ABSTRACT
Unlike the policy-practice examples discussed in other chapters in this volume, India has been slow to develop appropriate educational provision for its many migrant populations, and particularly those inhabiting its drylands. This chapter focuses on schooling for one group in the northwestern State of Gujarat, the transhumant pastoralist Rabaris of Kachchh (see Figure 13.1). Rabaris’ responses to questions of schooling are refl ections of their marginalisation, their resistance to it and their attempts to use schooling as a means of transformation. Faced by shrinking pastures and ever dwindling natural resources as a result of state-driven development policies, Rabaris have become increasingly interested in schooling, primarily as a key to gaining access to employment in the non-pastoral sector.
