Understanding the Factors of Dalit Girls Exclusion in Education

Abstract

The relationship of Dalits with exclusion is a common scenario in India over several periods of time. Since ancient times, Dalits have faced different social, political, and cultural exclusion in the Indian society. When it comes to education, the exclusion is still prevalent in various part of modern India. Especially in the low-access, caste dominant areas, the situation is worse for the higher education of Dalits. For girls, it becomes more complicated to access the general resources to continue education without hassles. Therefore, the literacy rate (56.6% from census 2011) of Dalit women is still very low in India compared to the general population of this country, which creates a gap in their social, political, and economic engagements in the country. Irrespective of constant governmental efforts, the complexities of the Dalit women’s education are still very much persistent in India, after over 74 years of independence. Thus, this paper mainly focuses on factors such as gender- and caste-based discrimination, low enrolment in schools, scholarship issues, violence against them, and so on, based on secondary data, which create exclusion in Dalit girls’ education. This paper also tries to highlight the constitutional provisions. It further highlights the history of Dalit girls’ exclusion and their struggle for education in India. The ultimate goal of the paper is to underline the current situation of Dalit girls’ education and the root cause of the problem, to ensure closing of the gap between governmental efforts and Dalit girls’ education in India.

Keywords: Exclusion, Dalit, Girls, Education

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