Educational deprivation and primary school provision : a study of providers in the city of Calcutta

Abstract

Publicly provided education systems are increasingly being seen as unable to address the specific \neducational needs of poor and marginalized groups. The emphasis on pluralism in educational provision \nand alternative schooling systems for such groups hence assumes significance. This paper focuses on the \neducation of the poor in the city of Calcutta, capital of the state of West Bengal in India. It dwells on \ninitiatives that are underway to bring all children to primary schools both in state funded regular schools \nas well as in alternative schools that are being run by non-government organisations. The paper situates \nthese initiatives in the larger context of the state of primary schooling in the city and the perceptions of \neducational deprivation among policy-makers, teachers and administrators. It points to the fact that \nprimary schools are inadequate in terms of availability and offer education of relatively poor quality. \nHowever educational deprivation is seen by school providers to result largely from poverty, particularly \nchild labour and the absence of home and community environments that are conducive to learning. This \nhas provided the rationale for an alternative schooling system to address the specific educational needs of \nchildren who are not in regular schools. The paper acknowledges that poverty is an important constraint \nin the education of the children of Calcutta’s poor. However it stresses that an emphasis primarily on the \nlinkages between poverty, child labour and non enrolment in school fails to address the magnitude of \neducational deprivation that results from the institutional context of schooling provided to the poor. \nWhile the alternative schooling system may increase educational opportunities for poor children it is \nunlikely to provide education of quality. On the other hand it is likely to result in a further stratification of \nan already iniquitous schooling system.

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