educational quality and social inequality: reflecting on
TRANSCRIPT
contemporary
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link1
Rekha Pappu and DVasanta
Abstract It is argued that the perception of existing inequality within the field of school education gave rise to the language of rights but that normative notions of childhood underpinning educational discourses have not been sufficiently problematised The paper makes a case for productive convergence between the discourses of quality and inequality by drawing on the observations from a study of government schools in Andhra Pradesh Specifically the paper foregrounds the need for reflecting on the tacit agreement that exists within the education system about bracketing off questions of socio-cultural inequality when discussing issues of quality and learning goals on the one hand and the compartmentalisation of the language of rights on the other hand such that adequate attention has not yet been paid to questions of educational quality
In this paper we focus on two important aspects ie quality
and inequality which shape our present understanding of
school education Furthermore we seek to grasp the
manner in which discussions of each of these relate to one
another Our contribution to the discussion on this subject
draws on a study that we undertook at Anveshi Research
Centre for Womens Studies Hyderabad (Anveshi 2003) This
study which extended over a twondashyear period (2000ndash2002)
Rekha Pappu is an independent researcher based in Hyderabad and a research consultant with the Higher Education Cell Bangalore Her research interests include womens studies cultural studies and education rekhapappuyahoocom
D Vasanta is at the Department of Linguistics Osmania University Hyderabad and member of Anveshi Research Centre for Womens Studies Hyderabad She is trained as an audiologist and speechndashlanguage pathologist and is currently involved in research project on brain organisation in normative multilingualism Her research interests include education of the hearing impaired literacy studies and clinical linguistics vasantadgmailcom
contemporary Vol 7 No 1 January 2010 education dialogue
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 95
involved an examination of the lives and experiences of 300
students of classes VI VII and VIII from 10 different
Government schools in and around Hyderabad in Andhra
Pradesh Our study was not directly aimed at investigating the
quality of education that the children received Instead our
awareness of their marginalised status within the society as
well as the educational system led us to explore how they
transacted the school curriculum We draw on some of the
insights gained from that study to comment on the present
discussions on school education in India discussions that are
increasingly being influenced by simultaneous concerns about
educational quality and social inequality
As terms that form a part of the discourse on education lsquolsquoquality and lsquoinequality have a longstanding history and have
been of central interest to educational theorists and 2philosophers in particular In our paper we draw upon such
self reflexive and sustained engagement with the subject but
also refer to the use of the terms in public discussions indexed
for instance by debates in newspapers It is worth noting that
the inclusion of a conception of quality in relation to issues of
school education in popular discussions is more recent when
compared to the emphasis on educational inequality
For a considerable period of time before and after
Independence debates on school education in India were
animated by concerns about the relevance of education to the 3lives of the students and the society of which they were a part
Gradually however the notion of quality has replaced the notion
of relevance The introduction and consistent use of the term
lsquoquality in the documents produced by the World Bank aided
District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) in particular
ensured that where the term had thus far largely been used to
gauge the standard of consumption goods it now entered the
popular lexicon when discussing matters of school education 4as well
As regards the issue of inequality vis-a-vis school
education prior to the 1990s (marked in particular by the
introduction of liberalisation in the country) it was flagged
mainly through figures which revealed that large numbers of
children were never enrolled or had dropped out of the
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96 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
educational system even before passing the primary level
Educational lsquoopportunity and lsquoaccess were the keywords in the
discussions during this phase prior to liberalisation Through
the decade of the 90s and beyond the rapid growth of private
schools and the progressive deterioration of government
schools added yet another dimension to the discussion of
inequality resulting in fact in bringing the discourse of quality
closer to that of inequality The aspect of inequality in this latter
phase was obvious from the fact that all those who could afford
it sent their wards to private schools while the government
schools were mainly populated by the poor The recognition of
uneven access to schooling brought with it alertness to
differences in schooling patterns including the medium of
instruction managements standards all of which came to now
be subsumed under the telegraphic invocation of the term
ldquoqualityrdquo Various newspaper columns reports and studies 5highlighted the poor quality of government schooling
Despite their convergence at certain points and in certain
moments discussions about quality and inequality in India
have been moving on distinct and parallel tracks for the most
part A thoroughgoing debate on the nature of the link between
these two key issues is yet to take place though signs of such a
beginning are now available in some recent discussions around
school education The more recent deliberations in connection
with the formulation of the National Curriculum Framework
(NCF) 2005 (National Council for Educational Research and
Training [NCERT] 2005) and the subsequent responses to the
document have in fact provided a rich context that could
facilitate the task of developing theories to link quality and
inequality concerns The many experiments and innovations
tried out in different government schools which have been
anthologised in Kumar and Sarangapani (2005) too provide
insights for connecting up quality questions with concerns 6about inequality
The debate around the Right to Education Bill which
subsequently became an Act through notification in August
2009 too has tangentially touched upon the link between the
two issues More such discussions are however needed before
the challenges involved in providing lsquoquality education to first
generation learners can be met
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 97
Admittedly the question of educational quality raised in the
context of social inequality is in itself a difficult one because the
standard for good education when it has been seriously and
systematically discussed has for thus long been in relation to a 7learner who does not lack in material terms In striking
contrast we are now confronted with the student of a
government school who is characterised by a series of lsquolacks
beginning with something as basic as lack of adequate food
reading material and ranging thereon to the lack of cultural
capital When quality education for this group of students is
emphasized by concerned individuals and institutions is a
standard universal quality being envisaged In which case the
discussion needs to dwell on the process by which the students
can attain that standard Or is an alternate conception of
quality being invoked when the demand for quality education
for children from lower socio-economic groups is being
stressed In this latter case the alternate conception then
needs to be elaborated in greater detail However we find in
most instances where quality education is being discussed that
these critical issues are rarely clarified
As mentioned before the Anveshi study too did not
conclusively answer the question about how quality should be
understood vis-a-vis the present generation of government
school students When we undertook the study quality was
only an embedded issue within our focus on curriculum
transaction However the attempt at understanding the micro
details of the lives of children going to government schools
forced our attention to aspects that were pertinent to the
schooling of the children who took admission into government
schools at that moment in time We sensed that with respect to
school education the widespread invocations of the terms
lsquoquality and lsquoinequality had an uneasy relationship with one
another and did not easily and completely accommodate each
others concerns
We seek to probe the reasons for this lack of fit between
what the two terms convey and the nature of the gap that exists
between them Such an examination necessarily involves a
more critical engagement with two aspects that are in turn
closely related to the predominant thinking about quality and
inequality i) the normative notions of childhood that
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98 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
underwrite much of educational theory as also ii) the discourse
of rights through which the argument of education for all is
made We contend that even as notions of normative childhood
underpin both the concerns about quality as well as about the
right of every child to education a productive convergence
between the discourse of quality and of rights has not yet been 8possible The dominant conceptions of quality education are
more closely aligned with normative notions of childhood
whereas the rights discourse is primarily animated by concerns
of inequality Thus while quality related discussions are rarely
impacted by issues of inequality the rights discourse in relation
to education has paid insufficient attention to issues of quality
The rest of the paper seeks to elaborate the arguments
highlighted above We begin with a brief description of the
Anveshi study and draw attention to some of our findings
relevant to the topic of this paper Our observations from the
study are in themselves not unusual and have been repeatedly
emphasized by various scholars and activists What is different
however is the frame in which we seek to present these issues
The subsequent section on childhood discusses notions of
normative childhoods and their influence on both the theory
and practice of schooling The discussion on rights examines
the possibilities as well as the difficulties emerging from a focus
on the language of rights within the field of school education
The concluding section returns to some of the issues raised
above and emphasizes the need for developing frameworks that
would be able to simultaneously hold together concerns about
inequality and quality
Anveshis Study on School Education
The Anveshi study was carried out between 2000 and 2002
having as its backdrop an increased and high profile
intervention by the government of Andhra Pradesh in
elementary education through the introduction of many new
programs in the field of education The government envisaged
its task primarily in terms of enrolling children in schools and
retaining them for a minimum period of five years (Pappu
2005) The challenges involved were understood mainly in
terms of convincing parents to send their children to schools
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 99
and in terms of providing adequate infrastructure While the
state government did make a distinction between the
quantitative and qualitative dimension of the required inputs
on the whole it laid excessive stress on the former ie the
quantitative Targets as well as achievements were fixed in
terms of enumerable figures for infrastructure development
teacher recruitment and student enrolment Quality issues
were discussed at times in terms of basic literacy and numeracy
but most often through reference to unelaborated notions of
lsquojoyful learning
Within such a context the main objective of our study was
to understand the processes involved in curriculum
transaction by children belonging to working class families
studying in government schools in Andhra Pradesh When
curriculum transaction is viewed as it often is as translating
educational objectives (set by experts who are often not school
teachers) into practice propositions by the teachers the
underlying assumption is that every child in the classroom is
the same that the concept lsquochildhood has a fixed meaning
across socio-economic classes and communities and that if a
given child or a group of children are not doing well in a
particular subject the reason must be incapacity on the part of
the child or ignorance on the part of parents about matters of
education However by viewing curriculum transaction as a
series of micro operations involving contributions of pupils
parents teachers and school administrators our study sought
to gather empirical evidence about what was involved in the
process of the childrens negotiation of the school curriculum
We focused on ten different schools in and around
Hyderabad selected randomly from the computer database
maintained at the Department of School Education (DSE)
Andhra Pradesh For our study we chose the upper primary
classes (VI VII and VIII) since it is widely acknowledged that the
first level and largest drop out of students takes place before the
end of primary school In choosing students who had managed
to pass out of the first critical stage and had entered the next
level of schooling we sought to understand how they were
negotiating with the schooling process at this secondary level
Of the total population of 3240 children across these ten
schools we selected ten students from each class thus making
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100 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
up a study sample of 300 children In the population from
which the sample was chosen 37 belonged to the Other
Backward Classes (OBC) 33 to Scheduled Castes (SC) and
7 to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) the remaining included
children from other minority groups such as Christians and
Muslims It is obvious from these figures that our observations
are based primarily on children from Backward Class (BC) SC
ST communities constituting close to 75 of the total number
of children we have studied The data computerised by the State
Government since 1995 (as mentioned by one of the officials at
the DSE) reveals that this composition of students is more or
less the same across different government schools
Our study assigned importance to multiple data sources
and forms The quantitative data was collected by three
research assistants using questionnaires in Telugu This
information was supplemented with qualitative data based on
home visits classroom observations and analyses of select 9prefaces and lessons from textbooks It is outside the scope of
this paper to present all the results in any meaningful fashion
However we provide below a brief summary of our findings
(without elaborating on any of them) but reproduce later in the
paper some of our observations and excerpts from interviews
conducted as part of the study in order to substantiate the line
of argument being pursued by us here
More than 90 of the mothers in our study belonged to the
categories of housendashworkers unorganised blue collar workers
(eg beedi makers) agricultural workers servant maids and
petty businesswomen (eg idlindashcart owners) whereas 90 of the
fathers occupations can be described as unorganised blue
collar workers (eg construction work) agricultural workers
petty businessmen (eg pan shop or hairndashcutting saloon) and
organised blue collar workers (eg office peons) A striking
though not surprising finding of our study was that a huge
majority of the children interviewed participated in the adult
world of work to supplement the familys meager income or to
ensure smooth functioning of the household Neither the
children nor the parents nor the teachers found this situation
unusual to say the least
The children covered in our study we found had negligible
reading material almost no access to libraries minimal
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 101
engagement with literate adults and little or no help with
homework The absence of an environment conducive to
schooling was striking An examination of the textbooks
revealed that the content of almost all the lessons was derived
from a context alien to theirs
Our classroom observations led us to conclude that an
educational context that called for a teacherndashstudent
relationship where encouragement and responsiveness would
constitute a kernel around which teaching and learning could
occur was largely missing Interviews with the children and
parents provided us with the insight that children who received
support and encouragement either from their school or tuition
teachers or other educated persons who they had contact with
did well in schools Others just dropped out of school Yet
others and they formed the majority did not actively engage
with the curriculum Going to school was a matter of routine
that provided an opportunity for them to spend time with other
children In many different ways though and as we shall
elaborate upon further the childhood of the children who
comprised the universe of our study was different from our
understanding of the concept and therefore forced us to look
more closely and critically at the notions of childhood that were
prevalent and predominant at the time we were carrying out the
study
Quality of Education and Normative Notions of Childhood
I do the dishes wash clothes water plants sweep the yard get
the children ready for school I put their shoes on put on the
tie and uniforms and send them to school After that I wash the
bathrooms sweep the hall mop it fold the bed sheets and
change them once a week I get the wheat ground in a nearby
flourndashmill All this work is done between 7am and 12 noon
They give me tiffin and tea at 12 noon I come home change
into my school dress and go to school I return from school
around 5 pm Between 530 and 7 pm I go for tuition Tuition
teacher is a friend of my sister She doesnt charge anything
Sometimes I stay back after the tuition and do my homework
before coming home Sometimes my mother asks me to run
errands My sister works in the Electricity department Her
husband died so she got this job In 1993 my father died My
brother is married and is working My mother also goes for
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102 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
work stone cutting I earn Rs200- per month I have a sister
who is in III class She also goes to tuition My sisterndashinndashlaw is a
nice person I wish I could become a doctor but I doubt if they
will let me complete 10th class
This is the response we received from a girl student (who is
also a domestic worker) studying in VII standard in one of the
government schools in Hyderabad when we asked her to
describe her daily routine Such responses never enter or
inform educational discourse except perhaps in categorising
them as an aberration from predominant conceptions of what
ideal childhood involves The marginality of this figure in the
theorisation of education can thus be explained in terms of the
fact that the life of this child doesnt fit normative notions of
childhood and therefore often fails to get addressed by most
education researchers textbook writers or policy makers
Whether explicitly acknowledged or not approaches to
schooling and education draw upon as well as feed into the
conceptions of childhood that one subscribes to Woodhead
(2006) points out that different paradigms constitute the norm
of childhood in different ways10 He points out however that the
developmental approach has become the ubiquitous
perspective that underpins most educational policies the world
over A major goal of this approach which draws on the
theoretical works of Piaget Kohlberg and Erikson among
others is to identify universal features of growth and change
through detailed accounts of stages of physical mental social
and moral development in children
The developmental norm in relation to childhood in the
contemporary society is that children should be in school and
not at work additionally that they should be joyful carefree and
sheltered from the sordid facts of adult life Other features that
are regarded as being characteristic of childhood include
ldquovulnerability dependency need for protection lack of
responsibility ignorance inability to produce or provide and
only capable of consuming (Holland 1986 p 46) The fact that
this notion has widespread acceptance irrespective of evidence
to the contrary is what makes it the normative definition of
childhood Even as diverse approaches to childhood are being
proposed the hegemonic proposition of an ideal childhood has
remained Balagopalan (2002) Bissel (2003) Sarangapani
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 103
(2003) and Vasanta (2004) provide an elaboration and critical
engagement with these points
Drawing on the conception of ideal or normative childhoods
can have different effects one of which is that textbook authors
typically construct an image of childhood as a period of life
spent almost entirely in the contexts of family and school
where the emphasis is on care play learning and teaching
These assumptions in turn serve to produce a standard for
learning and bases for discussion of educational quality As an
illustrative exercise we would like to foreground the influence
that a normative notion of childhood has in propositions about
educational quality through the example provided in Figure 1
which is a preface that appears in the English language
textbook issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for use
in Class VII
The stated objective of the lesson is contained in the line
that the ldquostories are for developing the ability to listen to and
understand spoken Englishrdquo Since lsquoEnglish is popularly
instated as the marker of quality education developing
familiarity with English would imply in this instance that the
textbook seeks to meet the quality objective However the
promise of quality held out in this case is premised on certain
critical aspects which simultaneously draw upon as well as
buttress the normative notions of childhood First implicit in
the whole set of instructions is the assumption that the child is
in a state of dependency and needs to be guided by adults
Building upon the first the second assumption is that every
child will necessarily have the support of a parent or a guardian
who will be able to actively or passively guide her him through
the school system The third assumption is that the parent or
the guardian of the child will be in full agreement with the
pedagogic mode suggested by the text Finally that the material
requirements of the child will be taken care of by the guardian
and that the child will unproblematically be provided with all
the requisite textbooks Not surprisingly our study provided
evidence to falsify each of these assumptions
In contrast to what obtains in the framework of the
normative notion of childhood our study clearly revealed that
far from being in a state of dependency many children are
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104 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Figure 1 Preface
A NOTE TO THE PARENT
1 Your child is in the third year of learning English In the class the teacher will help your child do the following
(1) Listen to a few simple stories read out in class
(2) Talk about things of interest with the teacher and the classmates
(3) Read a number of stories in English
(4) Write a few simple sentences and paragraphs
(5) Read and enjoy a few simple poems
2 It is important for you to remember a few things
(1) There is a section labeled lsquoFor the use of the teacher at the beginning of each Unit Do not make your child read memorise or recite any part of it
(2) In class your child will listen to the stories when the teacher reads them out Do not make him her read the story Do not expect him her to fully understand the story or know the meanings of all the words The stories are for developing the ability to listen to and understand spoken English
(3) Your child will be doing some writing at home using the Reader and the Workbook Do not offer to help when your child does his her homework The teacher would have made enough preparation in class for the task Let your child make the effort at doing the homework by himself herself Help him her only when it is absolutely necessary
(4) Your child will need three prescribed books for learning English in this class mdash the Reader the Workbook and the Supplementary Reader It is important that your child possesses his her own copy of all of them
WISH YOU AND YOUR CHILD ALL THE BEST
xiii
Source New English Reader 3 Class VII Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000)
exposed to adult responsibilities at different points in their
lives We noted that a vast majority of the government school
children we studied participate in the adult world of work
Specifically we noted that 87 of the children work outside
school hours The school system assumes the norm of
childndashdependency irrespective of the fact that a fairly large
number of children are autonomous outside the domain of the
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
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106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
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112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
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114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 95
involved an examination of the lives and experiences of 300
students of classes VI VII and VIII from 10 different
Government schools in and around Hyderabad in Andhra
Pradesh Our study was not directly aimed at investigating the
quality of education that the children received Instead our
awareness of their marginalised status within the society as
well as the educational system led us to explore how they
transacted the school curriculum We draw on some of the
insights gained from that study to comment on the present
discussions on school education in India discussions that are
increasingly being influenced by simultaneous concerns about
educational quality and social inequality
As terms that form a part of the discourse on education lsquolsquoquality and lsquoinequality have a longstanding history and have
been of central interest to educational theorists and 2philosophers in particular In our paper we draw upon such
self reflexive and sustained engagement with the subject but
also refer to the use of the terms in public discussions indexed
for instance by debates in newspapers It is worth noting that
the inclusion of a conception of quality in relation to issues of
school education in popular discussions is more recent when
compared to the emphasis on educational inequality
For a considerable period of time before and after
Independence debates on school education in India were
animated by concerns about the relevance of education to the 3lives of the students and the society of which they were a part
Gradually however the notion of quality has replaced the notion
of relevance The introduction and consistent use of the term
lsquoquality in the documents produced by the World Bank aided
District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) in particular
ensured that where the term had thus far largely been used to
gauge the standard of consumption goods it now entered the
popular lexicon when discussing matters of school education 4as well
As regards the issue of inequality vis-a-vis school
education prior to the 1990s (marked in particular by the
introduction of liberalisation in the country) it was flagged
mainly through figures which revealed that large numbers of
children were never enrolled or had dropped out of the
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96 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
educational system even before passing the primary level
Educational lsquoopportunity and lsquoaccess were the keywords in the
discussions during this phase prior to liberalisation Through
the decade of the 90s and beyond the rapid growth of private
schools and the progressive deterioration of government
schools added yet another dimension to the discussion of
inequality resulting in fact in bringing the discourse of quality
closer to that of inequality The aspect of inequality in this latter
phase was obvious from the fact that all those who could afford
it sent their wards to private schools while the government
schools were mainly populated by the poor The recognition of
uneven access to schooling brought with it alertness to
differences in schooling patterns including the medium of
instruction managements standards all of which came to now
be subsumed under the telegraphic invocation of the term
ldquoqualityrdquo Various newspaper columns reports and studies 5highlighted the poor quality of government schooling
Despite their convergence at certain points and in certain
moments discussions about quality and inequality in India
have been moving on distinct and parallel tracks for the most
part A thoroughgoing debate on the nature of the link between
these two key issues is yet to take place though signs of such a
beginning are now available in some recent discussions around
school education The more recent deliberations in connection
with the formulation of the National Curriculum Framework
(NCF) 2005 (National Council for Educational Research and
Training [NCERT] 2005) and the subsequent responses to the
document have in fact provided a rich context that could
facilitate the task of developing theories to link quality and
inequality concerns The many experiments and innovations
tried out in different government schools which have been
anthologised in Kumar and Sarangapani (2005) too provide
insights for connecting up quality questions with concerns 6about inequality
The debate around the Right to Education Bill which
subsequently became an Act through notification in August
2009 too has tangentially touched upon the link between the
two issues More such discussions are however needed before
the challenges involved in providing lsquoquality education to first
generation learners can be met
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 97
Admittedly the question of educational quality raised in the
context of social inequality is in itself a difficult one because the
standard for good education when it has been seriously and
systematically discussed has for thus long been in relation to a 7learner who does not lack in material terms In striking
contrast we are now confronted with the student of a
government school who is characterised by a series of lsquolacks
beginning with something as basic as lack of adequate food
reading material and ranging thereon to the lack of cultural
capital When quality education for this group of students is
emphasized by concerned individuals and institutions is a
standard universal quality being envisaged In which case the
discussion needs to dwell on the process by which the students
can attain that standard Or is an alternate conception of
quality being invoked when the demand for quality education
for children from lower socio-economic groups is being
stressed In this latter case the alternate conception then
needs to be elaborated in greater detail However we find in
most instances where quality education is being discussed that
these critical issues are rarely clarified
As mentioned before the Anveshi study too did not
conclusively answer the question about how quality should be
understood vis-a-vis the present generation of government
school students When we undertook the study quality was
only an embedded issue within our focus on curriculum
transaction However the attempt at understanding the micro
details of the lives of children going to government schools
forced our attention to aspects that were pertinent to the
schooling of the children who took admission into government
schools at that moment in time We sensed that with respect to
school education the widespread invocations of the terms
lsquoquality and lsquoinequality had an uneasy relationship with one
another and did not easily and completely accommodate each
others concerns
We seek to probe the reasons for this lack of fit between
what the two terms convey and the nature of the gap that exists
between them Such an examination necessarily involves a
more critical engagement with two aspects that are in turn
closely related to the predominant thinking about quality and
inequality i) the normative notions of childhood that
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98 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
underwrite much of educational theory as also ii) the discourse
of rights through which the argument of education for all is
made We contend that even as notions of normative childhood
underpin both the concerns about quality as well as about the
right of every child to education a productive convergence
between the discourse of quality and of rights has not yet been 8possible The dominant conceptions of quality education are
more closely aligned with normative notions of childhood
whereas the rights discourse is primarily animated by concerns
of inequality Thus while quality related discussions are rarely
impacted by issues of inequality the rights discourse in relation
to education has paid insufficient attention to issues of quality
The rest of the paper seeks to elaborate the arguments
highlighted above We begin with a brief description of the
Anveshi study and draw attention to some of our findings
relevant to the topic of this paper Our observations from the
study are in themselves not unusual and have been repeatedly
emphasized by various scholars and activists What is different
however is the frame in which we seek to present these issues
The subsequent section on childhood discusses notions of
normative childhoods and their influence on both the theory
and practice of schooling The discussion on rights examines
the possibilities as well as the difficulties emerging from a focus
on the language of rights within the field of school education
The concluding section returns to some of the issues raised
above and emphasizes the need for developing frameworks that
would be able to simultaneously hold together concerns about
inequality and quality
Anveshis Study on School Education
The Anveshi study was carried out between 2000 and 2002
having as its backdrop an increased and high profile
intervention by the government of Andhra Pradesh in
elementary education through the introduction of many new
programs in the field of education The government envisaged
its task primarily in terms of enrolling children in schools and
retaining them for a minimum period of five years (Pappu
2005) The challenges involved were understood mainly in
terms of convincing parents to send their children to schools
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 99
and in terms of providing adequate infrastructure While the
state government did make a distinction between the
quantitative and qualitative dimension of the required inputs
on the whole it laid excessive stress on the former ie the
quantitative Targets as well as achievements were fixed in
terms of enumerable figures for infrastructure development
teacher recruitment and student enrolment Quality issues
were discussed at times in terms of basic literacy and numeracy
but most often through reference to unelaborated notions of
lsquojoyful learning
Within such a context the main objective of our study was
to understand the processes involved in curriculum
transaction by children belonging to working class families
studying in government schools in Andhra Pradesh When
curriculum transaction is viewed as it often is as translating
educational objectives (set by experts who are often not school
teachers) into practice propositions by the teachers the
underlying assumption is that every child in the classroom is
the same that the concept lsquochildhood has a fixed meaning
across socio-economic classes and communities and that if a
given child or a group of children are not doing well in a
particular subject the reason must be incapacity on the part of
the child or ignorance on the part of parents about matters of
education However by viewing curriculum transaction as a
series of micro operations involving contributions of pupils
parents teachers and school administrators our study sought
to gather empirical evidence about what was involved in the
process of the childrens negotiation of the school curriculum
We focused on ten different schools in and around
Hyderabad selected randomly from the computer database
maintained at the Department of School Education (DSE)
Andhra Pradesh For our study we chose the upper primary
classes (VI VII and VIII) since it is widely acknowledged that the
first level and largest drop out of students takes place before the
end of primary school In choosing students who had managed
to pass out of the first critical stage and had entered the next
level of schooling we sought to understand how they were
negotiating with the schooling process at this secondary level
Of the total population of 3240 children across these ten
schools we selected ten students from each class thus making
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100 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
up a study sample of 300 children In the population from
which the sample was chosen 37 belonged to the Other
Backward Classes (OBC) 33 to Scheduled Castes (SC) and
7 to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) the remaining included
children from other minority groups such as Christians and
Muslims It is obvious from these figures that our observations
are based primarily on children from Backward Class (BC) SC
ST communities constituting close to 75 of the total number
of children we have studied The data computerised by the State
Government since 1995 (as mentioned by one of the officials at
the DSE) reveals that this composition of students is more or
less the same across different government schools
Our study assigned importance to multiple data sources
and forms The quantitative data was collected by three
research assistants using questionnaires in Telugu This
information was supplemented with qualitative data based on
home visits classroom observations and analyses of select 9prefaces and lessons from textbooks It is outside the scope of
this paper to present all the results in any meaningful fashion
However we provide below a brief summary of our findings
(without elaborating on any of them) but reproduce later in the
paper some of our observations and excerpts from interviews
conducted as part of the study in order to substantiate the line
of argument being pursued by us here
More than 90 of the mothers in our study belonged to the
categories of housendashworkers unorganised blue collar workers
(eg beedi makers) agricultural workers servant maids and
petty businesswomen (eg idlindashcart owners) whereas 90 of the
fathers occupations can be described as unorganised blue
collar workers (eg construction work) agricultural workers
petty businessmen (eg pan shop or hairndashcutting saloon) and
organised blue collar workers (eg office peons) A striking
though not surprising finding of our study was that a huge
majority of the children interviewed participated in the adult
world of work to supplement the familys meager income or to
ensure smooth functioning of the household Neither the
children nor the parents nor the teachers found this situation
unusual to say the least
The children covered in our study we found had negligible
reading material almost no access to libraries minimal
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 101
engagement with literate adults and little or no help with
homework The absence of an environment conducive to
schooling was striking An examination of the textbooks
revealed that the content of almost all the lessons was derived
from a context alien to theirs
Our classroom observations led us to conclude that an
educational context that called for a teacherndashstudent
relationship where encouragement and responsiveness would
constitute a kernel around which teaching and learning could
occur was largely missing Interviews with the children and
parents provided us with the insight that children who received
support and encouragement either from their school or tuition
teachers or other educated persons who they had contact with
did well in schools Others just dropped out of school Yet
others and they formed the majority did not actively engage
with the curriculum Going to school was a matter of routine
that provided an opportunity for them to spend time with other
children In many different ways though and as we shall
elaborate upon further the childhood of the children who
comprised the universe of our study was different from our
understanding of the concept and therefore forced us to look
more closely and critically at the notions of childhood that were
prevalent and predominant at the time we were carrying out the
study
Quality of Education and Normative Notions of Childhood
I do the dishes wash clothes water plants sweep the yard get
the children ready for school I put their shoes on put on the
tie and uniforms and send them to school After that I wash the
bathrooms sweep the hall mop it fold the bed sheets and
change them once a week I get the wheat ground in a nearby
flourndashmill All this work is done between 7am and 12 noon
They give me tiffin and tea at 12 noon I come home change
into my school dress and go to school I return from school
around 5 pm Between 530 and 7 pm I go for tuition Tuition
teacher is a friend of my sister She doesnt charge anything
Sometimes I stay back after the tuition and do my homework
before coming home Sometimes my mother asks me to run
errands My sister works in the Electricity department Her
husband died so she got this job In 1993 my father died My
brother is married and is working My mother also goes for
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102 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
work stone cutting I earn Rs200- per month I have a sister
who is in III class She also goes to tuition My sisterndashinndashlaw is a
nice person I wish I could become a doctor but I doubt if they
will let me complete 10th class
This is the response we received from a girl student (who is
also a domestic worker) studying in VII standard in one of the
government schools in Hyderabad when we asked her to
describe her daily routine Such responses never enter or
inform educational discourse except perhaps in categorising
them as an aberration from predominant conceptions of what
ideal childhood involves The marginality of this figure in the
theorisation of education can thus be explained in terms of the
fact that the life of this child doesnt fit normative notions of
childhood and therefore often fails to get addressed by most
education researchers textbook writers or policy makers
Whether explicitly acknowledged or not approaches to
schooling and education draw upon as well as feed into the
conceptions of childhood that one subscribes to Woodhead
(2006) points out that different paradigms constitute the norm
of childhood in different ways10 He points out however that the
developmental approach has become the ubiquitous
perspective that underpins most educational policies the world
over A major goal of this approach which draws on the
theoretical works of Piaget Kohlberg and Erikson among
others is to identify universal features of growth and change
through detailed accounts of stages of physical mental social
and moral development in children
The developmental norm in relation to childhood in the
contemporary society is that children should be in school and
not at work additionally that they should be joyful carefree and
sheltered from the sordid facts of adult life Other features that
are regarded as being characteristic of childhood include
ldquovulnerability dependency need for protection lack of
responsibility ignorance inability to produce or provide and
only capable of consuming (Holland 1986 p 46) The fact that
this notion has widespread acceptance irrespective of evidence
to the contrary is what makes it the normative definition of
childhood Even as diverse approaches to childhood are being
proposed the hegemonic proposition of an ideal childhood has
remained Balagopalan (2002) Bissel (2003) Sarangapani
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 103
(2003) and Vasanta (2004) provide an elaboration and critical
engagement with these points
Drawing on the conception of ideal or normative childhoods
can have different effects one of which is that textbook authors
typically construct an image of childhood as a period of life
spent almost entirely in the contexts of family and school
where the emphasis is on care play learning and teaching
These assumptions in turn serve to produce a standard for
learning and bases for discussion of educational quality As an
illustrative exercise we would like to foreground the influence
that a normative notion of childhood has in propositions about
educational quality through the example provided in Figure 1
which is a preface that appears in the English language
textbook issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for use
in Class VII
The stated objective of the lesson is contained in the line
that the ldquostories are for developing the ability to listen to and
understand spoken Englishrdquo Since lsquoEnglish is popularly
instated as the marker of quality education developing
familiarity with English would imply in this instance that the
textbook seeks to meet the quality objective However the
promise of quality held out in this case is premised on certain
critical aspects which simultaneously draw upon as well as
buttress the normative notions of childhood First implicit in
the whole set of instructions is the assumption that the child is
in a state of dependency and needs to be guided by adults
Building upon the first the second assumption is that every
child will necessarily have the support of a parent or a guardian
who will be able to actively or passively guide her him through
the school system The third assumption is that the parent or
the guardian of the child will be in full agreement with the
pedagogic mode suggested by the text Finally that the material
requirements of the child will be taken care of by the guardian
and that the child will unproblematically be provided with all
the requisite textbooks Not surprisingly our study provided
evidence to falsify each of these assumptions
In contrast to what obtains in the framework of the
normative notion of childhood our study clearly revealed that
far from being in a state of dependency many children are
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104 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Figure 1 Preface
A NOTE TO THE PARENT
1 Your child is in the third year of learning English In the class the teacher will help your child do the following
(1) Listen to a few simple stories read out in class
(2) Talk about things of interest with the teacher and the classmates
(3) Read a number of stories in English
(4) Write a few simple sentences and paragraphs
(5) Read and enjoy a few simple poems
2 It is important for you to remember a few things
(1) There is a section labeled lsquoFor the use of the teacher at the beginning of each Unit Do not make your child read memorise or recite any part of it
(2) In class your child will listen to the stories when the teacher reads them out Do not make him her read the story Do not expect him her to fully understand the story or know the meanings of all the words The stories are for developing the ability to listen to and understand spoken English
(3) Your child will be doing some writing at home using the Reader and the Workbook Do not offer to help when your child does his her homework The teacher would have made enough preparation in class for the task Let your child make the effort at doing the homework by himself herself Help him her only when it is absolutely necessary
(4) Your child will need three prescribed books for learning English in this class mdash the Reader the Workbook and the Supplementary Reader It is important that your child possesses his her own copy of all of them
WISH YOU AND YOUR CHILD ALL THE BEST
xiii
Source New English Reader 3 Class VII Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000)
exposed to adult responsibilities at different points in their
lives We noted that a vast majority of the government school
children we studied participate in the adult world of work
Specifically we noted that 87 of the children work outside
school hours The school system assumes the norm of
childndashdependency irrespective of the fact that a fairly large
number of children are autonomous outside the domain of the
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
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106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
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112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
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114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
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- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
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- Page 12
-
96 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
educational system even before passing the primary level
Educational lsquoopportunity and lsquoaccess were the keywords in the
discussions during this phase prior to liberalisation Through
the decade of the 90s and beyond the rapid growth of private
schools and the progressive deterioration of government
schools added yet another dimension to the discussion of
inequality resulting in fact in bringing the discourse of quality
closer to that of inequality The aspect of inequality in this latter
phase was obvious from the fact that all those who could afford
it sent their wards to private schools while the government
schools were mainly populated by the poor The recognition of
uneven access to schooling brought with it alertness to
differences in schooling patterns including the medium of
instruction managements standards all of which came to now
be subsumed under the telegraphic invocation of the term
ldquoqualityrdquo Various newspaper columns reports and studies 5highlighted the poor quality of government schooling
Despite their convergence at certain points and in certain
moments discussions about quality and inequality in India
have been moving on distinct and parallel tracks for the most
part A thoroughgoing debate on the nature of the link between
these two key issues is yet to take place though signs of such a
beginning are now available in some recent discussions around
school education The more recent deliberations in connection
with the formulation of the National Curriculum Framework
(NCF) 2005 (National Council for Educational Research and
Training [NCERT] 2005) and the subsequent responses to the
document have in fact provided a rich context that could
facilitate the task of developing theories to link quality and
inequality concerns The many experiments and innovations
tried out in different government schools which have been
anthologised in Kumar and Sarangapani (2005) too provide
insights for connecting up quality questions with concerns 6about inequality
The debate around the Right to Education Bill which
subsequently became an Act through notification in August
2009 too has tangentially touched upon the link between the
two issues More such discussions are however needed before
the challenges involved in providing lsquoquality education to first
generation learners can be met
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 97
Admittedly the question of educational quality raised in the
context of social inequality is in itself a difficult one because the
standard for good education when it has been seriously and
systematically discussed has for thus long been in relation to a 7learner who does not lack in material terms In striking
contrast we are now confronted with the student of a
government school who is characterised by a series of lsquolacks
beginning with something as basic as lack of adequate food
reading material and ranging thereon to the lack of cultural
capital When quality education for this group of students is
emphasized by concerned individuals and institutions is a
standard universal quality being envisaged In which case the
discussion needs to dwell on the process by which the students
can attain that standard Or is an alternate conception of
quality being invoked when the demand for quality education
for children from lower socio-economic groups is being
stressed In this latter case the alternate conception then
needs to be elaborated in greater detail However we find in
most instances where quality education is being discussed that
these critical issues are rarely clarified
As mentioned before the Anveshi study too did not
conclusively answer the question about how quality should be
understood vis-a-vis the present generation of government
school students When we undertook the study quality was
only an embedded issue within our focus on curriculum
transaction However the attempt at understanding the micro
details of the lives of children going to government schools
forced our attention to aspects that were pertinent to the
schooling of the children who took admission into government
schools at that moment in time We sensed that with respect to
school education the widespread invocations of the terms
lsquoquality and lsquoinequality had an uneasy relationship with one
another and did not easily and completely accommodate each
others concerns
We seek to probe the reasons for this lack of fit between
what the two terms convey and the nature of the gap that exists
between them Such an examination necessarily involves a
more critical engagement with two aspects that are in turn
closely related to the predominant thinking about quality and
inequality i) the normative notions of childhood that
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98 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
underwrite much of educational theory as also ii) the discourse
of rights through which the argument of education for all is
made We contend that even as notions of normative childhood
underpin both the concerns about quality as well as about the
right of every child to education a productive convergence
between the discourse of quality and of rights has not yet been 8possible The dominant conceptions of quality education are
more closely aligned with normative notions of childhood
whereas the rights discourse is primarily animated by concerns
of inequality Thus while quality related discussions are rarely
impacted by issues of inequality the rights discourse in relation
to education has paid insufficient attention to issues of quality
The rest of the paper seeks to elaborate the arguments
highlighted above We begin with a brief description of the
Anveshi study and draw attention to some of our findings
relevant to the topic of this paper Our observations from the
study are in themselves not unusual and have been repeatedly
emphasized by various scholars and activists What is different
however is the frame in which we seek to present these issues
The subsequent section on childhood discusses notions of
normative childhoods and their influence on both the theory
and practice of schooling The discussion on rights examines
the possibilities as well as the difficulties emerging from a focus
on the language of rights within the field of school education
The concluding section returns to some of the issues raised
above and emphasizes the need for developing frameworks that
would be able to simultaneously hold together concerns about
inequality and quality
Anveshis Study on School Education
The Anveshi study was carried out between 2000 and 2002
having as its backdrop an increased and high profile
intervention by the government of Andhra Pradesh in
elementary education through the introduction of many new
programs in the field of education The government envisaged
its task primarily in terms of enrolling children in schools and
retaining them for a minimum period of five years (Pappu
2005) The challenges involved were understood mainly in
terms of convincing parents to send their children to schools
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 99
and in terms of providing adequate infrastructure While the
state government did make a distinction between the
quantitative and qualitative dimension of the required inputs
on the whole it laid excessive stress on the former ie the
quantitative Targets as well as achievements were fixed in
terms of enumerable figures for infrastructure development
teacher recruitment and student enrolment Quality issues
were discussed at times in terms of basic literacy and numeracy
but most often through reference to unelaborated notions of
lsquojoyful learning
Within such a context the main objective of our study was
to understand the processes involved in curriculum
transaction by children belonging to working class families
studying in government schools in Andhra Pradesh When
curriculum transaction is viewed as it often is as translating
educational objectives (set by experts who are often not school
teachers) into practice propositions by the teachers the
underlying assumption is that every child in the classroom is
the same that the concept lsquochildhood has a fixed meaning
across socio-economic classes and communities and that if a
given child or a group of children are not doing well in a
particular subject the reason must be incapacity on the part of
the child or ignorance on the part of parents about matters of
education However by viewing curriculum transaction as a
series of micro operations involving contributions of pupils
parents teachers and school administrators our study sought
to gather empirical evidence about what was involved in the
process of the childrens negotiation of the school curriculum
We focused on ten different schools in and around
Hyderabad selected randomly from the computer database
maintained at the Department of School Education (DSE)
Andhra Pradesh For our study we chose the upper primary
classes (VI VII and VIII) since it is widely acknowledged that the
first level and largest drop out of students takes place before the
end of primary school In choosing students who had managed
to pass out of the first critical stage and had entered the next
level of schooling we sought to understand how they were
negotiating with the schooling process at this secondary level
Of the total population of 3240 children across these ten
schools we selected ten students from each class thus making
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100 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
up a study sample of 300 children In the population from
which the sample was chosen 37 belonged to the Other
Backward Classes (OBC) 33 to Scheduled Castes (SC) and
7 to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) the remaining included
children from other minority groups such as Christians and
Muslims It is obvious from these figures that our observations
are based primarily on children from Backward Class (BC) SC
ST communities constituting close to 75 of the total number
of children we have studied The data computerised by the State
Government since 1995 (as mentioned by one of the officials at
the DSE) reveals that this composition of students is more or
less the same across different government schools
Our study assigned importance to multiple data sources
and forms The quantitative data was collected by three
research assistants using questionnaires in Telugu This
information was supplemented with qualitative data based on
home visits classroom observations and analyses of select 9prefaces and lessons from textbooks It is outside the scope of
this paper to present all the results in any meaningful fashion
However we provide below a brief summary of our findings
(without elaborating on any of them) but reproduce later in the
paper some of our observations and excerpts from interviews
conducted as part of the study in order to substantiate the line
of argument being pursued by us here
More than 90 of the mothers in our study belonged to the
categories of housendashworkers unorganised blue collar workers
(eg beedi makers) agricultural workers servant maids and
petty businesswomen (eg idlindashcart owners) whereas 90 of the
fathers occupations can be described as unorganised blue
collar workers (eg construction work) agricultural workers
petty businessmen (eg pan shop or hairndashcutting saloon) and
organised blue collar workers (eg office peons) A striking
though not surprising finding of our study was that a huge
majority of the children interviewed participated in the adult
world of work to supplement the familys meager income or to
ensure smooth functioning of the household Neither the
children nor the parents nor the teachers found this situation
unusual to say the least
The children covered in our study we found had negligible
reading material almost no access to libraries minimal
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 101
engagement with literate adults and little or no help with
homework The absence of an environment conducive to
schooling was striking An examination of the textbooks
revealed that the content of almost all the lessons was derived
from a context alien to theirs
Our classroom observations led us to conclude that an
educational context that called for a teacherndashstudent
relationship where encouragement and responsiveness would
constitute a kernel around which teaching and learning could
occur was largely missing Interviews with the children and
parents provided us with the insight that children who received
support and encouragement either from their school or tuition
teachers or other educated persons who they had contact with
did well in schools Others just dropped out of school Yet
others and they formed the majority did not actively engage
with the curriculum Going to school was a matter of routine
that provided an opportunity for them to spend time with other
children In many different ways though and as we shall
elaborate upon further the childhood of the children who
comprised the universe of our study was different from our
understanding of the concept and therefore forced us to look
more closely and critically at the notions of childhood that were
prevalent and predominant at the time we were carrying out the
study
Quality of Education and Normative Notions of Childhood
I do the dishes wash clothes water plants sweep the yard get
the children ready for school I put their shoes on put on the
tie and uniforms and send them to school After that I wash the
bathrooms sweep the hall mop it fold the bed sheets and
change them once a week I get the wheat ground in a nearby
flourndashmill All this work is done between 7am and 12 noon
They give me tiffin and tea at 12 noon I come home change
into my school dress and go to school I return from school
around 5 pm Between 530 and 7 pm I go for tuition Tuition
teacher is a friend of my sister She doesnt charge anything
Sometimes I stay back after the tuition and do my homework
before coming home Sometimes my mother asks me to run
errands My sister works in the Electricity department Her
husband died so she got this job In 1993 my father died My
brother is married and is working My mother also goes for
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102 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
work stone cutting I earn Rs200- per month I have a sister
who is in III class She also goes to tuition My sisterndashinndashlaw is a
nice person I wish I could become a doctor but I doubt if they
will let me complete 10th class
This is the response we received from a girl student (who is
also a domestic worker) studying in VII standard in one of the
government schools in Hyderabad when we asked her to
describe her daily routine Such responses never enter or
inform educational discourse except perhaps in categorising
them as an aberration from predominant conceptions of what
ideal childhood involves The marginality of this figure in the
theorisation of education can thus be explained in terms of the
fact that the life of this child doesnt fit normative notions of
childhood and therefore often fails to get addressed by most
education researchers textbook writers or policy makers
Whether explicitly acknowledged or not approaches to
schooling and education draw upon as well as feed into the
conceptions of childhood that one subscribes to Woodhead
(2006) points out that different paradigms constitute the norm
of childhood in different ways10 He points out however that the
developmental approach has become the ubiquitous
perspective that underpins most educational policies the world
over A major goal of this approach which draws on the
theoretical works of Piaget Kohlberg and Erikson among
others is to identify universal features of growth and change
through detailed accounts of stages of physical mental social
and moral development in children
The developmental norm in relation to childhood in the
contemporary society is that children should be in school and
not at work additionally that they should be joyful carefree and
sheltered from the sordid facts of adult life Other features that
are regarded as being characteristic of childhood include
ldquovulnerability dependency need for protection lack of
responsibility ignorance inability to produce or provide and
only capable of consuming (Holland 1986 p 46) The fact that
this notion has widespread acceptance irrespective of evidence
to the contrary is what makes it the normative definition of
childhood Even as diverse approaches to childhood are being
proposed the hegemonic proposition of an ideal childhood has
remained Balagopalan (2002) Bissel (2003) Sarangapani
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 103
(2003) and Vasanta (2004) provide an elaboration and critical
engagement with these points
Drawing on the conception of ideal or normative childhoods
can have different effects one of which is that textbook authors
typically construct an image of childhood as a period of life
spent almost entirely in the contexts of family and school
where the emphasis is on care play learning and teaching
These assumptions in turn serve to produce a standard for
learning and bases for discussion of educational quality As an
illustrative exercise we would like to foreground the influence
that a normative notion of childhood has in propositions about
educational quality through the example provided in Figure 1
which is a preface that appears in the English language
textbook issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for use
in Class VII
The stated objective of the lesson is contained in the line
that the ldquostories are for developing the ability to listen to and
understand spoken Englishrdquo Since lsquoEnglish is popularly
instated as the marker of quality education developing
familiarity with English would imply in this instance that the
textbook seeks to meet the quality objective However the
promise of quality held out in this case is premised on certain
critical aspects which simultaneously draw upon as well as
buttress the normative notions of childhood First implicit in
the whole set of instructions is the assumption that the child is
in a state of dependency and needs to be guided by adults
Building upon the first the second assumption is that every
child will necessarily have the support of a parent or a guardian
who will be able to actively or passively guide her him through
the school system The third assumption is that the parent or
the guardian of the child will be in full agreement with the
pedagogic mode suggested by the text Finally that the material
requirements of the child will be taken care of by the guardian
and that the child will unproblematically be provided with all
the requisite textbooks Not surprisingly our study provided
evidence to falsify each of these assumptions
In contrast to what obtains in the framework of the
normative notion of childhood our study clearly revealed that
far from being in a state of dependency many children are
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104 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Figure 1 Preface
A NOTE TO THE PARENT
1 Your child is in the third year of learning English In the class the teacher will help your child do the following
(1) Listen to a few simple stories read out in class
(2) Talk about things of interest with the teacher and the classmates
(3) Read a number of stories in English
(4) Write a few simple sentences and paragraphs
(5) Read and enjoy a few simple poems
2 It is important for you to remember a few things
(1) There is a section labeled lsquoFor the use of the teacher at the beginning of each Unit Do not make your child read memorise or recite any part of it
(2) In class your child will listen to the stories when the teacher reads them out Do not make him her read the story Do not expect him her to fully understand the story or know the meanings of all the words The stories are for developing the ability to listen to and understand spoken English
(3) Your child will be doing some writing at home using the Reader and the Workbook Do not offer to help when your child does his her homework The teacher would have made enough preparation in class for the task Let your child make the effort at doing the homework by himself herself Help him her only when it is absolutely necessary
(4) Your child will need three prescribed books for learning English in this class mdash the Reader the Workbook and the Supplementary Reader It is important that your child possesses his her own copy of all of them
WISH YOU AND YOUR CHILD ALL THE BEST
xiii
Source New English Reader 3 Class VII Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000)
exposed to adult responsibilities at different points in their
lives We noted that a vast majority of the government school
children we studied participate in the adult world of work
Specifically we noted that 87 of the children work outside
school hours The school system assumes the norm of
childndashdependency irrespective of the fact that a fairly large
number of children are autonomous outside the domain of the
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
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106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
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112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
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114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 97
Admittedly the question of educational quality raised in the
context of social inequality is in itself a difficult one because the
standard for good education when it has been seriously and
systematically discussed has for thus long been in relation to a 7learner who does not lack in material terms In striking
contrast we are now confronted with the student of a
government school who is characterised by a series of lsquolacks
beginning with something as basic as lack of adequate food
reading material and ranging thereon to the lack of cultural
capital When quality education for this group of students is
emphasized by concerned individuals and institutions is a
standard universal quality being envisaged In which case the
discussion needs to dwell on the process by which the students
can attain that standard Or is an alternate conception of
quality being invoked when the demand for quality education
for children from lower socio-economic groups is being
stressed In this latter case the alternate conception then
needs to be elaborated in greater detail However we find in
most instances where quality education is being discussed that
these critical issues are rarely clarified
As mentioned before the Anveshi study too did not
conclusively answer the question about how quality should be
understood vis-a-vis the present generation of government
school students When we undertook the study quality was
only an embedded issue within our focus on curriculum
transaction However the attempt at understanding the micro
details of the lives of children going to government schools
forced our attention to aspects that were pertinent to the
schooling of the children who took admission into government
schools at that moment in time We sensed that with respect to
school education the widespread invocations of the terms
lsquoquality and lsquoinequality had an uneasy relationship with one
another and did not easily and completely accommodate each
others concerns
We seek to probe the reasons for this lack of fit between
what the two terms convey and the nature of the gap that exists
between them Such an examination necessarily involves a
more critical engagement with two aspects that are in turn
closely related to the predominant thinking about quality and
inequality i) the normative notions of childhood that
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98 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
underwrite much of educational theory as also ii) the discourse
of rights through which the argument of education for all is
made We contend that even as notions of normative childhood
underpin both the concerns about quality as well as about the
right of every child to education a productive convergence
between the discourse of quality and of rights has not yet been 8possible The dominant conceptions of quality education are
more closely aligned with normative notions of childhood
whereas the rights discourse is primarily animated by concerns
of inequality Thus while quality related discussions are rarely
impacted by issues of inequality the rights discourse in relation
to education has paid insufficient attention to issues of quality
The rest of the paper seeks to elaborate the arguments
highlighted above We begin with a brief description of the
Anveshi study and draw attention to some of our findings
relevant to the topic of this paper Our observations from the
study are in themselves not unusual and have been repeatedly
emphasized by various scholars and activists What is different
however is the frame in which we seek to present these issues
The subsequent section on childhood discusses notions of
normative childhoods and their influence on both the theory
and practice of schooling The discussion on rights examines
the possibilities as well as the difficulties emerging from a focus
on the language of rights within the field of school education
The concluding section returns to some of the issues raised
above and emphasizes the need for developing frameworks that
would be able to simultaneously hold together concerns about
inequality and quality
Anveshis Study on School Education
The Anveshi study was carried out between 2000 and 2002
having as its backdrop an increased and high profile
intervention by the government of Andhra Pradesh in
elementary education through the introduction of many new
programs in the field of education The government envisaged
its task primarily in terms of enrolling children in schools and
retaining them for a minimum period of five years (Pappu
2005) The challenges involved were understood mainly in
terms of convincing parents to send their children to schools
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 99
and in terms of providing adequate infrastructure While the
state government did make a distinction between the
quantitative and qualitative dimension of the required inputs
on the whole it laid excessive stress on the former ie the
quantitative Targets as well as achievements were fixed in
terms of enumerable figures for infrastructure development
teacher recruitment and student enrolment Quality issues
were discussed at times in terms of basic literacy and numeracy
but most often through reference to unelaborated notions of
lsquojoyful learning
Within such a context the main objective of our study was
to understand the processes involved in curriculum
transaction by children belonging to working class families
studying in government schools in Andhra Pradesh When
curriculum transaction is viewed as it often is as translating
educational objectives (set by experts who are often not school
teachers) into practice propositions by the teachers the
underlying assumption is that every child in the classroom is
the same that the concept lsquochildhood has a fixed meaning
across socio-economic classes and communities and that if a
given child or a group of children are not doing well in a
particular subject the reason must be incapacity on the part of
the child or ignorance on the part of parents about matters of
education However by viewing curriculum transaction as a
series of micro operations involving contributions of pupils
parents teachers and school administrators our study sought
to gather empirical evidence about what was involved in the
process of the childrens negotiation of the school curriculum
We focused on ten different schools in and around
Hyderabad selected randomly from the computer database
maintained at the Department of School Education (DSE)
Andhra Pradesh For our study we chose the upper primary
classes (VI VII and VIII) since it is widely acknowledged that the
first level and largest drop out of students takes place before the
end of primary school In choosing students who had managed
to pass out of the first critical stage and had entered the next
level of schooling we sought to understand how they were
negotiating with the schooling process at this secondary level
Of the total population of 3240 children across these ten
schools we selected ten students from each class thus making
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100 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
up a study sample of 300 children In the population from
which the sample was chosen 37 belonged to the Other
Backward Classes (OBC) 33 to Scheduled Castes (SC) and
7 to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) the remaining included
children from other minority groups such as Christians and
Muslims It is obvious from these figures that our observations
are based primarily on children from Backward Class (BC) SC
ST communities constituting close to 75 of the total number
of children we have studied The data computerised by the State
Government since 1995 (as mentioned by one of the officials at
the DSE) reveals that this composition of students is more or
less the same across different government schools
Our study assigned importance to multiple data sources
and forms The quantitative data was collected by three
research assistants using questionnaires in Telugu This
information was supplemented with qualitative data based on
home visits classroom observations and analyses of select 9prefaces and lessons from textbooks It is outside the scope of
this paper to present all the results in any meaningful fashion
However we provide below a brief summary of our findings
(without elaborating on any of them) but reproduce later in the
paper some of our observations and excerpts from interviews
conducted as part of the study in order to substantiate the line
of argument being pursued by us here
More than 90 of the mothers in our study belonged to the
categories of housendashworkers unorganised blue collar workers
(eg beedi makers) agricultural workers servant maids and
petty businesswomen (eg idlindashcart owners) whereas 90 of the
fathers occupations can be described as unorganised blue
collar workers (eg construction work) agricultural workers
petty businessmen (eg pan shop or hairndashcutting saloon) and
organised blue collar workers (eg office peons) A striking
though not surprising finding of our study was that a huge
majority of the children interviewed participated in the adult
world of work to supplement the familys meager income or to
ensure smooth functioning of the household Neither the
children nor the parents nor the teachers found this situation
unusual to say the least
The children covered in our study we found had negligible
reading material almost no access to libraries minimal
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 101
engagement with literate adults and little or no help with
homework The absence of an environment conducive to
schooling was striking An examination of the textbooks
revealed that the content of almost all the lessons was derived
from a context alien to theirs
Our classroom observations led us to conclude that an
educational context that called for a teacherndashstudent
relationship where encouragement and responsiveness would
constitute a kernel around which teaching and learning could
occur was largely missing Interviews with the children and
parents provided us with the insight that children who received
support and encouragement either from their school or tuition
teachers or other educated persons who they had contact with
did well in schools Others just dropped out of school Yet
others and they formed the majority did not actively engage
with the curriculum Going to school was a matter of routine
that provided an opportunity for them to spend time with other
children In many different ways though and as we shall
elaborate upon further the childhood of the children who
comprised the universe of our study was different from our
understanding of the concept and therefore forced us to look
more closely and critically at the notions of childhood that were
prevalent and predominant at the time we were carrying out the
study
Quality of Education and Normative Notions of Childhood
I do the dishes wash clothes water plants sweep the yard get
the children ready for school I put their shoes on put on the
tie and uniforms and send them to school After that I wash the
bathrooms sweep the hall mop it fold the bed sheets and
change them once a week I get the wheat ground in a nearby
flourndashmill All this work is done between 7am and 12 noon
They give me tiffin and tea at 12 noon I come home change
into my school dress and go to school I return from school
around 5 pm Between 530 and 7 pm I go for tuition Tuition
teacher is a friend of my sister She doesnt charge anything
Sometimes I stay back after the tuition and do my homework
before coming home Sometimes my mother asks me to run
errands My sister works in the Electricity department Her
husband died so she got this job In 1993 my father died My
brother is married and is working My mother also goes for
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102 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
work stone cutting I earn Rs200- per month I have a sister
who is in III class She also goes to tuition My sisterndashinndashlaw is a
nice person I wish I could become a doctor but I doubt if they
will let me complete 10th class
This is the response we received from a girl student (who is
also a domestic worker) studying in VII standard in one of the
government schools in Hyderabad when we asked her to
describe her daily routine Such responses never enter or
inform educational discourse except perhaps in categorising
them as an aberration from predominant conceptions of what
ideal childhood involves The marginality of this figure in the
theorisation of education can thus be explained in terms of the
fact that the life of this child doesnt fit normative notions of
childhood and therefore often fails to get addressed by most
education researchers textbook writers or policy makers
Whether explicitly acknowledged or not approaches to
schooling and education draw upon as well as feed into the
conceptions of childhood that one subscribes to Woodhead
(2006) points out that different paradigms constitute the norm
of childhood in different ways10 He points out however that the
developmental approach has become the ubiquitous
perspective that underpins most educational policies the world
over A major goal of this approach which draws on the
theoretical works of Piaget Kohlberg and Erikson among
others is to identify universal features of growth and change
through detailed accounts of stages of physical mental social
and moral development in children
The developmental norm in relation to childhood in the
contemporary society is that children should be in school and
not at work additionally that they should be joyful carefree and
sheltered from the sordid facts of adult life Other features that
are regarded as being characteristic of childhood include
ldquovulnerability dependency need for protection lack of
responsibility ignorance inability to produce or provide and
only capable of consuming (Holland 1986 p 46) The fact that
this notion has widespread acceptance irrespective of evidence
to the contrary is what makes it the normative definition of
childhood Even as diverse approaches to childhood are being
proposed the hegemonic proposition of an ideal childhood has
remained Balagopalan (2002) Bissel (2003) Sarangapani
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 103
(2003) and Vasanta (2004) provide an elaboration and critical
engagement with these points
Drawing on the conception of ideal or normative childhoods
can have different effects one of which is that textbook authors
typically construct an image of childhood as a period of life
spent almost entirely in the contexts of family and school
where the emphasis is on care play learning and teaching
These assumptions in turn serve to produce a standard for
learning and bases for discussion of educational quality As an
illustrative exercise we would like to foreground the influence
that a normative notion of childhood has in propositions about
educational quality through the example provided in Figure 1
which is a preface that appears in the English language
textbook issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for use
in Class VII
The stated objective of the lesson is contained in the line
that the ldquostories are for developing the ability to listen to and
understand spoken Englishrdquo Since lsquoEnglish is popularly
instated as the marker of quality education developing
familiarity with English would imply in this instance that the
textbook seeks to meet the quality objective However the
promise of quality held out in this case is premised on certain
critical aspects which simultaneously draw upon as well as
buttress the normative notions of childhood First implicit in
the whole set of instructions is the assumption that the child is
in a state of dependency and needs to be guided by adults
Building upon the first the second assumption is that every
child will necessarily have the support of a parent or a guardian
who will be able to actively or passively guide her him through
the school system The third assumption is that the parent or
the guardian of the child will be in full agreement with the
pedagogic mode suggested by the text Finally that the material
requirements of the child will be taken care of by the guardian
and that the child will unproblematically be provided with all
the requisite textbooks Not surprisingly our study provided
evidence to falsify each of these assumptions
In contrast to what obtains in the framework of the
normative notion of childhood our study clearly revealed that
far from being in a state of dependency many children are
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104 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Figure 1 Preface
A NOTE TO THE PARENT
1 Your child is in the third year of learning English In the class the teacher will help your child do the following
(1) Listen to a few simple stories read out in class
(2) Talk about things of interest with the teacher and the classmates
(3) Read a number of stories in English
(4) Write a few simple sentences and paragraphs
(5) Read and enjoy a few simple poems
2 It is important for you to remember a few things
(1) There is a section labeled lsquoFor the use of the teacher at the beginning of each Unit Do not make your child read memorise or recite any part of it
(2) In class your child will listen to the stories when the teacher reads them out Do not make him her read the story Do not expect him her to fully understand the story or know the meanings of all the words The stories are for developing the ability to listen to and understand spoken English
(3) Your child will be doing some writing at home using the Reader and the Workbook Do not offer to help when your child does his her homework The teacher would have made enough preparation in class for the task Let your child make the effort at doing the homework by himself herself Help him her only when it is absolutely necessary
(4) Your child will need three prescribed books for learning English in this class mdash the Reader the Workbook and the Supplementary Reader It is important that your child possesses his her own copy of all of them
WISH YOU AND YOUR CHILD ALL THE BEST
xiii
Source New English Reader 3 Class VII Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000)
exposed to adult responsibilities at different points in their
lives We noted that a vast majority of the government school
children we studied participate in the adult world of work
Specifically we noted that 87 of the children work outside
school hours The school system assumes the norm of
childndashdependency irrespective of the fact that a fairly large
number of children are autonomous outside the domain of the
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
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106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
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112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
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114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
98 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
underwrite much of educational theory as also ii) the discourse
of rights through which the argument of education for all is
made We contend that even as notions of normative childhood
underpin both the concerns about quality as well as about the
right of every child to education a productive convergence
between the discourse of quality and of rights has not yet been 8possible The dominant conceptions of quality education are
more closely aligned with normative notions of childhood
whereas the rights discourse is primarily animated by concerns
of inequality Thus while quality related discussions are rarely
impacted by issues of inequality the rights discourse in relation
to education has paid insufficient attention to issues of quality
The rest of the paper seeks to elaborate the arguments
highlighted above We begin with a brief description of the
Anveshi study and draw attention to some of our findings
relevant to the topic of this paper Our observations from the
study are in themselves not unusual and have been repeatedly
emphasized by various scholars and activists What is different
however is the frame in which we seek to present these issues
The subsequent section on childhood discusses notions of
normative childhoods and their influence on both the theory
and practice of schooling The discussion on rights examines
the possibilities as well as the difficulties emerging from a focus
on the language of rights within the field of school education
The concluding section returns to some of the issues raised
above and emphasizes the need for developing frameworks that
would be able to simultaneously hold together concerns about
inequality and quality
Anveshis Study on School Education
The Anveshi study was carried out between 2000 and 2002
having as its backdrop an increased and high profile
intervention by the government of Andhra Pradesh in
elementary education through the introduction of many new
programs in the field of education The government envisaged
its task primarily in terms of enrolling children in schools and
retaining them for a minimum period of five years (Pappu
2005) The challenges involved were understood mainly in
terms of convincing parents to send their children to schools
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 99
and in terms of providing adequate infrastructure While the
state government did make a distinction between the
quantitative and qualitative dimension of the required inputs
on the whole it laid excessive stress on the former ie the
quantitative Targets as well as achievements were fixed in
terms of enumerable figures for infrastructure development
teacher recruitment and student enrolment Quality issues
were discussed at times in terms of basic literacy and numeracy
but most often through reference to unelaborated notions of
lsquojoyful learning
Within such a context the main objective of our study was
to understand the processes involved in curriculum
transaction by children belonging to working class families
studying in government schools in Andhra Pradesh When
curriculum transaction is viewed as it often is as translating
educational objectives (set by experts who are often not school
teachers) into practice propositions by the teachers the
underlying assumption is that every child in the classroom is
the same that the concept lsquochildhood has a fixed meaning
across socio-economic classes and communities and that if a
given child or a group of children are not doing well in a
particular subject the reason must be incapacity on the part of
the child or ignorance on the part of parents about matters of
education However by viewing curriculum transaction as a
series of micro operations involving contributions of pupils
parents teachers and school administrators our study sought
to gather empirical evidence about what was involved in the
process of the childrens negotiation of the school curriculum
We focused on ten different schools in and around
Hyderabad selected randomly from the computer database
maintained at the Department of School Education (DSE)
Andhra Pradesh For our study we chose the upper primary
classes (VI VII and VIII) since it is widely acknowledged that the
first level and largest drop out of students takes place before the
end of primary school In choosing students who had managed
to pass out of the first critical stage and had entered the next
level of schooling we sought to understand how they were
negotiating with the schooling process at this secondary level
Of the total population of 3240 children across these ten
schools we selected ten students from each class thus making
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100 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
up a study sample of 300 children In the population from
which the sample was chosen 37 belonged to the Other
Backward Classes (OBC) 33 to Scheduled Castes (SC) and
7 to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) the remaining included
children from other minority groups such as Christians and
Muslims It is obvious from these figures that our observations
are based primarily on children from Backward Class (BC) SC
ST communities constituting close to 75 of the total number
of children we have studied The data computerised by the State
Government since 1995 (as mentioned by one of the officials at
the DSE) reveals that this composition of students is more or
less the same across different government schools
Our study assigned importance to multiple data sources
and forms The quantitative data was collected by three
research assistants using questionnaires in Telugu This
information was supplemented with qualitative data based on
home visits classroom observations and analyses of select 9prefaces and lessons from textbooks It is outside the scope of
this paper to present all the results in any meaningful fashion
However we provide below a brief summary of our findings
(without elaborating on any of them) but reproduce later in the
paper some of our observations and excerpts from interviews
conducted as part of the study in order to substantiate the line
of argument being pursued by us here
More than 90 of the mothers in our study belonged to the
categories of housendashworkers unorganised blue collar workers
(eg beedi makers) agricultural workers servant maids and
petty businesswomen (eg idlindashcart owners) whereas 90 of the
fathers occupations can be described as unorganised blue
collar workers (eg construction work) agricultural workers
petty businessmen (eg pan shop or hairndashcutting saloon) and
organised blue collar workers (eg office peons) A striking
though not surprising finding of our study was that a huge
majority of the children interviewed participated in the adult
world of work to supplement the familys meager income or to
ensure smooth functioning of the household Neither the
children nor the parents nor the teachers found this situation
unusual to say the least
The children covered in our study we found had negligible
reading material almost no access to libraries minimal
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 101
engagement with literate adults and little or no help with
homework The absence of an environment conducive to
schooling was striking An examination of the textbooks
revealed that the content of almost all the lessons was derived
from a context alien to theirs
Our classroom observations led us to conclude that an
educational context that called for a teacherndashstudent
relationship where encouragement and responsiveness would
constitute a kernel around which teaching and learning could
occur was largely missing Interviews with the children and
parents provided us with the insight that children who received
support and encouragement either from their school or tuition
teachers or other educated persons who they had contact with
did well in schools Others just dropped out of school Yet
others and they formed the majority did not actively engage
with the curriculum Going to school was a matter of routine
that provided an opportunity for them to spend time with other
children In many different ways though and as we shall
elaborate upon further the childhood of the children who
comprised the universe of our study was different from our
understanding of the concept and therefore forced us to look
more closely and critically at the notions of childhood that were
prevalent and predominant at the time we were carrying out the
study
Quality of Education and Normative Notions of Childhood
I do the dishes wash clothes water plants sweep the yard get
the children ready for school I put their shoes on put on the
tie and uniforms and send them to school After that I wash the
bathrooms sweep the hall mop it fold the bed sheets and
change them once a week I get the wheat ground in a nearby
flourndashmill All this work is done between 7am and 12 noon
They give me tiffin and tea at 12 noon I come home change
into my school dress and go to school I return from school
around 5 pm Between 530 and 7 pm I go for tuition Tuition
teacher is a friend of my sister She doesnt charge anything
Sometimes I stay back after the tuition and do my homework
before coming home Sometimes my mother asks me to run
errands My sister works in the Electricity department Her
husband died so she got this job In 1993 my father died My
brother is married and is working My mother also goes for
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102 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
work stone cutting I earn Rs200- per month I have a sister
who is in III class She also goes to tuition My sisterndashinndashlaw is a
nice person I wish I could become a doctor but I doubt if they
will let me complete 10th class
This is the response we received from a girl student (who is
also a domestic worker) studying in VII standard in one of the
government schools in Hyderabad when we asked her to
describe her daily routine Such responses never enter or
inform educational discourse except perhaps in categorising
them as an aberration from predominant conceptions of what
ideal childhood involves The marginality of this figure in the
theorisation of education can thus be explained in terms of the
fact that the life of this child doesnt fit normative notions of
childhood and therefore often fails to get addressed by most
education researchers textbook writers or policy makers
Whether explicitly acknowledged or not approaches to
schooling and education draw upon as well as feed into the
conceptions of childhood that one subscribes to Woodhead
(2006) points out that different paradigms constitute the norm
of childhood in different ways10 He points out however that the
developmental approach has become the ubiquitous
perspective that underpins most educational policies the world
over A major goal of this approach which draws on the
theoretical works of Piaget Kohlberg and Erikson among
others is to identify universal features of growth and change
through detailed accounts of stages of physical mental social
and moral development in children
The developmental norm in relation to childhood in the
contemporary society is that children should be in school and
not at work additionally that they should be joyful carefree and
sheltered from the sordid facts of adult life Other features that
are regarded as being characteristic of childhood include
ldquovulnerability dependency need for protection lack of
responsibility ignorance inability to produce or provide and
only capable of consuming (Holland 1986 p 46) The fact that
this notion has widespread acceptance irrespective of evidence
to the contrary is what makes it the normative definition of
childhood Even as diverse approaches to childhood are being
proposed the hegemonic proposition of an ideal childhood has
remained Balagopalan (2002) Bissel (2003) Sarangapani
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 103
(2003) and Vasanta (2004) provide an elaboration and critical
engagement with these points
Drawing on the conception of ideal or normative childhoods
can have different effects one of which is that textbook authors
typically construct an image of childhood as a period of life
spent almost entirely in the contexts of family and school
where the emphasis is on care play learning and teaching
These assumptions in turn serve to produce a standard for
learning and bases for discussion of educational quality As an
illustrative exercise we would like to foreground the influence
that a normative notion of childhood has in propositions about
educational quality through the example provided in Figure 1
which is a preface that appears in the English language
textbook issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for use
in Class VII
The stated objective of the lesson is contained in the line
that the ldquostories are for developing the ability to listen to and
understand spoken Englishrdquo Since lsquoEnglish is popularly
instated as the marker of quality education developing
familiarity with English would imply in this instance that the
textbook seeks to meet the quality objective However the
promise of quality held out in this case is premised on certain
critical aspects which simultaneously draw upon as well as
buttress the normative notions of childhood First implicit in
the whole set of instructions is the assumption that the child is
in a state of dependency and needs to be guided by adults
Building upon the first the second assumption is that every
child will necessarily have the support of a parent or a guardian
who will be able to actively or passively guide her him through
the school system The third assumption is that the parent or
the guardian of the child will be in full agreement with the
pedagogic mode suggested by the text Finally that the material
requirements of the child will be taken care of by the guardian
and that the child will unproblematically be provided with all
the requisite textbooks Not surprisingly our study provided
evidence to falsify each of these assumptions
In contrast to what obtains in the framework of the
normative notion of childhood our study clearly revealed that
far from being in a state of dependency many children are
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104 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Figure 1 Preface
A NOTE TO THE PARENT
1 Your child is in the third year of learning English In the class the teacher will help your child do the following
(1) Listen to a few simple stories read out in class
(2) Talk about things of interest with the teacher and the classmates
(3) Read a number of stories in English
(4) Write a few simple sentences and paragraphs
(5) Read and enjoy a few simple poems
2 It is important for you to remember a few things
(1) There is a section labeled lsquoFor the use of the teacher at the beginning of each Unit Do not make your child read memorise or recite any part of it
(2) In class your child will listen to the stories when the teacher reads them out Do not make him her read the story Do not expect him her to fully understand the story or know the meanings of all the words The stories are for developing the ability to listen to and understand spoken English
(3) Your child will be doing some writing at home using the Reader and the Workbook Do not offer to help when your child does his her homework The teacher would have made enough preparation in class for the task Let your child make the effort at doing the homework by himself herself Help him her only when it is absolutely necessary
(4) Your child will need three prescribed books for learning English in this class mdash the Reader the Workbook and the Supplementary Reader It is important that your child possesses his her own copy of all of them
WISH YOU AND YOUR CHILD ALL THE BEST
xiii
Source New English Reader 3 Class VII Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000)
exposed to adult responsibilities at different points in their
lives We noted that a vast majority of the government school
children we studied participate in the adult world of work
Specifically we noted that 87 of the children work outside
school hours The school system assumes the norm of
childndashdependency irrespective of the fact that a fairly large
number of children are autonomous outside the domain of the
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
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106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
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112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
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114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 99
and in terms of providing adequate infrastructure While the
state government did make a distinction between the
quantitative and qualitative dimension of the required inputs
on the whole it laid excessive stress on the former ie the
quantitative Targets as well as achievements were fixed in
terms of enumerable figures for infrastructure development
teacher recruitment and student enrolment Quality issues
were discussed at times in terms of basic literacy and numeracy
but most often through reference to unelaborated notions of
lsquojoyful learning
Within such a context the main objective of our study was
to understand the processes involved in curriculum
transaction by children belonging to working class families
studying in government schools in Andhra Pradesh When
curriculum transaction is viewed as it often is as translating
educational objectives (set by experts who are often not school
teachers) into practice propositions by the teachers the
underlying assumption is that every child in the classroom is
the same that the concept lsquochildhood has a fixed meaning
across socio-economic classes and communities and that if a
given child or a group of children are not doing well in a
particular subject the reason must be incapacity on the part of
the child or ignorance on the part of parents about matters of
education However by viewing curriculum transaction as a
series of micro operations involving contributions of pupils
parents teachers and school administrators our study sought
to gather empirical evidence about what was involved in the
process of the childrens negotiation of the school curriculum
We focused on ten different schools in and around
Hyderabad selected randomly from the computer database
maintained at the Department of School Education (DSE)
Andhra Pradesh For our study we chose the upper primary
classes (VI VII and VIII) since it is widely acknowledged that the
first level and largest drop out of students takes place before the
end of primary school In choosing students who had managed
to pass out of the first critical stage and had entered the next
level of schooling we sought to understand how they were
negotiating with the schooling process at this secondary level
Of the total population of 3240 children across these ten
schools we selected ten students from each class thus making
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100 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
up a study sample of 300 children In the population from
which the sample was chosen 37 belonged to the Other
Backward Classes (OBC) 33 to Scheduled Castes (SC) and
7 to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) the remaining included
children from other minority groups such as Christians and
Muslims It is obvious from these figures that our observations
are based primarily on children from Backward Class (BC) SC
ST communities constituting close to 75 of the total number
of children we have studied The data computerised by the State
Government since 1995 (as mentioned by one of the officials at
the DSE) reveals that this composition of students is more or
less the same across different government schools
Our study assigned importance to multiple data sources
and forms The quantitative data was collected by three
research assistants using questionnaires in Telugu This
information was supplemented with qualitative data based on
home visits classroom observations and analyses of select 9prefaces and lessons from textbooks It is outside the scope of
this paper to present all the results in any meaningful fashion
However we provide below a brief summary of our findings
(without elaborating on any of them) but reproduce later in the
paper some of our observations and excerpts from interviews
conducted as part of the study in order to substantiate the line
of argument being pursued by us here
More than 90 of the mothers in our study belonged to the
categories of housendashworkers unorganised blue collar workers
(eg beedi makers) agricultural workers servant maids and
petty businesswomen (eg idlindashcart owners) whereas 90 of the
fathers occupations can be described as unorganised blue
collar workers (eg construction work) agricultural workers
petty businessmen (eg pan shop or hairndashcutting saloon) and
organised blue collar workers (eg office peons) A striking
though not surprising finding of our study was that a huge
majority of the children interviewed participated in the adult
world of work to supplement the familys meager income or to
ensure smooth functioning of the household Neither the
children nor the parents nor the teachers found this situation
unusual to say the least
The children covered in our study we found had negligible
reading material almost no access to libraries minimal
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 101
engagement with literate adults and little or no help with
homework The absence of an environment conducive to
schooling was striking An examination of the textbooks
revealed that the content of almost all the lessons was derived
from a context alien to theirs
Our classroom observations led us to conclude that an
educational context that called for a teacherndashstudent
relationship where encouragement and responsiveness would
constitute a kernel around which teaching and learning could
occur was largely missing Interviews with the children and
parents provided us with the insight that children who received
support and encouragement either from their school or tuition
teachers or other educated persons who they had contact with
did well in schools Others just dropped out of school Yet
others and they formed the majority did not actively engage
with the curriculum Going to school was a matter of routine
that provided an opportunity for them to spend time with other
children In many different ways though and as we shall
elaborate upon further the childhood of the children who
comprised the universe of our study was different from our
understanding of the concept and therefore forced us to look
more closely and critically at the notions of childhood that were
prevalent and predominant at the time we were carrying out the
study
Quality of Education and Normative Notions of Childhood
I do the dishes wash clothes water plants sweep the yard get
the children ready for school I put their shoes on put on the
tie and uniforms and send them to school After that I wash the
bathrooms sweep the hall mop it fold the bed sheets and
change them once a week I get the wheat ground in a nearby
flourndashmill All this work is done between 7am and 12 noon
They give me tiffin and tea at 12 noon I come home change
into my school dress and go to school I return from school
around 5 pm Between 530 and 7 pm I go for tuition Tuition
teacher is a friend of my sister She doesnt charge anything
Sometimes I stay back after the tuition and do my homework
before coming home Sometimes my mother asks me to run
errands My sister works in the Electricity department Her
husband died so she got this job In 1993 my father died My
brother is married and is working My mother also goes for
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102 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
work stone cutting I earn Rs200- per month I have a sister
who is in III class She also goes to tuition My sisterndashinndashlaw is a
nice person I wish I could become a doctor but I doubt if they
will let me complete 10th class
This is the response we received from a girl student (who is
also a domestic worker) studying in VII standard in one of the
government schools in Hyderabad when we asked her to
describe her daily routine Such responses never enter or
inform educational discourse except perhaps in categorising
them as an aberration from predominant conceptions of what
ideal childhood involves The marginality of this figure in the
theorisation of education can thus be explained in terms of the
fact that the life of this child doesnt fit normative notions of
childhood and therefore often fails to get addressed by most
education researchers textbook writers or policy makers
Whether explicitly acknowledged or not approaches to
schooling and education draw upon as well as feed into the
conceptions of childhood that one subscribes to Woodhead
(2006) points out that different paradigms constitute the norm
of childhood in different ways10 He points out however that the
developmental approach has become the ubiquitous
perspective that underpins most educational policies the world
over A major goal of this approach which draws on the
theoretical works of Piaget Kohlberg and Erikson among
others is to identify universal features of growth and change
through detailed accounts of stages of physical mental social
and moral development in children
The developmental norm in relation to childhood in the
contemporary society is that children should be in school and
not at work additionally that they should be joyful carefree and
sheltered from the sordid facts of adult life Other features that
are regarded as being characteristic of childhood include
ldquovulnerability dependency need for protection lack of
responsibility ignorance inability to produce or provide and
only capable of consuming (Holland 1986 p 46) The fact that
this notion has widespread acceptance irrespective of evidence
to the contrary is what makes it the normative definition of
childhood Even as diverse approaches to childhood are being
proposed the hegemonic proposition of an ideal childhood has
remained Balagopalan (2002) Bissel (2003) Sarangapani
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 103
(2003) and Vasanta (2004) provide an elaboration and critical
engagement with these points
Drawing on the conception of ideal or normative childhoods
can have different effects one of which is that textbook authors
typically construct an image of childhood as a period of life
spent almost entirely in the contexts of family and school
where the emphasis is on care play learning and teaching
These assumptions in turn serve to produce a standard for
learning and bases for discussion of educational quality As an
illustrative exercise we would like to foreground the influence
that a normative notion of childhood has in propositions about
educational quality through the example provided in Figure 1
which is a preface that appears in the English language
textbook issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for use
in Class VII
The stated objective of the lesson is contained in the line
that the ldquostories are for developing the ability to listen to and
understand spoken Englishrdquo Since lsquoEnglish is popularly
instated as the marker of quality education developing
familiarity with English would imply in this instance that the
textbook seeks to meet the quality objective However the
promise of quality held out in this case is premised on certain
critical aspects which simultaneously draw upon as well as
buttress the normative notions of childhood First implicit in
the whole set of instructions is the assumption that the child is
in a state of dependency and needs to be guided by adults
Building upon the first the second assumption is that every
child will necessarily have the support of a parent or a guardian
who will be able to actively or passively guide her him through
the school system The third assumption is that the parent or
the guardian of the child will be in full agreement with the
pedagogic mode suggested by the text Finally that the material
requirements of the child will be taken care of by the guardian
and that the child will unproblematically be provided with all
the requisite textbooks Not surprisingly our study provided
evidence to falsify each of these assumptions
In contrast to what obtains in the framework of the
normative notion of childhood our study clearly revealed that
far from being in a state of dependency many children are
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104 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Figure 1 Preface
A NOTE TO THE PARENT
1 Your child is in the third year of learning English In the class the teacher will help your child do the following
(1) Listen to a few simple stories read out in class
(2) Talk about things of interest with the teacher and the classmates
(3) Read a number of stories in English
(4) Write a few simple sentences and paragraphs
(5) Read and enjoy a few simple poems
2 It is important for you to remember a few things
(1) There is a section labeled lsquoFor the use of the teacher at the beginning of each Unit Do not make your child read memorise or recite any part of it
(2) In class your child will listen to the stories when the teacher reads them out Do not make him her read the story Do not expect him her to fully understand the story or know the meanings of all the words The stories are for developing the ability to listen to and understand spoken English
(3) Your child will be doing some writing at home using the Reader and the Workbook Do not offer to help when your child does his her homework The teacher would have made enough preparation in class for the task Let your child make the effort at doing the homework by himself herself Help him her only when it is absolutely necessary
(4) Your child will need three prescribed books for learning English in this class mdash the Reader the Workbook and the Supplementary Reader It is important that your child possesses his her own copy of all of them
WISH YOU AND YOUR CHILD ALL THE BEST
xiii
Source New English Reader 3 Class VII Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000)
exposed to adult responsibilities at different points in their
lives We noted that a vast majority of the government school
children we studied participate in the adult world of work
Specifically we noted that 87 of the children work outside
school hours The school system assumes the norm of
childndashdependency irrespective of the fact that a fairly large
number of children are autonomous outside the domain of the
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
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112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
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114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
100 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
up a study sample of 300 children In the population from
which the sample was chosen 37 belonged to the Other
Backward Classes (OBC) 33 to Scheduled Castes (SC) and
7 to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) the remaining included
children from other minority groups such as Christians and
Muslims It is obvious from these figures that our observations
are based primarily on children from Backward Class (BC) SC
ST communities constituting close to 75 of the total number
of children we have studied The data computerised by the State
Government since 1995 (as mentioned by one of the officials at
the DSE) reveals that this composition of students is more or
less the same across different government schools
Our study assigned importance to multiple data sources
and forms The quantitative data was collected by three
research assistants using questionnaires in Telugu This
information was supplemented with qualitative data based on
home visits classroom observations and analyses of select 9prefaces and lessons from textbooks It is outside the scope of
this paper to present all the results in any meaningful fashion
However we provide below a brief summary of our findings
(without elaborating on any of them) but reproduce later in the
paper some of our observations and excerpts from interviews
conducted as part of the study in order to substantiate the line
of argument being pursued by us here
More than 90 of the mothers in our study belonged to the
categories of housendashworkers unorganised blue collar workers
(eg beedi makers) agricultural workers servant maids and
petty businesswomen (eg idlindashcart owners) whereas 90 of the
fathers occupations can be described as unorganised blue
collar workers (eg construction work) agricultural workers
petty businessmen (eg pan shop or hairndashcutting saloon) and
organised blue collar workers (eg office peons) A striking
though not surprising finding of our study was that a huge
majority of the children interviewed participated in the adult
world of work to supplement the familys meager income or to
ensure smooth functioning of the household Neither the
children nor the parents nor the teachers found this situation
unusual to say the least
The children covered in our study we found had negligible
reading material almost no access to libraries minimal
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 101
engagement with literate adults and little or no help with
homework The absence of an environment conducive to
schooling was striking An examination of the textbooks
revealed that the content of almost all the lessons was derived
from a context alien to theirs
Our classroom observations led us to conclude that an
educational context that called for a teacherndashstudent
relationship where encouragement and responsiveness would
constitute a kernel around which teaching and learning could
occur was largely missing Interviews with the children and
parents provided us with the insight that children who received
support and encouragement either from their school or tuition
teachers or other educated persons who they had contact with
did well in schools Others just dropped out of school Yet
others and they formed the majority did not actively engage
with the curriculum Going to school was a matter of routine
that provided an opportunity for them to spend time with other
children In many different ways though and as we shall
elaborate upon further the childhood of the children who
comprised the universe of our study was different from our
understanding of the concept and therefore forced us to look
more closely and critically at the notions of childhood that were
prevalent and predominant at the time we were carrying out the
study
Quality of Education and Normative Notions of Childhood
I do the dishes wash clothes water plants sweep the yard get
the children ready for school I put their shoes on put on the
tie and uniforms and send them to school After that I wash the
bathrooms sweep the hall mop it fold the bed sheets and
change them once a week I get the wheat ground in a nearby
flourndashmill All this work is done between 7am and 12 noon
They give me tiffin and tea at 12 noon I come home change
into my school dress and go to school I return from school
around 5 pm Between 530 and 7 pm I go for tuition Tuition
teacher is a friend of my sister She doesnt charge anything
Sometimes I stay back after the tuition and do my homework
before coming home Sometimes my mother asks me to run
errands My sister works in the Electricity department Her
husband died so she got this job In 1993 my father died My
brother is married and is working My mother also goes for
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102 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
work stone cutting I earn Rs200- per month I have a sister
who is in III class She also goes to tuition My sisterndashinndashlaw is a
nice person I wish I could become a doctor but I doubt if they
will let me complete 10th class
This is the response we received from a girl student (who is
also a domestic worker) studying in VII standard in one of the
government schools in Hyderabad when we asked her to
describe her daily routine Such responses never enter or
inform educational discourse except perhaps in categorising
them as an aberration from predominant conceptions of what
ideal childhood involves The marginality of this figure in the
theorisation of education can thus be explained in terms of the
fact that the life of this child doesnt fit normative notions of
childhood and therefore often fails to get addressed by most
education researchers textbook writers or policy makers
Whether explicitly acknowledged or not approaches to
schooling and education draw upon as well as feed into the
conceptions of childhood that one subscribes to Woodhead
(2006) points out that different paradigms constitute the norm
of childhood in different ways10 He points out however that the
developmental approach has become the ubiquitous
perspective that underpins most educational policies the world
over A major goal of this approach which draws on the
theoretical works of Piaget Kohlberg and Erikson among
others is to identify universal features of growth and change
through detailed accounts of stages of physical mental social
and moral development in children
The developmental norm in relation to childhood in the
contemporary society is that children should be in school and
not at work additionally that they should be joyful carefree and
sheltered from the sordid facts of adult life Other features that
are regarded as being characteristic of childhood include
ldquovulnerability dependency need for protection lack of
responsibility ignorance inability to produce or provide and
only capable of consuming (Holland 1986 p 46) The fact that
this notion has widespread acceptance irrespective of evidence
to the contrary is what makes it the normative definition of
childhood Even as diverse approaches to childhood are being
proposed the hegemonic proposition of an ideal childhood has
remained Balagopalan (2002) Bissel (2003) Sarangapani
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 103
(2003) and Vasanta (2004) provide an elaboration and critical
engagement with these points
Drawing on the conception of ideal or normative childhoods
can have different effects one of which is that textbook authors
typically construct an image of childhood as a period of life
spent almost entirely in the contexts of family and school
where the emphasis is on care play learning and teaching
These assumptions in turn serve to produce a standard for
learning and bases for discussion of educational quality As an
illustrative exercise we would like to foreground the influence
that a normative notion of childhood has in propositions about
educational quality through the example provided in Figure 1
which is a preface that appears in the English language
textbook issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for use
in Class VII
The stated objective of the lesson is contained in the line
that the ldquostories are for developing the ability to listen to and
understand spoken Englishrdquo Since lsquoEnglish is popularly
instated as the marker of quality education developing
familiarity with English would imply in this instance that the
textbook seeks to meet the quality objective However the
promise of quality held out in this case is premised on certain
critical aspects which simultaneously draw upon as well as
buttress the normative notions of childhood First implicit in
the whole set of instructions is the assumption that the child is
in a state of dependency and needs to be guided by adults
Building upon the first the second assumption is that every
child will necessarily have the support of a parent or a guardian
who will be able to actively or passively guide her him through
the school system The third assumption is that the parent or
the guardian of the child will be in full agreement with the
pedagogic mode suggested by the text Finally that the material
requirements of the child will be taken care of by the guardian
and that the child will unproblematically be provided with all
the requisite textbooks Not surprisingly our study provided
evidence to falsify each of these assumptions
In contrast to what obtains in the framework of the
normative notion of childhood our study clearly revealed that
far from being in a state of dependency many children are
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104 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Figure 1 Preface
A NOTE TO THE PARENT
1 Your child is in the third year of learning English In the class the teacher will help your child do the following
(1) Listen to a few simple stories read out in class
(2) Talk about things of interest with the teacher and the classmates
(3) Read a number of stories in English
(4) Write a few simple sentences and paragraphs
(5) Read and enjoy a few simple poems
2 It is important for you to remember a few things
(1) There is a section labeled lsquoFor the use of the teacher at the beginning of each Unit Do not make your child read memorise or recite any part of it
(2) In class your child will listen to the stories when the teacher reads them out Do not make him her read the story Do not expect him her to fully understand the story or know the meanings of all the words The stories are for developing the ability to listen to and understand spoken English
(3) Your child will be doing some writing at home using the Reader and the Workbook Do not offer to help when your child does his her homework The teacher would have made enough preparation in class for the task Let your child make the effort at doing the homework by himself herself Help him her only when it is absolutely necessary
(4) Your child will need three prescribed books for learning English in this class mdash the Reader the Workbook and the Supplementary Reader It is important that your child possesses his her own copy of all of them
WISH YOU AND YOUR CHILD ALL THE BEST
xiii
Source New English Reader 3 Class VII Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000)
exposed to adult responsibilities at different points in their
lives We noted that a vast majority of the government school
children we studied participate in the adult world of work
Specifically we noted that 87 of the children work outside
school hours The school system assumes the norm of
childndashdependency irrespective of the fact that a fairly large
number of children are autonomous outside the domain of the
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
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106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
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112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
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114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
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Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
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116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
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- Page 11
- Page 12
-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 101
engagement with literate adults and little or no help with
homework The absence of an environment conducive to
schooling was striking An examination of the textbooks
revealed that the content of almost all the lessons was derived
from a context alien to theirs
Our classroom observations led us to conclude that an
educational context that called for a teacherndashstudent
relationship where encouragement and responsiveness would
constitute a kernel around which teaching and learning could
occur was largely missing Interviews with the children and
parents provided us with the insight that children who received
support and encouragement either from their school or tuition
teachers or other educated persons who they had contact with
did well in schools Others just dropped out of school Yet
others and they formed the majority did not actively engage
with the curriculum Going to school was a matter of routine
that provided an opportunity for them to spend time with other
children In many different ways though and as we shall
elaborate upon further the childhood of the children who
comprised the universe of our study was different from our
understanding of the concept and therefore forced us to look
more closely and critically at the notions of childhood that were
prevalent and predominant at the time we were carrying out the
study
Quality of Education and Normative Notions of Childhood
I do the dishes wash clothes water plants sweep the yard get
the children ready for school I put their shoes on put on the
tie and uniforms and send them to school After that I wash the
bathrooms sweep the hall mop it fold the bed sheets and
change them once a week I get the wheat ground in a nearby
flourndashmill All this work is done between 7am and 12 noon
They give me tiffin and tea at 12 noon I come home change
into my school dress and go to school I return from school
around 5 pm Between 530 and 7 pm I go for tuition Tuition
teacher is a friend of my sister She doesnt charge anything
Sometimes I stay back after the tuition and do my homework
before coming home Sometimes my mother asks me to run
errands My sister works in the Electricity department Her
husband died so she got this job In 1993 my father died My
brother is married and is working My mother also goes for
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102 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
work stone cutting I earn Rs200- per month I have a sister
who is in III class She also goes to tuition My sisterndashinndashlaw is a
nice person I wish I could become a doctor but I doubt if they
will let me complete 10th class
This is the response we received from a girl student (who is
also a domestic worker) studying in VII standard in one of the
government schools in Hyderabad when we asked her to
describe her daily routine Such responses never enter or
inform educational discourse except perhaps in categorising
them as an aberration from predominant conceptions of what
ideal childhood involves The marginality of this figure in the
theorisation of education can thus be explained in terms of the
fact that the life of this child doesnt fit normative notions of
childhood and therefore often fails to get addressed by most
education researchers textbook writers or policy makers
Whether explicitly acknowledged or not approaches to
schooling and education draw upon as well as feed into the
conceptions of childhood that one subscribes to Woodhead
(2006) points out that different paradigms constitute the norm
of childhood in different ways10 He points out however that the
developmental approach has become the ubiquitous
perspective that underpins most educational policies the world
over A major goal of this approach which draws on the
theoretical works of Piaget Kohlberg and Erikson among
others is to identify universal features of growth and change
through detailed accounts of stages of physical mental social
and moral development in children
The developmental norm in relation to childhood in the
contemporary society is that children should be in school and
not at work additionally that they should be joyful carefree and
sheltered from the sordid facts of adult life Other features that
are regarded as being characteristic of childhood include
ldquovulnerability dependency need for protection lack of
responsibility ignorance inability to produce or provide and
only capable of consuming (Holland 1986 p 46) The fact that
this notion has widespread acceptance irrespective of evidence
to the contrary is what makes it the normative definition of
childhood Even as diverse approaches to childhood are being
proposed the hegemonic proposition of an ideal childhood has
remained Balagopalan (2002) Bissel (2003) Sarangapani
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 103
(2003) and Vasanta (2004) provide an elaboration and critical
engagement with these points
Drawing on the conception of ideal or normative childhoods
can have different effects one of which is that textbook authors
typically construct an image of childhood as a period of life
spent almost entirely in the contexts of family and school
where the emphasis is on care play learning and teaching
These assumptions in turn serve to produce a standard for
learning and bases for discussion of educational quality As an
illustrative exercise we would like to foreground the influence
that a normative notion of childhood has in propositions about
educational quality through the example provided in Figure 1
which is a preface that appears in the English language
textbook issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for use
in Class VII
The stated objective of the lesson is contained in the line
that the ldquostories are for developing the ability to listen to and
understand spoken Englishrdquo Since lsquoEnglish is popularly
instated as the marker of quality education developing
familiarity with English would imply in this instance that the
textbook seeks to meet the quality objective However the
promise of quality held out in this case is premised on certain
critical aspects which simultaneously draw upon as well as
buttress the normative notions of childhood First implicit in
the whole set of instructions is the assumption that the child is
in a state of dependency and needs to be guided by adults
Building upon the first the second assumption is that every
child will necessarily have the support of a parent or a guardian
who will be able to actively or passively guide her him through
the school system The third assumption is that the parent or
the guardian of the child will be in full agreement with the
pedagogic mode suggested by the text Finally that the material
requirements of the child will be taken care of by the guardian
and that the child will unproblematically be provided with all
the requisite textbooks Not surprisingly our study provided
evidence to falsify each of these assumptions
In contrast to what obtains in the framework of the
normative notion of childhood our study clearly revealed that
far from being in a state of dependency many children are
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104 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Figure 1 Preface
A NOTE TO THE PARENT
1 Your child is in the third year of learning English In the class the teacher will help your child do the following
(1) Listen to a few simple stories read out in class
(2) Talk about things of interest with the teacher and the classmates
(3) Read a number of stories in English
(4) Write a few simple sentences and paragraphs
(5) Read and enjoy a few simple poems
2 It is important for you to remember a few things
(1) There is a section labeled lsquoFor the use of the teacher at the beginning of each Unit Do not make your child read memorise or recite any part of it
(2) In class your child will listen to the stories when the teacher reads them out Do not make him her read the story Do not expect him her to fully understand the story or know the meanings of all the words The stories are for developing the ability to listen to and understand spoken English
(3) Your child will be doing some writing at home using the Reader and the Workbook Do not offer to help when your child does his her homework The teacher would have made enough preparation in class for the task Let your child make the effort at doing the homework by himself herself Help him her only when it is absolutely necessary
(4) Your child will need three prescribed books for learning English in this class mdash the Reader the Workbook and the Supplementary Reader It is important that your child possesses his her own copy of all of them
WISH YOU AND YOUR CHILD ALL THE BEST
xiii
Source New English Reader 3 Class VII Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000)
exposed to adult responsibilities at different points in their
lives We noted that a vast majority of the government school
children we studied participate in the adult world of work
Specifically we noted that 87 of the children work outside
school hours The school system assumes the norm of
childndashdependency irrespective of the fact that a fairly large
number of children are autonomous outside the domain of the
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
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106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
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112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
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114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
102 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
work stone cutting I earn Rs200- per month I have a sister
who is in III class She also goes to tuition My sisterndashinndashlaw is a
nice person I wish I could become a doctor but I doubt if they
will let me complete 10th class
This is the response we received from a girl student (who is
also a domestic worker) studying in VII standard in one of the
government schools in Hyderabad when we asked her to
describe her daily routine Such responses never enter or
inform educational discourse except perhaps in categorising
them as an aberration from predominant conceptions of what
ideal childhood involves The marginality of this figure in the
theorisation of education can thus be explained in terms of the
fact that the life of this child doesnt fit normative notions of
childhood and therefore often fails to get addressed by most
education researchers textbook writers or policy makers
Whether explicitly acknowledged or not approaches to
schooling and education draw upon as well as feed into the
conceptions of childhood that one subscribes to Woodhead
(2006) points out that different paradigms constitute the norm
of childhood in different ways10 He points out however that the
developmental approach has become the ubiquitous
perspective that underpins most educational policies the world
over A major goal of this approach which draws on the
theoretical works of Piaget Kohlberg and Erikson among
others is to identify universal features of growth and change
through detailed accounts of stages of physical mental social
and moral development in children
The developmental norm in relation to childhood in the
contemporary society is that children should be in school and
not at work additionally that they should be joyful carefree and
sheltered from the sordid facts of adult life Other features that
are regarded as being characteristic of childhood include
ldquovulnerability dependency need for protection lack of
responsibility ignorance inability to produce or provide and
only capable of consuming (Holland 1986 p 46) The fact that
this notion has widespread acceptance irrespective of evidence
to the contrary is what makes it the normative definition of
childhood Even as diverse approaches to childhood are being
proposed the hegemonic proposition of an ideal childhood has
remained Balagopalan (2002) Bissel (2003) Sarangapani
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 103
(2003) and Vasanta (2004) provide an elaboration and critical
engagement with these points
Drawing on the conception of ideal or normative childhoods
can have different effects one of which is that textbook authors
typically construct an image of childhood as a period of life
spent almost entirely in the contexts of family and school
where the emphasis is on care play learning and teaching
These assumptions in turn serve to produce a standard for
learning and bases for discussion of educational quality As an
illustrative exercise we would like to foreground the influence
that a normative notion of childhood has in propositions about
educational quality through the example provided in Figure 1
which is a preface that appears in the English language
textbook issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for use
in Class VII
The stated objective of the lesson is contained in the line
that the ldquostories are for developing the ability to listen to and
understand spoken Englishrdquo Since lsquoEnglish is popularly
instated as the marker of quality education developing
familiarity with English would imply in this instance that the
textbook seeks to meet the quality objective However the
promise of quality held out in this case is premised on certain
critical aspects which simultaneously draw upon as well as
buttress the normative notions of childhood First implicit in
the whole set of instructions is the assumption that the child is
in a state of dependency and needs to be guided by adults
Building upon the first the second assumption is that every
child will necessarily have the support of a parent or a guardian
who will be able to actively or passively guide her him through
the school system The third assumption is that the parent or
the guardian of the child will be in full agreement with the
pedagogic mode suggested by the text Finally that the material
requirements of the child will be taken care of by the guardian
and that the child will unproblematically be provided with all
the requisite textbooks Not surprisingly our study provided
evidence to falsify each of these assumptions
In contrast to what obtains in the framework of the
normative notion of childhood our study clearly revealed that
far from being in a state of dependency many children are
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104 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Figure 1 Preface
A NOTE TO THE PARENT
1 Your child is in the third year of learning English In the class the teacher will help your child do the following
(1) Listen to a few simple stories read out in class
(2) Talk about things of interest with the teacher and the classmates
(3) Read a number of stories in English
(4) Write a few simple sentences and paragraphs
(5) Read and enjoy a few simple poems
2 It is important for you to remember a few things
(1) There is a section labeled lsquoFor the use of the teacher at the beginning of each Unit Do not make your child read memorise or recite any part of it
(2) In class your child will listen to the stories when the teacher reads them out Do not make him her read the story Do not expect him her to fully understand the story or know the meanings of all the words The stories are for developing the ability to listen to and understand spoken English
(3) Your child will be doing some writing at home using the Reader and the Workbook Do not offer to help when your child does his her homework The teacher would have made enough preparation in class for the task Let your child make the effort at doing the homework by himself herself Help him her only when it is absolutely necessary
(4) Your child will need three prescribed books for learning English in this class mdash the Reader the Workbook and the Supplementary Reader It is important that your child possesses his her own copy of all of them
WISH YOU AND YOUR CHILD ALL THE BEST
xiii
Source New English Reader 3 Class VII Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000)
exposed to adult responsibilities at different points in their
lives We noted that a vast majority of the government school
children we studied participate in the adult world of work
Specifically we noted that 87 of the children work outside
school hours The school system assumes the norm of
childndashdependency irrespective of the fact that a fairly large
number of children are autonomous outside the domain of the
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
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106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
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112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
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114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 103
(2003) and Vasanta (2004) provide an elaboration and critical
engagement with these points
Drawing on the conception of ideal or normative childhoods
can have different effects one of which is that textbook authors
typically construct an image of childhood as a period of life
spent almost entirely in the contexts of family and school
where the emphasis is on care play learning and teaching
These assumptions in turn serve to produce a standard for
learning and bases for discussion of educational quality As an
illustrative exercise we would like to foreground the influence
that a normative notion of childhood has in propositions about
educational quality through the example provided in Figure 1
which is a preface that appears in the English language
textbook issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for use
in Class VII
The stated objective of the lesson is contained in the line
that the ldquostories are for developing the ability to listen to and
understand spoken Englishrdquo Since lsquoEnglish is popularly
instated as the marker of quality education developing
familiarity with English would imply in this instance that the
textbook seeks to meet the quality objective However the
promise of quality held out in this case is premised on certain
critical aspects which simultaneously draw upon as well as
buttress the normative notions of childhood First implicit in
the whole set of instructions is the assumption that the child is
in a state of dependency and needs to be guided by adults
Building upon the first the second assumption is that every
child will necessarily have the support of a parent or a guardian
who will be able to actively or passively guide her him through
the school system The third assumption is that the parent or
the guardian of the child will be in full agreement with the
pedagogic mode suggested by the text Finally that the material
requirements of the child will be taken care of by the guardian
and that the child will unproblematically be provided with all
the requisite textbooks Not surprisingly our study provided
evidence to falsify each of these assumptions
In contrast to what obtains in the framework of the
normative notion of childhood our study clearly revealed that
far from being in a state of dependency many children are
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104 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Figure 1 Preface
A NOTE TO THE PARENT
1 Your child is in the third year of learning English In the class the teacher will help your child do the following
(1) Listen to a few simple stories read out in class
(2) Talk about things of interest with the teacher and the classmates
(3) Read a number of stories in English
(4) Write a few simple sentences and paragraphs
(5) Read and enjoy a few simple poems
2 It is important for you to remember a few things
(1) There is a section labeled lsquoFor the use of the teacher at the beginning of each Unit Do not make your child read memorise or recite any part of it
(2) In class your child will listen to the stories when the teacher reads them out Do not make him her read the story Do not expect him her to fully understand the story or know the meanings of all the words The stories are for developing the ability to listen to and understand spoken English
(3) Your child will be doing some writing at home using the Reader and the Workbook Do not offer to help when your child does his her homework The teacher would have made enough preparation in class for the task Let your child make the effort at doing the homework by himself herself Help him her only when it is absolutely necessary
(4) Your child will need three prescribed books for learning English in this class mdash the Reader the Workbook and the Supplementary Reader It is important that your child possesses his her own copy of all of them
WISH YOU AND YOUR CHILD ALL THE BEST
xiii
Source New English Reader 3 Class VII Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000)
exposed to adult responsibilities at different points in their
lives We noted that a vast majority of the government school
children we studied participate in the adult world of work
Specifically we noted that 87 of the children work outside
school hours The school system assumes the norm of
childndashdependency irrespective of the fact that a fairly large
number of children are autonomous outside the domain of the
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
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106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
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112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
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114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
104 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Figure 1 Preface
A NOTE TO THE PARENT
1 Your child is in the third year of learning English In the class the teacher will help your child do the following
(1) Listen to a few simple stories read out in class
(2) Talk about things of interest with the teacher and the classmates
(3) Read a number of stories in English
(4) Write a few simple sentences and paragraphs
(5) Read and enjoy a few simple poems
2 It is important for you to remember a few things
(1) There is a section labeled lsquoFor the use of the teacher at the beginning of each Unit Do not make your child read memorise or recite any part of it
(2) In class your child will listen to the stories when the teacher reads them out Do not make him her read the story Do not expect him her to fully understand the story or know the meanings of all the words The stories are for developing the ability to listen to and understand spoken English
(3) Your child will be doing some writing at home using the Reader and the Workbook Do not offer to help when your child does his her homework The teacher would have made enough preparation in class for the task Let your child make the effort at doing the homework by himself herself Help him her only when it is absolutely necessary
(4) Your child will need three prescribed books for learning English in this class mdash the Reader the Workbook and the Supplementary Reader It is important that your child possesses his her own copy of all of them
WISH YOU AND YOUR CHILD ALL THE BEST
xiii
Source New English Reader 3 Class VII Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000)
exposed to adult responsibilities at different points in their
lives We noted that a vast majority of the government school
children we studied participate in the adult world of work
Specifically we noted that 87 of the children work outside
school hours The school system assumes the norm of
childndashdependency irrespective of the fact that a fairly large
number of children are autonomous outside the domain of the
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
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106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
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114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 105
classrooms In the particular case of having to learn English
the students might be dependent on the teachers adults but
the approach of the preface we have cited above draws on an
educational discourse that underscores generalised
dependency in all aspects of life Such an approach for instance
is clearly evident in the National Curriculum Framework of
2000 where such a core assumption is foregrounded in the
statement that ldquofrom a state of dependency and helplessness
the children gradually attain independence and become
curious learnershelliprdquo (NCERT 2000 p 41)
In relation to the second assumption about having able
adults to guide them our study revealed that the children find it
very difficult to receive help in order to navigate through the
curriculum either at school or at home 37 of the children in
our study reported that they receive no help with their study
while the rest manage with meager inputs from their friends
family neighbours employers etc With regard to the
assumption that there is a tacit agreement about the pedagogic
mode suggested by the preface many parents in our study
believed that since they were not capable of helping the children
with their study the responsibility of educating the children lay
entirely with the school While many teachers blamed the
uneducated parents for the childrens poor learning the
parents themselves did not feel implicated in the process The
response from one of the parents we interviewed was typical in
this respect ldquoShe returns from school washes dishes and does
her homework We dont ask her about school and she doesnt
tell us anything For some days she went to tuition Since we are
not educated we dont know what to do with the textbooksrdquo
The preface cited above emphasizes the importance of
owning textbooks However not a single child in our study
owned a complete set of the prescribed textbooks In fact the
only textbook that a VII class girl we interviewed possessed was
from her previous class (She spoke animatedly and
unselfconsciously about the lesson on Madame Curie from that
VI class textbook) Far from being the prerequisite which
guarantees quality education and which is a given within the
frame of the normative childhood the matter of textbooks is
often and in various ways a traumatic one for most children in
government schools11 Unfortunately the arrangement made by
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106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
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108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
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110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
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112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
106 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
the government to provide free textbooks for the children does
not seem to have mitigated the problem as one of our classroom
observation sessions demonstrated
The teacher who teaches social studies came into class VI and
said ldquohavent I completed 9th lessonrdquo All the children
answered in unison ldquoyes sir you didrdquo Some of the children
began opening their textbooks One student said that he lost
his textbook The teacher responded ldquoIf you had purchased the
book out of your money you would not have lost it Because it is
a free book supplied by the government you have lost it I
believe in the next Janmabhumi programme the CM is going to
sanction clothes Go and lose those clothes also
Repeatedly therefore the children seemed to demonstrate
their distance from what the norm of childhood holds
frustrating the efforts of the teachers in the process
Furthermore since the teachers too conform to the unstated
but all pervasive equation made between the normative notions
of childhood on the one hand and quality in education on the
other our classroom observations revealed that they often treat
the students as lsquounteachables Some of them told the students
directly so in the classes while others implied as much in their
conversations with the researchers through their comments on
illiterate parents clothes the children wore their caste etc We
were particularly struck by the fact that some of the students
too had internalised some parts of these assessments One of
the girls in Class VII told us ldquoMy school is good my teachers are
also very good they teach very well The problem is with me I
just cant learn anything I cant understand the lessons and I
cant remember them even though my teachers explain the
meanings so many timesrdquo12
The irony of the situation is fairly obvious A tacit agreement
exists within the educational system about quality and about
the learning goals that have to be achieved These goals within
the specific location of the school are determined by the
powerful position occupied by the teacher and in situations
such as that described above it is the authority of the teacher
that results in the student being blamed (and internalising the
blame) for failure However if we were to move beyond holding
individuals (teachers or students) responsible for the failures
other related questions gain urgency is there a problem with
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
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-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 107
the learning objectives as they are presently defined in other
words is our present conception of quality problematic Or does
the problem lie with the manner in which quality and the
objectives are sought Or is there a need to revise our
understanding of both quality as well as the processes adopted
to achieve these quality objectives Considerations of these
issues related to quality of education are critical and are
precipitated moreover by the fact of growing inequality among
the groups of students that seek school education
Inequality and the Discourse of Rights
There is a great deal of debate about the rights discourse about
its effectiveness as also about its limitations13 Those who use
the language of rights regard it as effective precisely because it
appeals to a universal norm Some misgivings notwithstanding
the proponents of this approach find it useful to lobby with the
state because it allows them to emphasize entitlements while
protesting against discriminations In the name of rights a
series of demands are also often named and defined While the
importance of the strategic use of the rights discourse cannot be
denied it is necessary to also recognize that this same
discourse could short circuit different possibilities that may be
even more enabling in the long term for those same
constituencies
The conception of a normative childhood enables among
other things a discourse of child rights As emphasized in the
previous section the concept of ideal childhood is one in which
the child is assumed to be secure and free from cares of all kinds
while she he is being prepared for a later stage of adulthood In
the face of overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that the
lives of a majority of the children are nowhere close to such a
normative conception the discourse of child rights seeks to
create conditions that will bridge the gap between the actual
situation of the child and the normative one The attempt at
ensuring child rights thus implies efforts towards making every
childs childhood experience a joyful playful and safe one in
which they are also preparing to be adults who can fully
participate in their society
One of the most emphatic articulate and influential
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
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Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
108 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
position linking child rights with school education is provided by
the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation more popularly
known by its acronym MVF Though MVF began its work in
Andhra Pradesh its influence on the issue of child rights has
extended beyond regional boundaries and has shaped thinking
on the subject at the national as well as international levels The
extent to which MVF draws on the conception of normative
childhood is evident in its definition of a set of five non-
negotiables that have to be adhered to by the organisation as
well as the movement for child rights that it has energised The
MVF affirms the following non-negotiables (or the Charter of
Basic Principles for Emancipation of Child Labour)
1 All children must attend fullndashtime formal day schools 2 Any child out of school is a child labourer 3 All work labour is hazardous and harms the overall
growth and development of the child 4 There must be total abolition of child labour 5 Any justification for the perpetuation of child labour
must be condemned
MVFs emphasis on the right to education derives from its
commitment to abolish child labour14 As such right to
education within this framework is often understood as the
childs right to access schools through admission into them and
continuing there In this approach education is understood as
primarily sequential with the first step of entering into the
school being regarded as the most important one While there is
definitely cause to prioritise in this manner especially given
that stepping into school premises is unusual for a number of
communities the issue of educational quality gets relegated to
a secondary position
Since a critical objective of MVF is to make government
schooling available for all children it has consistently sought to
modify or bring in policies that help such a process In fact the
policy changes that have come about as a result of MVFs
interventions have far reaching implications They are clearly
weighted in favour of the child from socio-economically
marginalised groups Significant among the policy changes
introduced as a result of MVFs intervention are three
government orders 1) government schools have to admit
children at any time during the academic year 2) children
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 109
cannot be detained at any level of schooling where evaluation is
done internally and 3) the responsibility of collecting transfer
certificates of children when they move from one school to
another rests with the school administration and not the
student in other words no student can be denied admission for
not having transfer certificates These policy changes shift the
onus of the childs education from the parents to the schooling
system the state Significantly all these three aspects are
included in the Right to Education Act of 2009
When thinking through the question of inequality and
quality together we realize that the interventions of MVF in the
first and second instance ie admitting children any time of the
academic year and the introduction of non-detention policy
definitely help the children access schools However the
question of quality is one that is not directly addressed in this
move Such an omission is not that of MVFs alone but is an
implicit aspect of the functioning of most groups that focus on
child rights In fact MVF is to an extent an exception to the
trend in that it has to the extent successfully organised bridge
courses that have enabled children to acquaint themselves with
the process of schooling and learning such that they are able to
then pass out of schools However issues related to the quality
question such as the framing of alternative methods and
methodologies that would help evaluate or map learning
processes within the government schools have not been a
priority issue for the organisation It would seem that even the
best case in relation to the articulation of the rights discourse is
limited by its focus on the issue of inequality and access it has
not made a sustained bid to reconceptualise mainstream
notions of quality
The overwhelming focus on the issue of access is evident
even in the Right to Education Act 2009 and this focus in fact
makes the omission of discussion of quality issues even more
glaring Interestingly in his discussion of the Right to
Education Bill Vinod Raina (2009) who was a member of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee points
to a view that he did not support but which was held by the Law
Minister and some other members that ldquothe bill should confine
itself to infrastructural and management aspects and steer
clear of transactional concernsrdquo (p 83)
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
110 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
In the debate preceding and following the notification of the
RTE Act the emphasis on issues of inclusiveness are clear
There is an effort through these debates to redress the fact of
widespread social inequality which translates into educational
inequality The repeated concern in relation both to the Bill and
the Act relates to the fact that it grants the fundamental right to
education to children in the age group of sixndash14 years leaving
out a large number of children in the age group of zero to five
years outside its ambit Criticism is also directed at the fact that
the private schools are exempted from adhering to some of the
main requirements of the Bill Act thereby promoting the
existing inequality in the educational system It is interesting
that the emphases on inequality in these discussions hint at
quality issues but refrain from elaborating on them For
instance even the most trenchant among the critics of the Bill
Anil Sadgopal (2008) implicitly concedes that while the quality
question is an extremely important one other issues are even
more pressing ldquoWhy has the Bill not thought of changing the
elitist character of these schools that violate the educational
principles enunciated by Phule Tagore and Gandhi Clearly
the Bill lacks the vision of what constitutes quality in relation to
Indias needs That however is another debaterdquo (emphasis
ours)
Ironically enough even the embedded suggestion linking
inequality with quality in the comment cited above can get
totally diluted when certain approaches initiated by the state
choose to focus on the issue of inequality In such approaches
the interlinkage between different rights is erased through a
move that compartmentalises them Right to education for
instance is elaborated independently of the right to food
shelter work or dignity A narrow conception of the rights
discourse thus makes it possible for a government body to issue
remarks such as the following The guideline for curriculum and
syllabus revision prepared by Andhra Pradeshs State Council
for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the
National Curriculum Framework (2000) refers to the Strategy
Paper on Education prepared by the Department of School
Education which maintains ldquoThe basic premise of the State
Policy on Education needs special mention mdash parents are
willing to send their children to school which implies that we
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 111
need not wait for the elimination of poverty economic support to parents are of secondary importance as compared to motivation
and provision of adequate infrastructurerdquo (emphasis added)
This statement moreover is signaled as being the basic premise
of Andhra Pradeshs policy in relation to schooling Poverty and
education are thus not only extracted from their context but are
held up as separate problems for the state to deal with
Interestingly this statement issued by the SCERT seems to
coincide with Ambedkars emphasis on education and the
manner in which he prioritised education over poverty
Obviously though there are important differences between the
two statements Emphasising the need for education
Ambedkar states
Coming as I do from the lowest order of the Hindu society I
know what is the value of education The problem of raising the
lower order is deemed to be economic This is a great mistakehellip
The problem of the lower order in India is to remove from them
that inferiority complex which has stunted their growth and
made them slaves to others to create in them the
consciousness of the significance of their lives for themselves
and for the country of which they have been cruelly robbed by
the existing social order Nothing can achieve this except the
spread of higher education This in my opinion is the panacea of
our social troubles (cited in Velaskar 1998)
In contrast with SCERT which foregrounds education in
terms of lsquoadequate infrastructure Ambedkar seems to
emphasize that the content and quality of education would in
fact aid in addressing issues of inequality The discourse on
right to education as it has thus far developed though has not
yet adequately engaged with these critical issues relating to
content pedagogy and quality
Conclusion
The major thrust of our paper was to point to the fact that the
quality and inequality discourses function at different levels
and do not necessarily address concerns raised by one another
There is however an occasional convergence of the concerns of
quality and inequality We mentioned the recent exercise in
relation to developing NCF 2005 We need to build further on
these insights especially in a context where inequality is
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
112 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
growing and the pressure to articulate the parameters of quality
are increasing
While guidelines for quality as far as infrastructure is
concerned can be easily stipulated quality dimension for the
many other aspects of education especially curriculum
teacher training and pedagogy will have to be differently
reviewed within a framework that considers the present
standing of the community to which the child belongs the
predominant epistemology of that community the aims of
modern education the type of school and the evaluation
methods used (see Dhankar 2003 Talib 2003 Kumar and
Sarangapani 2004 Kumar 2007 for a consideration of some of
these aspects) Towards this end we also need to be attentive to
a range of questions such as How is the childs self addressed in
the context of schooling and education Does education help
children build and consolidate upon the many epistemologies
they are exposed to or are they being trivialised in the process of
reaching out for a standardised notion of quality
In our discussion of quality and inequality another issue
too needs to be taken into consideration which is that both
these notions are presently and predominantly understood in
economic terms Quality education is today largely understood
as that which will provide effective participation in the market
The deeper conceptual factors influencing quality of education
such as the nature of school knowledge and its relationship to
the learner are completely sidestepped (see Kumar 2004 for an
elaboration of this point) On the other hand inequality is
thought to be a function solely of economic deprivation Our
study however revealed that there are dimensions of inequality
other than economic ones While economic inequality does exist
among the different constituencies of the school going
population educational inequality does not directly follow from
the fact of economic inequality As the findings from our study
demonstrate it is the lack of cultural capital and supportive
mediating facilities that are among the major causes for the
children remaining educationally backward Efforts to provide
quality education therefore need to take these factors on board
The fact of existing inequality in our society necessitates
sharpening our understanding of the educational needs of
children from marginalised groups and of addressing upfront
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 113
the many dimensions of the quality issue so that effective
pedagogic as well as administrative models for schooling are
shaped by recognizing the link between conceptions of quality
and inequality
Notes
1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Seminar on
ldquoEducation and Inequality in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengalrdquo
held at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)
Hyderabad during September 21ndash22 2006 Discussions at the
conference as well as Jos Mooijs extensive feedback on the paper
helped us develop our arguments further We are grateful to Padma
Sarangapani for her comments on an earlier draft which helped us
clarify several aspects of our thinking We also thank the two
anonymous reviewers of this paper whose response was useful in
further refining our formulations
2For a very useful history of the notion of quality within education see
Kumar and Sarangapani (2004) The points made about quality in
this paper draw upon the history outlined by them and seeks to
build on it in order emphasize the present moment in India
3In the pre-Independence period the emphasis on relevance was
especially sharp in relation to the education of girls
GMChiplunkars work Scientific Basis of Womens Education
(1930) is a classic example that engages with the different levels of
concerns animating discussions in relation to what was relevant
for womens education during this period The debates about
indigenous education versus western education in this phase also
revolved around the question of relevance The conference held at
Wardha in 1937 is a landmark event in terms of focusing
discussions on the approaches to education that were most
relevant for India
4As a consequence of the overdetermining influence of this recent
context in which the term has become widespread several critical
reflections and studies on the question of quality have engaged
with the frameworks established by DPEP either to problematise it
or to develop parameters that are different from it For instance
Dhankar (2003) provides a detailed discussion and critique of
quality as understood within the DPEP discourse even as he
proposes an alternative frame within which quality could be
conceptualised Anitha (2005) suggests parameters through which
quality issues could be evaluated in the context of rural schools
The report by Save the Children (2007) specifically assesses
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
114 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
schools in Andhra Pradesh in order to demand minimum
standards of education
5The study by the PROBE team (1999) in fact managed to bridge
different levels of discussion impacting not just academic interest
in matters of schooling but policy level and popular-public
discussions as well
6In fact several debates in relation to the NCF 2005 document draw on
some of these experiments to validate their point See for instance
the articles by Paliwal and Subramaniam (2006) Saxena (2006)
and Batra (2006)
7The design of the BEd courses for instance testifies to the
standardisation of a certain conception of quality which derives
from the worldview of the middle class
8Given the common ground from which both discourses emerge the
disjuncture between them is striking While this aspect needs to be
examined and explained in some detail it is outside the scope of
this paper which only seeks to draw attention to the gap between
the two discourses
9Much of this information recorded in Telugu by the research
assistants was translated into English and a computerised data-
base was developed using specially designed software This
datandashbase is available at Anveshi for further research
10In a position paper on changing perspectives on early childhood and
their implications to research and policy Woodhead (2006) has
identified four different perspectives or paradigms about childhood
and acknowledged possible interactions and interdependencies
among them The four perspectives are (1) developmental (2)
economic political (3) social cultural and (4) human rights
Woodhead suggests that the relationship between theory and
research on the one hand and policy and practice on the other
differs depending on which one of these perspectives guides the
research
11One part of this potentially harrowing experience is brilliantly
captured in Kadeer Babus story ldquoThree Fourth Half Price Bajji
Bajjirdquo which is a part of the Different Tales series of childrens
storybooks that Anveshi brought out in 2009 The story which is
remarkable for masking the latent poignancy of the situation with
a witty rendering of it begins with the announcement of the
availability of textbooks for sale followed by the narrators
declaration ldquoI say the issue of textbooks does not concern us
because the mother and father who gave me birth hardly ever
bothered to buy me a new set of textbooks either in the Sixth or in
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 115
the Seventh Class I always had to make do with secondhand
textbooks Even now since there was no guarantee that they would
buy a new set of textbooks I thought mdash why dont I look out for
someone who has books that will be of use to merdquo
12Mohammad Talib (2003) too draws attention to a similar situation he
encountered in his study of children of construction workers in a
school in Delhi ldquoDuring the course of a casual conversation with a
workers child named Lalu I sought to motivate him to acquire
school education at least up to Class VIII mdash the minimum
qualification for certain statendashsponsored programmes The child a
student of Class V responded by pronouncing that he was
deficient in the proper aptitude (ruchi) necessary for acquiring
education of any kind On further probing as to who confirmed the
lack of the requisite aptitude for education in him the child politely
replied ldquoMy teachers have always told me sordquo He further clarified
ldquoThey told me that my head does not contain brain but bhoosa
(chaff) They said so because I did not understand the lessons in
the class Convinced of his lack of aptitude Lalu dropped out of
Class Vrdquo (p 200)
13Kabeer et al (2003) provides a timely and useful collection of articles
that engage with the subject of child rights in general and the right
to education in particular from different standpoints See also
Butler Laclau and Zizek (2000) for a nuanced consideration of the
pros and cons of the rights discourse
14Obviously then with reference to the example of the girl cited in the
previous section unlike mainstream educational theorists MVF
would definitely engage with her educational experience but
importantly it would be preceded by an effort to first change her
situation such that the work part of her life experience is
eliminated leaving only the part in which she attends school
References
Anitha B K (2005) Quality and the social context of rural schools
Contemporary Education Dialogue 3(1) 28ndash60
Anveshi (2003) Curricular transaction in selected government schools
in Andhra Pradesh Final report submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Mumbai Report available on wwwanveshiorg
Babu M K (2009) Three fourth half price bajji bajji In Untold school
stories Kottayam DC Books
Balagopalan S (2002) Constructing indigenous childhoods
Colonialism vocational education and the working child
Childhood 9(1) 19ndash34
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
116 Rekha Pappu and D Vasanta
Batra P (2006) Building on the National Curriculum Framework to
enable the agency of teachers Contemporary Education Dialogue 4
(1) 88ndash118
Bissel S (2003) The social construction of childhood A perspective
from Bangaladesh In N Kabeer G B Nambissan and R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Butler J Laclau E and Zizek S (2000) Contingency hegemony
universality Contemporary dialogues on the left London Verso
Chiplunkar G M (1930) Scientific basis of womens education Poona
SBHudilkar
Dhankar R (2003) The notion of quality in DPEP pedagogical
interventions Education Dialogue 1(1) 5ndash34
Government of India (1993) Learning without burden Report of the
National Advisory Committee (Yashpal Committee Report) New
Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Government of Andhra Pradesh (2000) New English Reader 3 (Class
VII) Hydrabad Government of Andhra Pradesh
Holland P (1986) What is a child In P Holland J Spence amp SWatney
(Eds) Photography and politics (Vol II) London Comedia
Publishing Group
Kabeer N Nambissan G B amp Subrahmanian R (Eds) (2003) Child
labour and the right to education in South Asia Needs versus rights
New Delhi Sage Publications
Kumar K (2004) Educational quality and the new economic regime In
A Vaugier-Chatterjee (Ed) Education and democracy in India
New Delhi Manohar publishers and distributors
Kumar K amp Sarangapani P (2004) History of the quality debate
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 30ndash52
Kumar M amp Sarangapani P (2005) Improving government schools
What has been tried and what works Bangalore Books for
Change
Kumar N (2007) The politics of gender community and modernity
Essays on education in India New Delhi Oxford University Press
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
(2005) National Curriculum Framework 2005 New Delhi National
Council for Education Research and Training
_________ (2000) National Curriculum Framework for School Education
2000 New Delhi National Council for Education Research and
Training
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-
Educational Quality and Social Inequality Reflecting on the Link 117
Paliwal R amp Subramaniam C N (2006) Contextualising the
curriculum Contemporary Education Dialogue 4(1) 25ndash 51
Pappu R (Ed) (2005) Rethinking priorities Making policies as if
people matter Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Social Watch
PROBE (1999) Public report on basic education New Delhi Oxford
University Press
Raina V (2009) Right to Education Seminar 593 87ndash 91
Sadgopal A (2008) Education bill Dismantling Rights Financial
Express Posted 2008ndash11ndash09 httpwwwfinancialexpresscom
newseducation-bill-dismantling-rights3831770
Sarangapani P (2003) Childhood and schooling in an Indian village
Childhood 10(4) 403ndash418
Save the Children (2007) Where are schools going Setting minimum
standards for quality education in schools of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad Save the Children
Saxena S (2006) Questions of epistemology Re-evaluating
constructivism and the NCF 2005 Contemporary Education
Dialogue 4(1) 52ndash71
Talib M (2003) Modes of learning mdash labour Relation Educational
strategies and child labour In N Kabeer G BNambissan amp R
Subrahmanian (Eds) Child labour and the right to education in
South Asia Needs versus rights New Delhi Sage Publications
Vasanta D (2004) Childhood work and schooling Some reflections
Contemporary Education Dialogue 2(1) 5ndash29
Velaskar P (1998) Ideology education and the political struggle for
liberation Change and challenge among the dalits of Maharasthra
In S Shukla amp R Kaul (Eds) Education development and
underdevelopment (pp 210ndash240) New Delhi Sage
_______ (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood theory
research and policy Background paper for the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report 2007 (available on httpunescodoc
unescoorgimages0014001474147499epdf)
Woodhead M (2006) Changing perspectives on early childhood
Theory research and policy Paper commissioned for the EFA
Global monitoring report 2007 titled Strong foundations early
childhood care and education
at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 10 2016cedsagepubcomDownloaded from
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
-