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Marginalised in Education
Context:
Atul Kumar, the son of a daily wage worker from the Scheduled Caste community, recently made headlines after losing his seat at IIT Dhanbad because he was unable to pay the seat booking fee of ₹17,500.
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- His case, which garnered widespread attention on social media, prompted the Supreme Court to intervene under Article 142 and grant him admission.
- However, for every case like Atul’s that gains attention, countless others remain in the shadows, with deserving students losing opportunities due to financial hardships and systemic inequalities.
Barriers to Education
- Caste-Based Exclusion: The struggles faced by Dalit students today echo the caste-based exclusions of pre-Independence India, though the challenges have become more insidious.
- Tuition Fees: Under initiatives like the “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan,” the push for self-reliance in institutions has resulted in significant tuition fee hikes in government colleges and universities, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), and central universities.
- For instance, in 2016, the IIT Council approved a 200% fee increase for undergraduate programs, raising annual tuition from ₹90,000 to ₹3 lakh.
- Similarly, many IIMs have raised fees drastically in recent years, with increases ranging from 5% to nearly 30%.
- Initiatives: While government schemes like the Vidyalakshmi initiative aim to offer interest-free scholarships to marginalised students, they remain inadequate in addressing the rising costs of education.
- Suicides: The stress and inequity within these institutions are not just financial but also human, as evidenced by the alarming number of suicides among students at IITs and IIMs.
- Between 2014 and 2021, 122 students from these institutions ended their lives, often due to financial strain and anxiety over career prospects.
The Cost of Sustaining Education
- Drop Outs: The financial strain also leads many students to drop out of prestigious institutions.
- In 2017 and 2018 alone, over 2,400 students left IITs due to financial difficulties.
- A Lok Sabha report revealed that more than 13,500 students from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) dropped out of central universities, IITs, and IIMs over a five-year period.
- This includes 4,596 OBC students, 2,424 SC students, and 2,622 ST students from central universities, along with significant dropout numbers from IITs and IIMs.
- Systemic Inequalities: The reasons for these dropouts are deeply rooted in systemic inequalities.
- Many Dalit families remain economically marginalised, often confined to menial and degrading jobs due to caste discrimination.
- This economic and social vulnerability limits their ability to access and sustain higher education.
- Upward Mobility: A recent survey revealed that 92% of urban sewer and septic tank workers belong to SC, ST, or OBC communities, reflecting the lack of opportunities for upward mobility.
Caste-Based Disparities in Education and Employment
- Despite constitutional provisions and welfare measures, caste-based discrimination continues to plague India’s educational institutions.
- Dalit students often face subtle but pervasive forms of prejudice, including judgments based on their clothes, language, or other markers of identity.
- Such discrimination fosters social isolation and has led to tragic incidents of student suicides in institutions like IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi.
- The disparity extends to faculty representation as well.
- A 2019 report revealed that 95% of faculty positions in IITs were held by individuals from upper-caste backgrounds, with SC, ST, and OBC communities occupying just 5% of these roles despite constituting 70%-80% of the population.
- An RTI filed by IIT-Bombay students showed that several departments had no SC, ST, or OBC faculty at all.
Unemployment and the Broken Promise of Education
- The pressure on Dalit students is compounded by high unemployment rates, which negate the promise of education as a means to economic upliftment.
- An RTI filed in 2024 revealed that approximately 8,000 students (38%) across 23 IIT campuses remained unplaced this year.
- For marginalised students, the challenges of securing employment are further amplified by their caste identity, which often acts as an additional barrier.
Way Forward
The persistent inequalities in India’s education system demand systemic reforms to make higher education more accessible and inclusive. Addressing these disparities requires a multi-faceted approach, including:
- Fee Subsidies and Financial Aid: Expanding scholarships and reducing fees for marginalised communities to ensure affordability.
- Caste Sensitisation Programs: Implementing measures to combat discrimination and foster an inclusive environment.
- Faculty Diversity: Ensuring adequate representation of SC, ST, and OBC communities in faculty positions to provide mentorship and address biases.
- Mental Health Support: Establishing robust support systems to address the psychological pressures faced by students.
As institutions strive for excellence, they must not lose sight of equity and inclusion. The aspirations of marginalised communities deserve to be met with opportunities, not barriers, ensuring that education truly becomes a tool for empowerment rather than exclusion.
