ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the problem of inequality in Indian education in order to theoretically comprehend those processes that continually disadvantage the marginal exploited communities – Dalits – in India in both their social and more specifically, in institutional structures such as education. It also investigates how a discourse of dominance is perpetuated within schooling in Indian society. School knowledge is inherently ideological in that it reproduces the culture of the middle class and so perpetuates the established patterns of social inequality and social order of contemporary Indian society mainly experienced by Dalits.
It is argued here that school and higher education in India remain in the control of the middle classes. The Indian state has attempted, no doubt in one way or the other, to reorganize the primary, secondary and higher education systems and launched programmes to alleviate the plight of disadvantaged groups particularly Dalits. These, however, have met with mixed results. Dalits still do poorly at school, reflecting the persistence of caste, class and gender discrimination. Undoubtedly, social indictors show that the Indian middle class is far better off in terms of quality of life and the privileges that they continue to enjoy. Paradoxically, the Dalits who improved their economic and social status through education have become a part of the dominant system. This may be attributed to the system of Indian education inhibiting the development of critical faculty and reasonable mind among Dalits. This situation belies the Ambedkar’s expectation for education being a powerful instrument of bringing about change in the lifestyle of Dalits in India.
