is relatively smaller than that of the within-group component. The key contributors in escalating between-group disparities are sector, caste groups, and sex, which are the same in all the rounds.

Table 6 . Decomposition of Gini by subgroups.

From Table 7 , it can be illustrated which predictor contributes the most to the overall educational disparity. Accordingly, the sector is the major contributor (30.1%) to overall education inequality, which means the educational gap between urban and rural areas is still a prime attribute in accelerating educational discrepancies and it has increased compared to the previous rounds. Next, caste groups are the second most influencing factor which escalates the educational gaps. However, a tremendous decline has been noted among sex; earlier its contribution was around 10.4% but it has gone down to 2.0% in the current round. No matter what, social stratification plays a crucial role in widening the disparities. Moreover, religious groups have also contributed to expanding educational disparity to a certain extent and experienced a slight increase, which depicts uneven educational distribution among religious groups in the country. Further, the least contributing factor turns out to be sex, however, it denotes dissimilar educational attainment and persisting educational gaps between male and female populations.

Table 7 . Shapley decomposition by social indicators.

Discussion and conclusion

Over time, the Indian education system has achieved a remarkable improvement in dropping the level of illiteracy/no education and escalating primary education. The study of Agrawal (2014) depicts that 31.7% of the population had no education in 2009, however, through our study, it is visible that the level declined by 30% ( Appendix Table A ) in 2018. Second, sharp progress is evident concerning higher education in India, which was calculated at around 7.3% in 2009 ( Agrawal, 2014 ) and marked at 16.26% ( Appendix Table A ) presently. From the aforesaid statements, a bird's eye view of overall educational attainment cannot be exemplified, thus, AYS is an appropriate measure that provides a brief picture of educational attainment for any country. In these 11 years, AYS has amplified drastically, which suggests that the majority of the population has achieved a universal level of primary education. It can be explained through Appendix Table-A that more than two-thirds of the population aged 18 years and above have completed at least a primary level of education. Moreover, the young population in the age group of 18 to 30 years have an education of more than 10 years. While in the remaining age groups, years of education account to be 6.89 and 3.70 years ( Table 3 ), respectively.

Previously, average years of schooling for the states, namely Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh, were estimated to be less than 5 years, indicating a large proportion of the population did not complete a primary level of education. Nonetheless, in recent times, these states have accomplished more than 5 years of education, even though the educational disparity has not reduced to a satisfactory level, and is still concentrated at 50%. One of the main reasons may be that these states have a large proportion of the rural population. Several studies have highlighted that in rural parts of India, education attainment of children suffers due to poor physical infrastructure, lack of access to a school with reasonable distance, quality of teaching, teacher absenteeism, and teacher-student ratio ( Agrawal, 2014 ; Kugler and Kumar, 2017 ; Chatterjee et al., 2018 ). Besides, most of the rural population usually engages in agricultural activities, and during the peak season, they do not allow their children to attend classes which may result in long absenteeism and even drop-out ( Ramachandran, 2009 ). In states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, there is a considerable number of scheduled tribe and scheduled caste populations who are generally deprived of schooling, and as indicated in Table 3 , the years of schooling of these groups are far below other caste groups. On the contrary, Himachal Pradesh, which has a similar level of rural population, plays a crucial role in successfully improving their basic education. Despite challenges, the educational experience of this state can be observed from the recent figures of AYS and Gini coefficient which are 8.71 years and 31%, respectively. This success story can be attributed to the state government's commitment, parental demand, and community involvement ( Dreze and Sen, 2002 ; De et al., 2011 ). Another exemplary state is Kerala, which has already achieved a high level of literacy rate way before any state in India. The evolution of education is ascribed to numerous actions and policy measures taken by both public and private sectors, the provision of a better quality of education, and the high level of accessibility and availability of schools in rural areas ( Government of India, 2008 ). Lately, Goa has shown growth in enhancing educational attainment, which is quite noticeable as it surpasses Kerala's progress in terms of average years of education and educational inequality (see Figures 1 , 2 ). The current progress is the result of government interventions through SSA in effectively diminishing school dropouts and improving enrolment rates ( Andrade and Singhal, 2012 ). The states and union territory, specifically Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Delhi, have also improved their educational outcomes in recent times.

Additionally, the findings demonstrate that years of schooling are influenced by all socio-economic and demographic indicators considered in the study. It has been encountered that people who are exposed to digital platforms have substantially more advanced levels of education than their counterparts. Several studies illustrate that a higher level of digital exposure leads to improvement in children's cognitive performance and their learning motivation ( Finn Jr and Horn, 2013 ; Cavanaugh et al., 2016 ; Lin et al., 2017 ). The influence of digital platforms on education in India has improved compared to the previous round. The increase in exposure to digital platforms has been the result of an increase in internet connectivity as well as easier access to computers. However, the exposure to digital platforms may vary by place of residence, because in rural areas, children are still out of reach of access to computers and the internet.

The caste and religious mechanisms have negative repercussions on educational outcomes, however, the difference in years of education has narrowed to a certain extent. It is evident that scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, and the Muslim community displayed around 43% educational disparity in 2018. Again, the year of education is influenced by household/family size, which denotes that a large number of family members may put a financial strain on household income, further affecting educational attainment. The results have provided a magnitude of comparison with the study of Kugler and Kumar (2017) , which states that the majority of the children belonging to large families have a low level of educational attainment, especially those from rural areas, poorer households, and lower caste hierarchy. On the other hand, higher occupational grades and wealthier households are less likely subjected to credit constraints when making any choice for educational opportunities. Thus, children from such households hold an advanced level of education ( Filmer and Pritchett, 1999 ; Filmer, 2005 ). However, being a girl has serious implications for their educational attainment. Even though the years of education among females have upsurged over the past decade by 50%, their educational disparity is still concentrated around 45%. This reflects huge gender differences in terms of educational outcomes instigated by the prevailing social norm of son preference, which is widely known in a developing nation like India ( Bose, 2012 ; Kugler and Kumar, 2017 ). The impact of gender preference has built the context of parental biases against daughters, as it is considered that daughters provide low educational returns compared to sons ( Jere et al., 1999 ; Gandhi Kingdon, 2002 ). Further, there are multiple reasons which put daughters at greater educational disadvantage viz. early marriage ( Gouda and Sekher, 2014 ), poor school infrastructure ( Govinda and Bandyopadhyay, 2010 ; Kishore and Shaji, 2012 ; Gouda and Sekher, 2014 ), poor social and economic circumstances ( Velaskar, 2005 ; Wu et al., 2007 ; Govinda and Bandyopadhyay, 2010 ), and finally mother's education ( Maitra and Sharma, 2009 ; Govinda and Bandyopadhyay, 2010 ; Bose, 2012 ; Nakajima et al., 2018 ). Inefficacious educational delivery and outcomes for girls have also been manifested in the state of Andhra Pradesh, as they are generally driven toward household chores which make them more pronounced, exclusively those from poor social groups and rural areas ( Venkatanarayana, 2004 ; Ramachandran, 2009 ; Nakajima et al., 2018 ).

The educational disparity has recovered over recent times, as indicated by education Gini which is nearly 38% compared to 50% in 2008. Nevertheless, high intensity of educational inequality can be observed among within-group components, especially in the rural sector, Other Backward Class (OBC), and the Hindu community. The high within-group contribution indicates the existence of serious education disparity within the rural area, OBC, and Hindu population. This inequality could be due to high income and class inequality in terms of access to education. Accordingly, between-group component sketches the idea of educational differences between two mutually exclusive groups. Evidently from all three rounds, it can be seen that large rural-urban differences and caste and gender discrimination still exist in India, which contributes significantly to prevailing educational inequality. Consistent with this result, Shapley's decomposition shows that the sector is the prime contributor to escalating education inequality followed by caste groups. Thus, it indicates that greater educational disadvantage among rural students is due to a lack of good quality education and other educational resources which could benefit them in attaining tertiary-level schooling.

The article suffers from certain limitations: first: it has utilized cross-sectional data so cannot explicate causal relationships. Second, the present data lack some important indicators related to the quality of education during school/college, parents' educational background, parental occupation, and parents' aspiration toward education, which would play a key role in determining educational attainment. Moreover, the use of computer and internet services is taken as the proxy of digital exposure, instead, the information regarding online classes could have provided better picturization for the given indicator. Therefore, future research should emphasize longitudinal data and incorporate the suggested indicators.

Improving educational attainment in India has been challenging over time because the society predominantly follows the principle of hierarchy, division, and mutual repulsion ( Velaskar, 2010 ). Although, signs of success are seen in education expansion and enrolment with the help of RTE, SSA, and the Mid-day meal Scheme implemented by the government of India. However, other factors like physical infrastructure, teacher-student ratio, and teacher absenteeism are still a matter of concern that is substantially contributing to educational inequality. Besides, access to education is still very problematic as there is great variation between and within states, and large differences in participation between distinguishable sub-populations, for example, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, females, and the Muslim population ( Lewin, 2011 ). Stratum variations including rural and urban sectors are deeply rooted ( Wu et al., 2007 ; Asadullah and Yalonetzky, 2012 ), and has accelerated the discrepancy based on educational investment and resources. Relatively, the urban class is enjoying a better quality of education, resources, and opportunities, excluding the underprivileged group ( Yang et al., 2014 ). To accentuate balanced development, it is essential to focus on better school infrastructures, adequate toilet facilities, and good quality of education which can encourage rural children to accomplish their desired years of education. Effectively prioritizing elementary schooling services in remote areas of the country will motivate and benefit the children, even those belonging to neglected sections of rural society.

Growing income inequality has imprinted stark disparities in widening the educational gaps. Prominently, income inequality triggers gender and caste discrimination which in turn affects educational attainment. Consequently, designing equitable and affordable mechanisms can lessen income inequality and would help the population in attaining desired education. Furthermore, the policies and programs should promote awareness regarding the importance of education among parents and their children to reduce the marked gaps. Steps taken by educationally advanced states who have demonstrated their success story should be considered as a basis for policy formulation. Additionally, digital learning or internet-based learning could be an essential contributor to enhancing educational outcomes. However, due to the cross-sectional nature of the present study, the causal effect of digital learning on educational attainment cannot be claimed, but future research with longitudinal information could focus on this aspect. Although, due to the resourceful nature of e-learning, emphasis should be given to this new mode of platform as well, which could provide equitable access to knowledge for all children belonging to various sections of Indian society without any biases.

Data availability statement

Publicly available datasets were analyzed in this study. This data can be found here: http://www.icssrdataservice.in/datarepository/index.php/catalog .

Author contributions

MG and PC have contributed to data analysis and writeup. MS has provided valuable comments for the improvement of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Acknowledgments

This article is a part of a Ph.D. thesis, and I would like to thank my supervisor for his continuous support and guidance.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.871043/full#supplementary-material

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Keywords: educational inequality, educational attainment, Shapley decomposition, Tobit regression, India

Citation: Garg MK, Chowdhury P and SK MIK (2022) An overview of educational inequality in India: The role of social and demographic factors. Front. Educ. 7:871043. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.871043

Received: 07 February 2022; Accepted: 27 October 2022; Published: 18 November 2022.

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Copyright © 2022 Garg, Chowdhury and SK. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Mausam Kumar Garg, mausamkumar39@gmail.com

Universal Secondary Education in India pp 1–14 Cite as

Universal Secondary Education in India: An Introductory Overview of Issues, Challenges and Prospects

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Education as a powerful instrument of social transformation has been widely recognised for a long period all over the world. Ever since India gained independence in 1947, making education available to all has been a priority for the government. Over the last several decades, there has been considerable expansion of education. But secondary education has lagged behind; it has also not received adequate attention of the government until recently. It is only in most recent years the importance of secondary education has been recognised and accordingly quite a few initiatives are being made for the growth of secondary education, including universal secondary education. But secondary education faces umpteen challenges. The issues involved, challenges it faces, and its prospects need to be thoroughly examined. This is attempted in the book, and this chapter gives an overview of the same.

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Tilak, J.B.G. (2020). Universal Secondary Education in India: An Introductory Overview of Issues, Challenges and Prospects. In: Tilak, J. (eds) Universal Secondary Education in India. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5366-0_1

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Right to Education in India: Challenges and Opportunities

Education is a fundamental right that plays a crucial role in empowering individuals, fostering social progress, and promoting economic development. In India, the right to education has been enshrined as a constitutional right and has seen significant advancements in recent years. However, challenges still persist in ensuring universal access, quality education, and addressing socio-economic disparities. This article explores the challenges and opportunities surrounding the right to education in India, highlighting the progress made and the road ahead.

Points discussed

Access to Education:

Access to education refers to the availability and opportunity for individuals, regardless of their background, to obtain quality education. In the context of the article, it focuses on the challenges and barriers faced by marginalized and disadvantaged communities in accessing education in India.

One of the primary challenges is inadequate infrastructure, especially in rural and remote areas. Many schools lack proper classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and other essential facilities, making it difficult for students to receive a quality education. Insufficient schools and overcrowded classrooms further exacerbate the problem, limiting the number of students who can access education.

Another significant barrier is the distance to educational institutions. In rural areas, students often have to travel long distances to reach the nearest school, which poses challenges in terms of transportation, safety, and time management. This issue particularly affects girls and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, as their families may not have the means to support their education.

Socio-economic barriers also contribute to disparities in access to education. Many families struggle to afford the costs associated with schooling, such as textbooks, uniforms, transportation, and other educational materials. This financial burden often leads to children being forced to work or support their families instead of attending school. Discrimination and social norms can also play a role in limiting access to education, particularly for marginalized groups.

To address these challenges, various initiatives and policies have been implemented in India. The Right to Education Act, enacted in 2009, is a landmark legislation that mandates free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14 years. It emphasizes the importance of inclusive education and prohibits discrimination in schools. Additionally, government programs and schemes, such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-Day Meal Scheme, aim to improve access to education and provide necessary support to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Quality of Education:

Quality of education refers to the effectiveness, relevance, and overall standard of the education provided to students. It encompasses various aspects, including the knowledge and skills imparted, teaching methodologies employed, learning outcomes achieved, and the overall learning environment.

One of the key challenges in ensuring quality education is teacher shortages. Many schools, especially in remote areas or underprivileged communities, face a shortage of qualified and experienced teachers. This affects the student-teacher ratio, making it difficult for teachers to provide individual attention to students and deliver quality instruction.

Inadequate teacher training is another significant challenge. Teachers need to be equipped with the necessary pedagogical skills, subject knowledge, and classroom management techniques to effectively engage and educate students. Insufficient training opportunities can hinder their ability to provide quality education.

Outdated curriculum and teaching materials also impact the quality of education. Educational systems need to constantly evolve to align with changing societal needs, technological advancements, and global trends. Curriculum reforms are necessary to ensure that students acquire relevant and practical knowledge that prepares them for the demands of the modern world.

The digital divide, characterized by disparities in access to technology and internet connectivity, poses another challenge. Students who lack access to digital resources and online learning opportunities may be at a disadvantage in acquiring digital literacy skills and accessing quality educational content. Bridging the digital divide is crucial to ensure equal opportunities for all students.

To enhance the quality of education, curriculum reforms are necessary to update and align educational content with current needs and future skills requirements. Teacher training programs should be implemented to equip educators with effective teaching strategies, classroom management skills, and continuous professional development opportunities.

Technological integration can play a significant role in improving the quality of education. Incorporating technology into classrooms can enhance teaching and learning experiences, facilitate personalized learning, and provide access to digital resources and interactive educational tools.

Innovative teaching methodologies, such as project-based learning, collaborative learning, and experiential learning, can also enhance the quality of education. These approaches focus on active student engagement, critical thinking, problem-solving, and practical application of knowledge.

Socio-economic Disparities:

Socio-economic disparities refer to the unequal distribution of resources, opportunities, and privileges among different social and economic groups within a society. In the context of education, socio-economic disparities have a profound impact on access to education and the quality of learning experiences for children from marginalized communities, rural areas, and economically weaker sections.

Children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds often face financial constraints that hinder their access to education. They may lack the resources to afford school fees, textbooks, uniforms, transportation, and other educational materials. As a result, these children are at a higher risk of dropping out of school or not being able to pursue higher education.

Marginalized communities, such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other socially disadvantaged groups, also face unique challenges in accessing education. Discrimination, social exclusion, and cultural barriers can prevent children from these communities from enrolling in schools or receiving equal treatment within educational institutions.

Rural areas often lack proper infrastructure, including schools and transportation facilities, making it difficult for children in these areas to access education. The distance to educational institutions can be a significant barrier, particularly in remote areas, where students may have to travel long distances on a daily basis to attend school.

To bridge the socio-economic divide and promote inclusive education, various initiatives and interventions have been implemented. Affirmative action policies aim to provide equal opportunities for marginalized communities by reserving seats in educational institutions and implementing quotas in admissions. Scholarships and financial aid programs are also crucial in providing financial support to economically disadvantaged students, enabling them to pursue education.

Additionally, targeted interventions such as remedial classes, extra coaching, and mentorship programs can provide additional support to students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, helping them overcome academic challenges and succeed in their educational journey.

By providing equal opportunities, financial support, and targeted interventions, the education system can help bridge the socio-economic divide, empower marginalized communities, and ensure that every child, regardless of their socio-economic background, has access to quality education.

Gender Disparities:

Gender disparities in education refer to the unequal opportunities and experiences faced by individuals based on their gender. Despite significant progress in recent years, gender-based barriers continue to hinder girls’ access to education and limit their educational outcomes, particularly in rural areas.

Cultural norms and societal expectations often reinforce traditional gender roles, which can restrict girls’ access to education. In some communities, girls are expected to prioritize domestic responsibilities and early marriage over pursuing formal education. These norms perpetuate a cycle of limited educational opportunities and reinforce gender inequalities.

Child marriage is another significant barrier to girls’ education. When girls are married at a young age, they are often forced to drop out of school, limiting their ability to acquire knowledge, skills, and opportunities for personal and professional growth. Early marriage can also lead to early motherhood, further hindering girls’ educational prospects.

Safety concerns pose a challenge for girls, particularly in rural areas. The lack of safe and secure transportation, inadequate infrastructure, and concerns about harassment and violence can discourage girls from attending school or force them to drop out. Creating a safe and inclusive learning environment is crucial for girls to access education without fear or discrimination.

Promoting gender equality in education is essential to address these disparities. It involves challenging gender biases and stereotypes, promoting equal opportunities for boys and girls, and eliminating discriminatory practices within educational institutions. Creating awareness about the importance of girls’ education and empowering girls to advocate for their rights and pursue their educational aspirations is also vital.

Targeted interventions and policies can play a crucial role in addressing gender disparities in education. These may include providing scholarships and financial support specifically for girls, implementing gender-sensitive curriculum and teaching practices, and establishing safe spaces and support systems within schools. Community engagement and awareness campaigns are also instrumental in changing societal attitudes and promoting gender equality in education.

By ensuring equal access to quality education for both boys and girls, societies can benefit from the talents, skills, and perspectives of all individuals, fostering social progress and sustainable development.

Education for All: Inclusive Education:

Education for All, particularly inclusive education, is a fundamental principle that recognizes the right of every child, including those with disabilities and special needs, to receive a quality education. Inclusive education strives to create an environment where all children, regardless of their abilities or differences, can learn together in a supportive and inclusive setting.

Children with disabilities often face numerous challenges in accessing education. One of the primary barriers is the lack of inclusive infrastructure. Many schools lack accessible buildings, classrooms, and facilities that can accommodate children with physical disabilities. This prevents them from fully participating in the educational experience and hinders their overall development.

Another challenge is the shortage of specialized teachers and support staff who are trained to meet the diverse needs of children with disabilities. These professionals play a critical role in providing individualized support, adaptations, and accommodations to facilitate inclusive learning environments. However, the shortage of qualified personnel in this field can limit the availability of such support.

Inclusive policies and practices are crucial for ensuring that children with disabilities can fully participate in mainstream education. It involves creating an inclusive curriculum that addresses diverse learning styles and needs, adapting teaching methodologies to accommodate different abilities, and fostering an inclusive school culture that promotes acceptance, understanding, and respect for all students.

To promote inclusive education, accessible infrastructure is vital. This includes ramp access, wheelchair-friendly pathways, and accessible learning materials. Additionally, assistive technologies and supportive devices can significantly enhance the learning experience for students with disabilities, providing them with equal opportunities to engage and participate in educational activities.

Inclusive education also requires ongoing teacher training and professional development programs to equip educators with the knowledge, skills, and strategies to support diverse learners effectively. Collaboration between general education and special education teachers, as well as involving parents and caregivers in the educational process, can further strengthen inclusive practices.

By removing physical, attitudinal, and policy barriers, inclusive education promotes equal opportunities for children with disabilities and special needs. It recognizes their rights, celebrates their abilities, and fosters a society that values diversity and inclusion.

Opportunities and Innovations:

Opportunities and innovations in the field of education have the potential to revolutionize the way knowledge is imparted, accessed, and utilized. These advancements can address some of the challenges faced in traditional education systems and open up new avenues for learning and skill development.

Digital learning has emerged as a significant opportunity in education. With the increasing availability of technology and internet access, online platforms and digital resources have become valuable tools for learning. E-learning platforms, educational apps, and online courses provide flexible learning options, allowing students to access educational content anytime and anywhere. These platforms also enable personalized learning experiences tailored to individual needs and preferences.

Skill-based education and vocational training are gaining recognition as essential components of the education system. These programs focus on equipping students with practical skills and competencies that are directly applicable to the workplace. By aligning education with industry needs, skill-based education fosters employability and enhances career prospects for students.

Public-private partnerships play a vital role in expanding access to quality education. Collaboration between government entities, educational institutions, and private organizations can lead to innovative initiatives and resource-sharing. Such partnerships can bring in expertise, funding, and infrastructure, resulting in improved educational opportunities for students across diverse backgrounds.

Another significant innovation in education is the integration of technology in the classroom. Interactive whiteboards, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and gamification are revolutionizing teaching and learning experiences. These technologies enhance engagement, facilitate experiential learning, and make complex concepts more accessible and interactive.

Additionally, adaptive learning systems leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to personalize the learning experience. These systems analyze individual student data, identify strengths and weaknesses, and provide tailored learning pathways and feedback. This approach allows students to learn at their own pace, filling knowledge gaps and optimizing their learning journey.

By leveraging technology, embracing skill-based education, fostering public-private partnerships, and embracing innovative teaching methodologies, education can become more inclusive, accessible, and impactful. These advancements pave the way for a future where every individual has the opportunity to thrive and contribute to society.

The right to education is a fundamental right that is essential for individual growth, social progress, and national development. While India has made significant strides in expanding access to education, challenges such as access, quality, socio-economic disparities, gender disparities, and inclusivity persist. However, with concerted efforts, policy reforms, innovative approaches, and targeted interventions, these challenges can be overcome. By addressing these challenges and embracing the opportunities, India can ensure that every child has access to quality education, empowering them to realize their full potential and contribute to a more inclusive and prosperous society.

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5 5 Sociology of Educational Inequality in India: A Critique and a New Research Agenda

• Published: October 2012
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This chapter explores the sociological aspects of educational inequality in India. There is little coherent understanding of changing patterns of educational inequality, and few clear-cut pointers to explanations for continued non-participation in, and non-completion of schooling on the part of a significant number of children. The author believes that this state of affairs arises out of the theoretical inadequacies and political conservatism that characterizes much of the study of educational inequality. The author also critiques the new research agenda by analysing the issue of unequal educational access and attainment in elementary education, with a focus on those subordinated by caste, class, and gender, and identifies crucial areas that are missing in our understanding of the influence of social processes in student participation in education and in shaping the educational system. The author points to the need for a critical systemic exploration of the education system as a subsystem of society in which school structure, organization, and processes are to be placed in wider political economy and stratified social structure based on wealth and social status. The author concludes by stressing the need to open up the issue of educational inequality to wider debates operating at the level of economy, polity, and society, and to adopt wider perspectives in sociological studies of the education system.

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• v.45(2); 2008 May

Changing Educational Inequalities in India in the Context of Affirmative Action

Indian society suffers from substantial inequalities in education, employment, and income based on caste and ethnicity. Compensatory or positive discrimination policies reserve 15% of the seats in institutions of higher education and state and central government jobs for people of the lowest caste, the Scheduled Caste; 7.5% of the seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribe. These programs have been strengthened by improved enforcement and increased funding in the 1990s. This positive discrimination has also generated popular backlash and on-the-ground sabotage of the programs. This paper examines the changes in educational attainment between various social groups for a period of nearly 20 years to see whether educational inequalities have declined over time. We use data from a large national sample survey of over 100,000 households for each of the four survey years—1983, 1987–1988, 1993–1994, and 1999–2000—and focus on the educational attainment of children and young adults aged 6–29. Our results show a declining gap between dalits, adivasis, and others in the odds of completing primary school. Such improvement is not seen for Muslims, a minority group that does not benefit from affirmative action. We find little improvement in inequality at the college level. Further, we do not find evidence that upper-income groups, the so-called creamy layer of dalits and adivasis, disproportionately benefit from the affirmative action programs at the expense of their lower-income counterparts.

The past century has been characterized by a massive worldwide educational expansion. Increasingly complex economies demand a better-educated workforce. Moreover, in a globalizing world culture, nation-states are increasingly expected to take over the duty of educating citizens ( Meyer, Ramirez, and Soysal 1992 ). However, whether educational expansion is sufficient to reduce educational inequalities or whether explicit affirmative action is needed remain thorny issues facing many national governments, with little empirical evidence to guide future policies.

Research on educational stratification suggests that inequality in education between different social strata continues and sometimes even widens in spite of educational growth ( Halsey, Heath, and Ridge 1980 ; Hauser and Featherman 1976 ). Results from a pathbreaking project comparing educational changes across 13 diverse countries shows that with two exceptions, the impact of parental socioeconomic status on children’s educational opportunity remained stable or even widened ( Shavit and Blossfeld 1993 ). Widening socioeconomic differences are particularly evident at upper levels of education. Perhaps the most ironic finding in this line of research is that in communist societies, too, cultural capital reflected in father’s educational level increased children’s chances of gaining higher education ( Treiman, Ganzeboom, and Rijken 2003 ), and even as access to education became universal in primary school, ethnic inequalities widened in high school ( Hannum 2002 ).

The literature on why these inequalities persist or even widen in spite of the increases in overall educational levels remains poorly developed. However, some insights from cultural reproduction theorists ( Bourdieu 1973 ; Bowles and Gintis 1976 ; Collins 1979 ) may be useful in deepening our understanding. These theorists have argued that educational certificates exclude the marginalized groups from high-prestige jobs and, hence, educational systems devised by the elites often contain many hurdles that aid in excluding the subordinate groups from higher education. This may be particularly relevant given that educational expansion is often associated with economic changes that call for higher educational levels. This observation has led to the hypothesis of maximally maintained inequality, which suggests that educational inequality remains unchanged until enrollment at a given level reaches the saturation point, estimated at around 95% of the population completing that level of education ( Raftery and Hout 1993 ).

These arguments pose serious challenges to nation-states seeking ways of reducing educational inequalities between various social strata. If educational expansion as well as generally egalitarian education policies fail to diminish educational disadvantages for marginalized groups, what alternatives are available for policy intervention? Affirmative action, or positive discrimination, has been seen as one avenue for directly reducing educational inequalities ( Pong 1993 ).

However, while the empirical evidence described above suggests that educational expansion does not lead to reduction in educational inequalities based on social origin, few studies have examined the success or failure of affirmative action programs empirically. Although it is usually not feasible to directly evaluate the consequences of affirmative action, India provides an interesting natural experiment because affirmative action policies have been implemented for nearly half a century, with the benefits restricted to some clearly defined disadvantaged groups but not others. Given half a century of the existence of affirmative action programs that were strengthened in the 1990s, this paper, which seeks to evaluate changes in educational inequalities, compares the educational achievements of three groups: (a) historically advantaged groups, (b) disadvantaged groups that are subject to affirmative action, and (c) disadvantaged groups that are not subject to affirmative action.

INDIA: THE PORTRAIT OF A STRATIFIED SOCIETY

Historically, India has been a predominantly Hindu nation, though with a substantial degree of religious diversity. With 12% of the population being Muslim, India is home to the second largest Muslim population in the world. Christians form about 3% of the population, while Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, and other smaller religious groups constitute another 3%. Nonetheless, the Hindu stratification system has tended to dominate Indian society. A significant percentage of Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs identify with caste groups defined by Hindu traditions.

According to the Hindu religion, as articulated in the Vedas , Hindu society is classified into four varnas or castes: Brahmin (priest and teacher), Kshatriya (ruler and warrior), Vaishya (trader), and Shudra (servant). These are further subdivided into many smaller castes or jatis. 1 Additionally, the two groups that are lowest in the social hierarchy, dalits and adivasis , have been left outside the caste system. The dalits, originally called “untouchables” and later renamed harijan (“children of God”) by Mahatma Gandhi, are now also referred to as the Scheduled Caste, and adivasis or tribals, as the Scheduled Tribe. Note that in the Indian context, “scheduled” has a specific meaning that is different from the common English usage. The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe are referred to as such because a list of the castes and groups was drawn and enumerated in two separate schedules of the Constitution of India.

Dalits are the lowest in the caste hierarchy and have been historically excluded from the caste system under the justification that they are so low that they do not deserve to be assigned a caste. They were therefore known as “untouchables,” as distinct from caste Hindus, who belong to one of the four broad castes. The low status of dalits is supposedly due to their engagement in occupations that are considered polluting or profane, such as skinning animal carcasses, butchery of animals, removal of human waste, attendance at cremation grounds, washing clothes, and fishing. Upper caste Hindus avoid physical contact with people engaged in these polluting tasks. This includes the prohibition of interactions involving any kind of direct physical contact, such as sharing utensils and water wells, as well as exclusion from social activities ( Bayly 1999 ; Beteille 1969 ; Mendelsohn and Vicziany 1998 ; Shah et al. 2006 ). Although the Indian Constitution makes untouchability illegal, it continues to be practiced. Social distance and exclusion are common in both villages and cities, and news reports about horrific atrocities against the dalits surface periodically. In our fieldwork, we have come across many instances in which social distance and exclusion translate into active discrimination in access to government services and employment ( Desai, Adams, and Dubey 2006 ).

Adivasis are believed to be the “original people” of the land. Tribal groups follow customs and practices that not only are distinct from mainstream Hinduism but also tend to vary from tribe to tribe. The adivasis are geographically separated, frequently living in hill communities at a significant distance from Hindu villages, and subsist on forest produce. The geographic separation was sharpened by the creation of scheduled areas for tribal people under the British government ( Beteille 1969 ).

Religion provides another major axis of stratification in India. With the division of British India into India and Pakistan, a vast number of Muslim middle-class families migrated out of India, leaving behind the poorer Muslims ( Engineer 2001 ). Consequently, in modern India, Muslims have occupied a niche position characterized by self-employment in petty business and urban residence. Muslims have tended to fall behind Hindus and Christians in access to formal sector jobs and education ( Government of India 2006 ). Muslims have long suffered from some social discrimination, but it seems to have been heightened in the past decade with the emergence of Hindu fundamentalism.

Although religion and associated notions of ritual purity may well have formed the basis of initial social stratification, historical events—both in Colonial India and following independence—have combined to overlay a political and an economic dimension to caste inequalities in India. There is considerable argument about the importance of the caste system to Indian stratification before the arrival of the British in India ( Dirks 2001 ), but there is little doubt that caste and religion form major axes of social stratification in contemporary India ( Gupta 1991 ; Hasan 2001 ; Sharma 1999 ).

Three dimensions linking caste, tribe, and religion to socioeconomic status in modern India are noteworthy: geography, occupation, and income. First, adivasis have tended to live in forests and have been concentrated in rural areas. Moreover, adivasis often live in states that have lower educational attainment. 2 The absence of adivasis from the South, the region with a high educational level, may be an important factor in the lower educational attainment of adivasis. In contrast, Muslims are largely concentrated in urban areas. Second, the caste system historically was occupationally driven. Although these boundaries were never totally rigid and may have been relaxed even further in modern times, Table 1 clearly indicates that upper caste Hindus and others 3 are far more likely to be in the professional or merchant/sales/clerical category than dalits and adivasis. Dalits and adivasis are overwhelmingly more likely to be manual laborers and less likely to own land. Third, the data on the per capita consumption expenditure 4 in Table 1 show that dalit and adivasi households have substantially lower per capita expenditure than upper caste Hindus and other religious groups, and Muslims fall in between.

Caste and Religious Differences in Socioeconomic Characteristics in 1999–2000 a

EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITIES

India has undergone significant educational expansion in recent years. As Table 2 indicates, educational attainment increased for both males and females between 1983 and 1999–2000 for all social groups, albeit overall educational attainment remains low.

Educational Attainment (in percentage) for Youths Aged 24–29 Between 1983 and 1999–2000, by Sex

However, stratification in Indian society is reflected in inequalities in educational attainment across caste, religion, and ethnic boundaries ( Anitha 2000 ; Dreze and Sen 1995 ). Educational inequalities between upper caste Hindus and other religions on the one hand and dalits, adivasis, and Muslims on the other remain evident throughout the period 1983–2000. Note that in 1983, adivasis had the lowest educational attainment, followed by dalits and then Muslims. Muslims suffered from lower educational attainment than upper caste Hindus and other religious groups, yet owing to their concentration in urban areas, their overall educational attainment was slightly higher than that of dalits and adivasis in 1983.

Table 2 shows that even in 1999–2000, among males aged 24–29, the 37% of dalits and 44% of adivasis had never enrolled in formal schooling, compared with 17% among upper caste Hindus and other religious groups. Comparisons between upper caste Hindus and Muslim males also point toward a trend of Muslims lagging behind, with 32% never having enrolled in school in 1999–2000. A comparison among females points to similar inequalities.

A number of factors contribute to these disparities. As Table 1 indicates, dalits and adivasis are poorer than upper caste Hindus. In addition, dalit and adivasi children suffer from a number of other disadvantages. There are reported instances of dalit children suffering from discrimination by teachers and other students. At a college in the city of Aurangabad in the state of Maharashtra in Western India, 80% of the dalit students said that they were made to sit outside the classroom in primary school. In another study, a dalit school teacher recalled, “We were asked to sit separately. Our copy or slates were not touched by the teachers” ( The Probe Team 1999 :50). Dalit homes are located outside of the main village and consequently farther from schools. One Tamil Nadu villager observed that “None of the Scheduled Castes were even allowed to walk through the residential areas of the dominant castes or through the village’s main street running through the residential areas of the dominant castes. They had to walk a long way along the periphery of the village to reach their huts” ( Nambissan and Sedwal 2002 :77). Teachers’ behavior often tends to humiliate dalit students. Upper caste teachers have low expectations of dalit pupils and consider them to be dull and uneducable ( The Probe Team 1999 ).

Adivasis, in addition to suffering from the same low expectations, face a different set of issues. They often live in hilly regions or forests that are relatively inaccessible. Demographically, tribal habitations are small and sparsely populated and hence lack many infrastructural facilities, including schools and roads. Even when schools are within walking distance for pupils, it is not unusual for the roads to become impassable during the monsoon and for the teachers, who often live in larger towns, to surreptitiously close the school. These factors are particularly constraining for tribal children who live in isolated communities. Language poses another major challenge for tribal education. Tribals normally speak local dialects rather than the main language of the state in which they reside, and tribal students feel further alienated when the teachers are not well trained to communicate in their tribal dialects ( Sujatha 2002 ).

Muslim students suffer from similar disadvantages. Many Muslims would like to see education take place in Urdu, their mother tongue, but few schools accommodate this. Children often face harassment and ridicule, and rising religious tensions lead to children’s alienation from school. Since Muslim families are disproportionately urban, access to schools is less likely to be a problem, but discrimination by teachers and a hostile school environment may pose a major impediment ( Government of India 2006 ). 5

COMPENSATORY DISCRIMINATION

Attempts to redress some of these inequalities were made on two fronts: (1) social reformers attempted to change Hindu society to reduce the discrimination against dalits and adivasis; and (2) the British Government put in place a number of safeguards to “compensate” the dalits and the adivasis. The compensatory measures increased in both scope and vigor of implementation after India gained independence (from British rule) in 1947 ( Kothari 1970 ). The practice of untouchability was prohibited in the Indian Constitution, which was adopted in 1950. Additionally, the framers of the Indian Constitution put in place affirmative action policies that they viewed as temporary. However, continued disparities as well as the growing electoral power 6 of the Scheduled Castes has led not only to a continuation but also to an expansion of affirmative action in recent years ( Gupta 2005 ).

The reservations, or quotas, for dalits and the adivasis relate to three broad categories: employment, educational, and political, the first two being the most significant for the bulk of the dalit and the adivasi populations ( Thorat, Aryana, and Negi 2005 ). Fifteen percent of government jobs at all levels are reserved for dalits, and 7.5% for adivasis. This includes jobs in central government; in state government; and in public sector units, such as the telephone corporations and public sector steel mills. Since government is the largest formal sector employer, accounting for over 66% of all jobs in India, this is a substantial benefit. Similarly, 15% and 7.5% of the places in higher education are reserved for dalits and adivasis, respectively, although states can observe different quotas based on their dalit and adivasi populations. With rapid population growth and an increase in mass education, college admissions have become increasingly competitive in India, especially with regard to admission to medical and engineering colleges. Policy makers believed that having access to places reserved for dalit and adivasi candidates would help reduce some of the educational disparities. Additionally, the Seventy-third and Seventy-Fourth Constitutional Amendment Acts led to the reservation of seats in local governments (called panchayat and nagarpalika ) for dalits, adivasis, and women, along with greater devolution of political power to the local governments. Many dalit political action groups are focusing on local governments and working to ensure that dalit candidates manage to get representation in local governments, which are charged with the implementation of many schemes directed toward the “weaker sections” of the society.

These programs have been strengthened in the past two decades. In the employment arena, quotas were initially implemented only at the time of recruitment into government service. In the 1990s, continued absence of dalits and adivasis from the upper rungs of the civil service led to the implementation of quotas in promotions, too. Also, by the late 1980s, it became increasingly clear that one way in which upper caste administration tends to subvert affirmative action is through not filling the reserved posts by claiming that there is a lack of suitably qualified dalit or adivasi candidates. When the posts remain unfilled for several years, they are quietly transferred to the general quota. Hence, new policies were enacted to prohibit this practice. In the educational sphere, affirmative action in college admissions was initially limited to lower cutoff scores for dalit and adivasi candidates at the time of the admission but was later transformed into specific quotas reserved for dalit and adivasi candidates.

In addition to employment and educational quotas, the government has also instituted a variety of programs to help defray the cost of education. These include a number of schemes such as the provision of scholarships and fellowships at all levels, midday meals, uniforms, stationery, and books. One scheme, funded by the central government, provides four years of remedial tutoring to select secondary school students to prepare them for gaining entrance into colleges and universities. Although many of these programs started out substantially underfunded, their allocation has increased considerably between 1975 and 2000. The Fifth Five Year Plan (1974–1978) allocated 0.6% of all plan expenditure for special schemes for disadvantaged groups, whereas the Eighth Plan (1992–1997) allocated 1.67%, and the Ninth Plan (1997–2002) allocated 1.97%. 7

EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPENSATORY DISCRIMINATION POLICIES

In theory, these various policies should lead to increases in dalit and adivasi educational attainment. Scholarships and other forms of financial aid reduce the cost of education. Special schools and remedial tutoring increase college preparedness, and reserved quotas in competitive colleges encourage parents to educate their children, thereby reducing middle and secondary school drop out. Most importantly, reservations in government employment enhance returns to education for the dalits and adivasis. Even primary education can substantially enhance the earning potential for dalit and adivasi candidates because they then become eligible for lower level government jobs instead of having to rely on sporadically available manual labor in the private sector. However, a number of factors mitigate this potentially positive effect.

Not coincidentally, while the implementation of affirmative action was being strengthened, the resentment against it was also growing, particularly because the government sought to increase the scope of affirmative action to add quotas for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) besides dalits. 8 This action followed the report of the Mandal Commission and led to widespread riots in 1990. The resentment flared up again as the government sought to introduce quotas for other backward castes in highly competitive engineering and management schools in 2006. This dissent has unified higher caste Hindus against affirmative action and led to increased sabotage at the local level, where these policies are to be implemented. Upper caste Hindus express their resentment by arguing that while compensatory discrimination seeks to redress the inequities suffered by dalits and adivasis, the individuals taking advantage of these benefits belonged to a rich “creamy layer” and were never subject to the severe discrimination faced by their poorer brethren. These critics are highly vocal, and the public discourse is rife with prejudice against dalit and adivasi students, whom they view as undeserving and as taking away the privileges of the deserving upper caste Hindus. For example, in a public meeting at a college in a small town, we heard numerous comments from the professors about the problems of teaching ill-equipped dalit students who attend college due to the bounty of scholarship monies.

On the other side, dalit and adivasi critiques of affirmative action charge that these policies are poorly implemented and have had very little effect. While the government reserves seats for dalit and adivasi students at college level, village schools continue to discriminate, preventing them from taking full advantage of these reservations ( Galanter 1997 ). Although there has been a substantial increase in literacy among dalits and adivasis, the rise is primarily a product of the population-wide increase in literacy and educational attainment levels. At least one observer suggests that, “Our proposition is not that the state has failed to make a real difference in the lives of untouchables. Rather, the argument is that any major beneficial impact has tended to arise from polices directed to the whole population and not merely to untouchables” ( Mendelsohn and Vicziany 1998 :119). According to this argument, while upper social classes have long sought higher education, lower-income families, be they dalit or upper caste Hindu, are also beginning to develop high educational aspirations for their children. Increased access to school has made the fulfillment of these dreams feasible, and dalits and adivasis, rather than benefiting from affirmative action, have shared in this educational expansion along with poor upper caste Hindus.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH DESIGN

The above brief description of educational inequalities and the nature of affirmative action policies in India raise a number of questions; many are analogous to the affirmative action debates in other countries ( Sowell 2004 ). We focus on the following questions:

First, have educational differences between dalit, adivasi, and other groups declined over time? Much of what is known about the educational differences between the dalits and adivasis and the general population comes from published tabulations of census and other government data or from cross-sectional analyses ( Kulkarni 2002 ; Mendelsohn and Vicziany 1998 ; Nambissan and Sedwal 2002 ; Sujatha 2002 ). However, little is known about changes in these differences over time. Hence, this paper is possibly one of the first to examine trends in these inequalities.

Second, if there is a decline in educational differences, is it consistent across different educational levels or is it disproportionately concentrated at certain educational stages? The literature on educational stratification suggests that although social origins have an important effect at the beginning of the educational career, they become less salient at higher levels of education, possibly because differential dropout rates early on reduce differences among students (who continue) on unmeasured dimensions of socioeconomic status ( Mare 1981 ). However, in the context of educational expansion at lower levels of education, one might see these differences emerging at later stages along the educational ladder. In contrast, affirmative action programs may lead to a narrowing of the educational gap in college education. While schemes providing free textbooks and meals have been instituted for dalit and adivasi primary school children, the policies become intensified at upper educational levels with the provision of residential middle schools, reservations in higher education, and scholarships. This may lead to a narrowing of the gap in college graduation between dalits/adivasis and others. Hence, whether the educational gap at the college level has increased or decreased remains an empirical question with substantial policy implications.

Third, is the decline in educational differences concentrated in groups that are subject to affirmative action, the dalits and adivasis, or is it shared by other disadvantaged groups, such as Muslims? It is difficult to distinguish between changes that are associated with affirmative action vis-à-vis those that are secular in nature. It may be that in an era of educational expansion, educational attainment increases for all groups, particularly for the poor and the marginalized, due to increased construction of schools, midday meal programs, increased parental demand for schooling, and growing educational requirements by employers. Thus, as upper-class educational attainment begins to approach a saturation point, the differences between the privileged and the underprivileged may decline at lower educational levels ( Mare 1980 ).

The nature of Indian compensatory discrimination programs provides us with an interesting analytical handle. Although discussions about affirmative action policies for Muslims took place at many moments in Indian history, Muslims have not received preferential treatment or reservations. Thus, a comparison of educational improvements for Muslims and dalits/adivasis would help us distinguish between secular improvements in education for all marginalized groups vis-à-vis improvements for groups that are subject to affirmative action.

Fourth, do the benefits of affirmative action, if any, percolate to lower-income groups, or are they limited to the “creamy layers” of the dalit and adivasi populations? While the illegitimate use of the affirmative action programs by upper-income dalit and adivasi families remains a running theme in the Indian discourse on affirmative action, its echoes are also found in the many other discourses around the world. For example, in the United States, attempts are being made to focus on class rather than race as an axis of affirmative action in such programs as the revamped University of Texas program following the Hopgood decision ( Tienda, Leicht, and Lloyd 2002 ); and in Brazil, attempts are made to reserve special quota for Afro-Brazilians within programs that focus on the poor ( Boston and Nair-Reichert 2003 ). We examine changes in educational inequalities at various income levels to see if upper-income dalits and adivasis have disproportionately benefited.

DATA AND METHODOLOGY

We are fortunate to have access to individual-level survey data between 1983 and 2000 to help us address some of the issues outlined above: the National Sample Surveys (NSS). The NSS have a long history in Indian economic and social research. Started in 1950, these surveys are conducted annually and provide important socioeconomic data for planning purposes. Approximately every five years, these surveys collect employment and consumption expenditure information for a large sample of over 100,000 households with half a million residents. For Indian social scientists and policy makers, they serve the same function as the Current Population Surveys in the United States. The NSS are the only surveys providing comparable information over a long period for India. Until about seven years ago, they were released in a tabulated form only. They have now become available to researchers as raw data at the household and individual levels.

Using the NSS (Rounds 38, 43, 50, and 55), we examine changes in educational attainment for individuals aged 6–29 at four points in time: 1983 (Round 38), 1987–1988 (Round 43), 1993–1994 (Round 50), and 1999–2000 (Round 55). Pooling the four rounds provides us with a large sample of males and females aged 6–29. The analytic sample for the different educational transitions ranges from 190,502 for primary enrollment to 37,941 for college enrollment for males; the corresponding figures for females are 171,163 and 21,976. (Exact sample sizes in the various social group categories at different educational levels and for the four rounds of data for males and females separately are available from the authors upon request.) It is important to note that unlike many other studies based on surveys collected at a single point in time or census data, in which changes over time are inferred from comparisons across cohorts, this paper relies on four comparable surveys carried out between 1983 and 2000. This approach offers a number of advantages. Closer temporal proximity between education and the independent variables, particularly household income, allows for richer analysis. In addition, sample attrition associated with mortality and recall bias for older respondents is reduced, increasing the robustness of results.

Further, following the prevailing practice in educational stratification literature ( Mare 1981 ; Raftery and Hout 1993 ; Shavit and Blossfeld 1993 ), we focus on educational transition rather than the final educational attainment. This model can be represented as a series of transitions, where P ik represents the probability that student i at level k will successfully complete the transition to level k + 1. Y ik is the log odd of the likelihood of transition, X ij represents the set of j independent variables, and β jk are the logistic regression coefficients measuring the effect of variable X ij on Y ik . Thus, we estimate the following model:

We focus on five transitions, analyzing each separately: (1) any enrollment in school (age 6–11); (2) completion of primary school, conditional on entering school (ages 12–17); (3) completion of middle school, conditional on completing primary school (ages 14–19); (4) completion of secondary school, conditional on completion of middle school (ages 18–23); and (5) completion of college, conditional on completion of secondary education (ages 24–29). Primary school in India typically consists of grades 1–5, and middle school consists of grades 6–8, with minor state-level variations. The typical age for completion of primary school in India is 11 years, and that for middle school is 14. College involves completion of 15 years of schooling; typically 12 years of school and 3 years of college. Professional degrees, such as engineering or medicine, usually imply an additional year of college. Conditional transition probabilities without controls for the various survey years and levels of education for males and females are shown in Table 3 . Note that for each transition, individuals who did not complete the previous transition are not included in the sample; that is, they are effectively censored.

Probability of Completing Educational Transition, Conditional on Completing Prior Educational Transition, for Various Social Groups, 1983–2000 (without controlling for socioeconomic background)

Notably, educational transitions in India differ from those observed in other countries. In general, educational transition rates decline as students progress along the educational ladder. However, in India, both entering and completing primary education seem to pose a substantial hurdle, but after a student completes primary school, his or her likelihood of completing middle school does not decline perceptibly. This may be because some villages have no primary school, but villages that are closely connected to towns have both primary and middle schools, or because after children obtain primary education in the village, it may be easier when they are slightly older to send them outside of the village to attend a middle school. An alternative explanation may be related to unobserved individual characteristics associated with early school success. Given the high degree of social stratification, poor and marginalized children may never progress beyond a year or two of school and may drop out, but those who figure out how to navigate the school system are able to get through primary as well as middle school.

We estimate the logistic regression described earlier while controlling for urban residence, region of residence, household size, and inflation adjusted per capita household expenditure (used as a marker of permanent income). 9 We also control for age and include a squared term for age, since we expect age to have a nonlinear effect on school progression. These models are estimated separately for males and females. (Descriptive statistics for the independent variables are available from the authors upon request.) It is important to note that the analytical sample gets progressively more selective as we move from the analysis of primary enrollment (in which all children are included) to that of primary completion (in which only those who enrolled in school are included), to middle school completion (in which only those who have completed primary school are included), and so on.

The use of household expenditure as a measure of household’s permanent income is a common strategy for research in developing countries, where agricultural income is often difficult to measure ( Grosh and Glewwe 2000 ) and households often engage in expenditure smoothing over long periods due to irregular agricultural income. One caveat about using household income as a predictor in our analysis is noteworthy. Household income determines the educational opportunities of a child and is also a function of the education level of a household’s working members. Thus, in using income as an independent variable, we face a potential problem of endogeneity. In order to deal with this, we set the upper age limit of our analytic sample to age 29. Indian households are often extended, with more than one working member contributing to the household. Younger family members are rarely the primary contributors of household income. 10 Moreover, for the analysis of early educational transitions, the contribution of children to household income is likely to be far more limited.

Two sets of independent variables are of primary interest: caste/religious categories and historical period. Caste is divided into four categories: (1) dalit, (2) adivasi; (3) Muslim; and (4) all others. Dalits include people who have identified themselves as being of Scheduled Caste and are Hindus, Sikhs, or Buddhists. While dalits may follow Christianity or Islam, they are eligible for affirmative action only if they come from a Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist background. About 96% of the dalits in our sample are Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist. Adivasis include the Scheduled Tribe population following any religion. Muslims include anyone who self-identifies as being Muslim but not adivasi. 11 Finally, about 90% of the category “upper caste Hindus and others” consists of upper caste Hindus but also includes Christians, Sikhs, and Jains. We combine these groups because in spite of some variation, they tend to have similar socioeconomic backgrounds and educational attainment, and also because interaction terms with a large number of categories are difficult to interpret.

Note that while Indian society is divided into thousands of small subcastes, or jatis , the Indian statistical system does not collect systematic data on caste identification. The last census to report detailed jati information was in 1931, and since then, the census and major national surveys have asked questions only regarding whether individuals belong to dalit or adivasi groups and the religion they follow. In 1999–2000, the caste question in the NSS further subdivided upper caste Hindus into OBCs and “forward” castes, but for much of the period under investigation, we can differentiate only the major categories, such as dalits, adivasis, Muslims, and others. Conceptually this is not problematic because until the mid-1990s, the affirmative action programs were mainly geared toward dalits and adivasis as a group as opposed to all other groups. However, after 1992, some affirmative action programs were also initiated to address the needs of OBCs. These programs are weaker than those for dalits and adivasis and have not yet been fully implemented, but inasmuch as they increase the advantages offered to the non-dalit, non-adivasi population, any decline in educational differences between upper caste Hindus and others and dalits/adivasis that we might find would be a lower-bound estimate.

The results of logistic regression analyses conducted for males and females separately are presented in Table 4 . The estimates show that dalits, adivasis, and Muslims all are less likely to progress to the next educational level, conditional on finishing one level, than upper caste Hindus and members of other religions. This disadvantage is large and statistically significant for each of the educational transitions we analyzed and for males as well as females. It is worth noting that log household per capita expenditure, while large and statistically significant in all models, has the greatest effect on children enrolling in school and on those completing college, suggesting that parental economic status has the largest impact at the two extremes of educational ladder. Further, the slopes of urban residence and log of household expenditure on schooling attainment for females are consistently higher than those for males, suggesting that gender differences in education narrow under more favorable schooling circumstances.

Coefficients From the Logistic Regression Analyzing the Transition From One Educational Level to the Next

In order to examine changes in social inequalities in the 1980s and 1990s, we interact dalit, adivasi, and Muslim variables with a set of dummy variables denoting historical period. Given the difficulties in interpreting interaction terms in a logistic regression, we present the results from this analysis in Table 5 as a set of predicted probabilities for successfully completing each of the educational stages of interest, conditional on completing the previous educational level, for the four social groups separately. In calculating these probabilities, we hold the value of the other independent variables at their means.

Predicted Probability of Completing Educational Transition, Conditional on Completing Prior Educational Transition, for Various Social Groups, 1983–2000 (with controls for age, place of residence, and household size)

Note: After controlling for age, place of residence, and household size.

The first thing to note in this table is that the addition of two-way interactions between being dalit, adivasi, or Muslim with three variables reflecting historical period (i.e., the addition of nine variables) is statistically significant at both early and late educational transitions for males and females alike, as indicated by the chi-square statistic. This suggests that the social inequalities with respect to school enrollment have changed over time, as have the inequalities in college completion. These changes are net of any secular changes that might have occurred due to rising levels of household income or urbanization.

Further, with other factors held at their mean values, for upper caste Hindu and other males, the probability of ever enrolling in school increased from .715 in 1983 to .858 in 1999–2000, an increase of about 14 percentage points. Over the same period, enrollment for dalit males increased by 20 percentage points in their probability of enrollment, and that for adivasi males increased by 21 percentage points. This has helped to narrow the disparities between high caste Hindus and dalits/adivasis. For males, the gap in the probability of completing primary education, conditional on enrollment, also narrowed. Among females, the corresponding gain in primary enrollment for upper caste Hindus between 1983 and 1999–2000 is 25 percentage points, compared with 33 percentage points for dalits and 35 percentage points for adivasis.

While Muslims also underwent a substantial improvement in school entry, their improvement lagged behind that of dalits and adivasis. Moreover, while likelihood of school entry increased for Muslim males over this period, their likelihood of primary school completion declined. For females, gains for dalit and adivasi females outpaced the gains for Muslim females in school enrollment. Muslim females had the lowest gains of all groups in primary school completion, conditional on enrollment.

Combining the two factors—that is, the gains in the likelihood of enrollment and in primary school completion—we find that over the period 1983–2000, the probability of completing primary school grew by 9, 14, 20, and 8 percentage points, respectively, for upper caste Hindus and others, dalit, adivasi, and Muslim males; commensurate gains for females were 22, 30, 29, and 19 percentage points, reflecting a lower initial starting point for females (data not shown but available upon request). These observations are consistent with Table 3 : with no control variables, dalit and Muslim males started out (in 1983) at the same level in terms of entry into formal schooling, but the probability of enrollment for dalit males increased from .50 in 1983 to .72 in 1999–2000, while that for Muslim males rose from .50 to .67. Muslim females started out ahead of dalit females (as evident in Table 2 from the statistic pertaining to the “never enrolled” category); but their enrollment probability grew from .39 to .62, while dalit females starting from a low probability level of enrollment of .31 caught up and even marginally surpassed Muslim females with a probability of enrollment in school of .63 between 1983 and 1999–2000 ( Table 3 ). Adivasi males and females started out far behind both Muslims and dalits and managed to narrow the gap substantially. 12

We used Muslims as a foil to suggest that gains in dalit/adivasi education are not solely a part and parcel of secular educational gains for everyone. But to our surprise, we found that in some instances, Muslims have not even gained as much as the upper caste Hindus and other minority religions and have fallen behind other groups over time. This is surprising given that Muslims are concentrated in urban areas and have higher incomes than dalits and adivasis ( Table 1 ). Recent literature on Muslims reflects a sense of deprivation and their disengagement with the wider civil society ( Government of India 2006 ), and this slow rate of educational progress may well be a constituent of that.

Returning to Table 5 , we find that while completion probabilities improved for all groups, for middle and secondary level schooling, differential growth is not statistically significant. However, although the chi-square tests for interaction coefficients for middle and secondary levels of schooling are not statistically significant, in all four regressions, dalits and adivasis have a higher growth rate than upper caste Hindus and Muslims.

The story for college graduation, conditional on completing secondary school, is different. Here, only two groups experienced an absolute increase in the probability of graduation in the 1980s and 1990s: adivasi males and upper caste Hindu and other females. The improvement for adivasi males is substantial (0.104), and that for upper caste Hindu females is minor (0.025; see Table 5 ). However, over this period, Muslim males and females as well as dalit males and females experienced a decline. Note that our analysis (and the preceding discussion) focuses on the transition rate. However, because more dalit and adivasi students completed primary school in the 1990s than in the 1980s, the greater number of dalit students entering college in 1990s resulted in higher absolute numbers of dalit and adivasi college graduates even when the probability of college graduation, conditional on graduating from secondary school, did not improve.

The decline in college completion among dalits is somewhat ironic. Much of the social strife surrounding affirmative action has centered on dalits and their perceived ease of gaining admission to college. Our results show that at this level, the success rates for dalits have not improved at all. This seems to be a prima facie evidence that affirmative action does not help dalits at the college level and is consistent with anecdotal evidence about rising antipathy toward dalits among college students and professors. However, one caveat needs to be considered. Because the gap between dalits and upper caste Hindus/others has narrowed at the primary and middle school levels, more dalit children are completing high school, and less social selection is occurring at the early stage. If this argument holds, we should see a widening gap between the two groups (dalit and upper caste Hindus and others), and the fact that this gap has not widened even more (as it has for Muslims) could be due to affirmative action. It is also important to note that although we focus on college completion rather than college entry, affirmative action is directed to college entrance, not graduation. However, the intent behind the program is presumably to increase college graduation, and not just enrollment.

In our final analysis, we examine changes in transition probabilities for different income groups. In order to examine the possibility of the “creamy layer” of dalit and adivasi community appropriating the benefits of affirmative action, we explore the differences in the predicted probabilities at different per capita household income levels. In deference to parsimony, we restrict our discussion to the three educational transitions for which significant changes in educational inequalities were observed in Table 5 —primary enrollment, primary completion, and college completion—and only for the earliest and for last periods (1983 and 1999–2000).

Figure 1 shows the predicted probability of enrollment in primary school for males and females from various social groups. The results indicate an improvement in primary school enrollment for all income groups, with a proportionately larger improvement at a household expenditure of about Rs 300–500 per month for both males and females. In evaluating these graphs, note that the median per capita expenditure ranged from Rs 363 in 1983 to Rs 457 in 1999–2000; that is, most of the population is located at the lower end of the income distribution in these figures. We find proportionately greater improvement in primary school enrollment among households spending less than Rs 500 per capita (i.e., about US$10 per month) than among higher income levels in both 1983 and 1999–2000. Nonetheless, it is important to note that at all income levels, dalit, adivasi, and Muslim children continue to experience a lower likelihood of enrollment than Hindu males and females, although this disadvantage diminishes greatly at upper income levels.

Predicted Probability of Enrollment in Primary School: 1983–2000

Figure 2 , which focuses on the completion of primary school, conditional on enrolling in school, also shows substantial decline in disparities between various social groups at most income levels for males and females in 1983 and 1999–2000. However, the disparities at lower income levels widen slightly, particularly for Muslim children. This may well be due to the improvement in school enrollment noted in Figure 1 . Expansion in enrollment may result in all children entering school, but only those whose families have relatively higher incomes may be likely to progress beyond a year or two.

Predicted Probability of Primary School Completion, Conditional on Enrollment in Primary School: 1983–2000

Results for college enrollment, reflected in Figure 3 , are of far greater interest to the policy discourse, given the concern among upper caste Hindus that affirmative action for dalits and adivasis keeps them out of college and privileges high-income dalits and adivasis against comparable Hindus. While one normally expects the likelihood of college completion to increase with household income, in 1983, this “normal” relationship is absent for dalit and adivasi males, indicating that income is not sufficient to increase the probability of college completion for these groups and that other factors (possibly discrimination) play a role. By 1999–2000, the curves for dalits and adivasis take on a more expected shape, with increases in the probability of college completion as income levels increase. Nonetheless, at no income level does their likelihood of college completion exceed that of upper caste Hindus and others, belaying the fears of upper-income dalits and adivasis gaining at the expense of upper caste Hindus. We also see deterioration in the status of dalits at lower income levels, where most of the Indian population is located. At this level, adivasis seem to fare somewhat better than dalits, approaching graduation rates of upper caste Hindus and others at upper income levels. 13 At upper income levels, Muslim males have actually lost ground against their Hindu peers. 14

Predicted Probability of College Completion, Conditional on Completing Secondary School: 1983–2000

We see a similar pattern among females, although differences by social group are even wider among females and are far less likely to diminish at upper income levels. Dalit females experience no gains in college graduation and even a slight decline for all income levels, Muslim females at upper income levels experience some gains, but these gains are small. Adivasi females form the only group that seems to approach graduation rates of upper caste Hindu and other females, and most of their gains are located at upper income levels.

To summarize the findings, our analysis of the changes in educational inequalities in India in 1980s and 1990s paints an interesting picture. Results show that educational inequalities between dalits and adivasis on the one hand and upper caste Hindus and others on the other have declined over time, particularly as it applies to primary education. We also note a mild decline in inequalities during middle school and high school, but these improvements are modest in size and are not statistically significant. The inequalities in college education have narrowed for adivasi males; but for all other groups, dalit males and females, and adivasi females, inequality seems to be widening rather than narrowing. There appears to be little evidence to support the fear that higher-income dalit and adivasi families, the so-called creamy layer, are disproportionately capturing the benefits of affirmative action policies. Our results also show that with rising income, adivasis are more able than dalits to achieve the parity in college graduation with upper caste Hindus and others.

Most importantly, the results show that while dalits and adivasis, groups benefiting from positive discrimination, have managed to narrow educational gaps in primary education, this has not been true for Muslims, who do not receive a preferential treatment.

The results presented above confirm some findings from the comparative educational stratification literature ( Mare 1981 ; Raftery and Hout 1993 ; Shavit and Blossfeld 1993 ) and expand these in the context of affirmative action. Our results indicate the following.

First, the educational gap between Hindus and Muslims continued and sometimes expanded. This is a noteworthy finding in the context of current debates around Muslim deprivation in India following the publication of the Sachar Committee Report on Indian Muslims ( Government of India 2006 ). The hypothesis of maximally maintained inequality ( Raftery and Hout 1993 ) suggests that until the dominant group attains educational saturation at any given educational level (estimated at around 95% completion level), educational inequalities will continue to persist even in an era of educational expansion at about the same level. Our results are consistent with this.

Second, the gap between upper caste Hindu/other religious groups and dalits/adivasis diminished. This decline in inequality accelerated during the 1990s, a period of intensified affirmative action directed at dalits and adivasis.

Third, the educational gap declined at the primary school level rather than at the college level. Quotas in college admission have caused great public resistance. However, our results show no improvement and even mild deterioration in college graduation rates for dalits, casting doubt on the effectiveness of these policies. The decline in inequality at the primary level may be associated with affirmative action in employment. For low-skill jobs, there are vast differences in income between those who have a regular year-round job and those who are self-employed or work as casual laborers. About two-thirds of formal sector jobs are controlled by the government either in the public sector or in direct government employment. About 80% of the jobs in public sector enterprises in 1999 were categorized as Group C (driver, technician, typist, mechanic, and the like, often requiring education up to 8 or 10 grades) or Group D (food service worker, peon, sanitary worker, watchman, and the like, often requiring basic literacy). In 1999, nearly 29% of the public sector employees in Groups C and D were from dalit or adivasi background, while only 13% at the higher level fell in this category in spite of the mandated quota of 22.5% ( Indiastat 2006 ).

Fourth, with controls for income and residence, dalits experienced a greater disadvantage in college graduation than did adivasis. These results need to be treated with caution because the literature on this issue is scant, and we can only conjecture the causes underlying this observation. Further, the results may also be skewed due to small sample sizes. Social exclusion patterns for dalits and adivasis may be quite different. Although there is some prejudice against the adivasis, adivasis tend to live in concentrated localities in mountainous regions. Thus, a majority of the Indian population has little contact with adivasis and little religious basis for discrimination. As a result, when adivasis move into urban areas and gain better income, they may be less likely to face the prejudice that is built into Hindu society, which sees dalits as being polluted and socially unacceptable. Some of the adivasi communities have gained considerable power in recent years after gaining mainstream jobs; the power of the Meenas , a tribal group in Rajasthan is legendary. In contrast, a dalit is always a dalit and, regardless of his or her income, continues to suffer from social exclusion and discrimination. Thus even upper-income dalits may face far greater difficulties in school than other groups, including adivasis, reducing their educational attainment. This is an important finding in the context of current Indian discourse. One of the alternatives to the current positive discrimination policies is to reserve quotas for economically disadvantaged groups—that is, affirmative action based on class rather than caste. However, our results suggest that even upper-class dalits fail to achieve their educational potential, and hence class-based affirmative action may not remedy all of the caste-based inequalities.

While this analysis indicates narrowing of educational inequalities between dalits and adivasis on one hand and upper caste Hindus and Sikhs, Christians, and Jains on the other during the 1980s and 1990s, it cannot positively attribute these changes to affirmative action policies, although these are the years during which affirmative action policies intensified. Educational inequalities are a function of many different factors: availability and quality of schools, returns to education, parental demand for schooling, and teachers’ attitudes. Within the context of our analysis, it is not possible to show unambiguously that the changes we observed are the results of positive discrimination or affirmative action. The declining educational disadvantage of dalits/adivasis, the two groups benefiting from affirmative action, and the lack of improvement in the relative status of Muslims, who do not benefit from positive discrimination, suggest that affirmative action policies may have had some impact. However, this is at best a tentative conclusion and worthy of future research examining the impact of specific policies. Moreover, while educational inequalities declined in the context of Indian affirmative action policies, the size of this achievement was modest. Although the situation is improving, at each educational level, dalits and adivasis continue to lag behind upper caste Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs, and these disadvantages seem to accumulate at higher levels of education.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the support provided by William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to Veena Kulkarni in the form of a predoctoral fellowship and by NICHD Grant R01HD041455.

A prior version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, May 1–3, 2003, in Minneapolis.

1. A large body of anthropological literature has been devoted to the study of the caste system in India. Some of the debates within this literature are summarized in Gupta (1991) . A broader discussion of the origins of the caste system is, however, beyond the scope of this paper.

2. Adivasi concentration in the North East, Madhya Pradesh/Jharkhand region and parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra is well documented. This concentration is partly a function of historical circumstances, with certain remote areas being left untouched by the advent of Hinduism, and partly due to the political process underlying a classification that assigned only certain indigenous groups to adivasi status.

3. For this analysis, we combine upper caste Hindus with other religions, including Sikhs, Jains, Christians, and others. Hindus are more than 90% of this category. The educational attainment of Sikhs and Jains is as high as that for upper caste Hindus, while Christians have somewhat higher education. Also, recent legislations distinguish between various groups within the upper caste Hindus, but for much of the period covered by our study, this distinction is less meaningful.

4. The per capita expenditure in Table 1 is in 1999–2000 prices. The exchange rate at that time was about Rs 44.5 per US$1.

5. Some observers have argued that a Muslim preference for educating children in madrasas at lower levels leads to difficulties when they are integrated in mainstream schools at upper levels, but recent statistics show extremely low levels of madrasa enrollment among Muslim children in India—less than 5% nationwide.

6. Caste has always been a very powerful political force, with many political parties being formed on the basis of caste. Consequently, considerable political power devolves to caste leaders who can deliver the vote banks ( Frankel et al. 2000 ).

7. Central government expenditure in India is divided into nonplan expenditure, which consists of basic governmental expenditure, and plan expenditure, under which various development schemes are organized.

8. Initial affirmative action in India focused on dalits and adivasis. However, caste stratification extends beyond these categories, and the Mandal Commission appointed by the Government of India advocated affirmative action benefits for OBCs located above dalits but significantly below the upper castes in terms of socioeconomic achievements.

9. For the present analysis, we capped monthly per capita household expenditure at Rs 10,000 and recoded 795 cases with higher expenditures to Rs 10,000. This recode affects less than 0.1% of the total sample and substantially increases the robustness of our expenditure data.

10. For married females, this issue is somewhat more problematic. This variable reflects the socioeconomic status of the household into which they are married rather than the household in which they grew up. However, given the educational homogamy, there is likely to be a fair degree of similarity between the two households. We expect this issue to be a smaller concern for early transitions because they involve younger women, who are more likely to be unmarried.

11. Caste and religious affiliations are not always mutually exclusive. A small percentage of the population is Christian and dalit, or Muslim and adivasi. Neither of these groups is eligible for reservation based on affirmative action programs.

12. Since dalits and adivasis are disproportionately located in rural areas and Muslims in urban areas, a greater educational expansion in rural areas might account for some of these differences. However, we controlled for urban residence in our multivariate analysis, and a separate analyses for urban and rural residents (not reported here) showed similar pattern. Moreover, in spite of investments in the construction of schools in rural regions, urban areas enjoy an unmistakable edge in proximity to schools and quality of schooling, and the differences between Muslims and dalits/adivasis emerge in the completion of primary school, conditional on enrollment. Presumably enrollment is affected by the presence of schools, while completion is affected by other factors.

13. Our results may be due to sample size limitations: dalits who have completed secondary schooling and are eligible to complete college are a small proportion of our sample, and of these individuals, the proportion whose households have high per capita expenditure is even smaller. Hence, these results should be treated with caution. However, sensitivity of the results is often due to a small number of cases rather than small percentages. We reconducted this analysis, combining males and females to increase the sample size, but the results did not change substantially.

14. The lowest expenditure threshold, Rs 100–300 per month, is where dalit/adivasi/Muslim males have a higher likelihood of graduation than upper caste Hindus and other peers. However, given the extremely small transition probabilities at this expenditure level, these differences, unlike the differences at the upper income levels, fall well within the 95% confidence interval and are not statistically significant.

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Equalisation of educational opportunities.

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After reading this article you will learn about the Equalization of Educational Opportunities:- 1. Meaning and Concept 2. Problems of Equality of Educational Opportunity 3. Measures

Meaning and Concept :

Democracy believes in equality. Man leads a better life in democratic set up through education. The quality of education determines the goal of democracy. The widest provision of educational facilities for all its members and not for a few only, will help man to survive and succeed in a democracy.

After independence, India formulated the goal of equalisation of opportunity in education and employment, because India believed in democratic philosophy. The constitution of India also writes for the provision of educational opportunities to all people of the country. So every individual should have equal opportunities for getting education.

Regarding equalisation of educational opportunity the report of the Education Commission 1964-66 states, “One of the important social objectives of education is to equalize opportunities, enabling the backward underprivileged classes and individuals to use education as a lever for the improvement of their condition”.

A.H. Halsey opines that the role of education must largely be to maintain a society of equals.

A sociologist like Brian Simon states that education’s objective should be equality.

According to NPE-1986, equalisation of education means “to provide for equal opportunity to all not only in access but also in the conditions for success”.

At present, equalisation of educational opportunity has been interpreted “as the opportunity to start together, to benefit from staggered starts, to run on the same track and to rein on progress together”.

So the term equality of educational opportunities are generally interpreted as opening of schools within walking distance of the learner, providing residential schools for children, admission of children of all communities, reducing the dropout rates, provision of non-formal education for the drop outs and provision of pre-matric and post-matric stipend etc.

Problems of Equality of Educational Opportunity :

In-equalisation of educational opportunities arise in various ways.

They are as follows:

(i) Non-existence of educati6nal institutions where there is no institutions.

(ii) Difference in economic status of the people.

(iii) Gender disparities.

(iv) Difference in the standards of educational institutions.

(v) Difference on home environment of the children.

(vi) Disparity between rural and urban, backward and advanced classes.

(vii) Non-availability of adequate opportunities.

(viii) Social and Psychological restraints.

(ix) Lack of motivation towards education.

(x) Low self-concept of parents.

Measures taken for Equalization of Educational Opportunities :

For achieving the target of equalizing educational opportunities, our efforts must be directed in many directions.

(i) To provide equal opportunity to all children, primary education has been made free, compulsory and universal as per the constitutional provisions.

(ii) At the secondary stage, provisions of diversified curricula to suit the different needs and interests of the children have been made.

(iii) Emphasis has been given on the Declaration of Human Rights, Act 26(1) as education is a fundamental right and on no ground of caste, colour, creed, race etc. can anybody be excluded from exercising this right.

(v) Steps have been taken for the educational backwardness amongst the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes with the provision of reservation of seats and different types of scholarships for promoting equality in education.

(v) Residential Schools or Ashram Schools and Kanyashram Schools have been set up for providing educational facilities in tribal areas.

(vi) Women’s participation in different types of courses has been given priority in various educational policies and in different Five year Plans.

(vii) In order to bring equality in education of different disabled children special provisions have been made in the field of school organisation, curriculum and in instructional procedures.

The NPE 1986, lays special emphasis on equalizing educational opportunity by removing disparities in different fields.

(a) Special schools with hostel facilities will be provided.

(b) Emphasis will be laid on women’s participation in vocational, technical and professional education at all levels.

(c) Adequate arrangements will be made to give vocational training to the disabled.

(d) Special incentives, help, benefits will be provided to S.C. and S.T. people.

(e) Teacher’s training programmes will be reoriented.

(f) Teachers will lead all the children equally to participate in the curricular and co-curricular activities of the school.

(g) Education will be used as an agent of basic change in the status of women.

(h) Women studies will be promoted as a part of various courses and educational institutions.

In spite of all those efforts, the result of equalization in educational opportunities is not up to satisfaction. In order to satisfy this goal we need much more incentive measure and an effective implementing procedure.

Related Articles:

• Problems of Educational Modernization in India
• Interrelationship between Educational Inequality

Education , Educational Problem , Educational Opportunities , Equalisation

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