INTRODUCTION:

The caste system is one of the most important characteristics of Indian society. Hindu Indian society is divided mainly into four castes i.e Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra. The sudra, are in the lowest strata in the society deprived socially and educationally throughout history (Bhuimali, 2007)². After the independence of India, the constitution made some special provisions by reserving seats in educational institutions and jobs to uplift their socio-economic status and to narrow down the deprivation gap with the higher caste (Biswas and Roy, 2014)¹.

The literacy rate of the Scheduled Caste people in West Bengal has increased from 13.38% in 1961 to 69.93% in 2011. Due to this increased literacy rate, people are more aware to send their children to school as a result the enrolment rate at various educational levels has also been increased. Despite all the steps taken for educational development, some students of these communities are still left behind (Chatterjee, 2008)³.

OBJECTIVES:

The major objectives of the study are

1) To analyze the spatial pattern of dropouts at the different educational levels at school education

2) To find out the causes of dropout at the various educational levels

3) To examine the various steps of the government to reduce the dropout rate

MATERIALS AND METHOD:

The study is purely based on the secondary data which has been collected and calculated from District Information of School Reports, 2016-17, documents like Census of India and Statistical Abstract of West Bengal. To analyze the data, thematic maps and line graphs have been used. Thematic maps have been prepared by using the QGIS software.

Study Area:

West Bengal, the fourth most populous state in India, is located in the eastern part and shares borders with neighbor’s countries Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and with an area of 88752 km². The Latitudinal and Longitudinal extensions of the state are 21̊ 38́ N to 27̊ 10́ N and 58̊ 50́ E to 89̊ 50́E.

The total population of West Bengal is 91,276,115 of which 21,463,270 belong to Scheduled Caste. The concentration of the SC population is much higher than India's average. 23.5 percent population of the state belongs to this Scheduled Caste community.

Enrolment Status of Scheduled Caste Students at Various Educational Levels:

District Information of School Report (DISE) report of 2016-17 indicates that Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the primary level was 103.75%, 105.20% in upper primary, 86.75% in secondary and 51.49% in the higher secondary level. GER is over 110% in the district of Malda, Paschim Medinipur, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and Kolkata. Kolkata (154%), Paschim Medinipur (106%) and Bankura (103%) show higher GER at the upper primary level but the district like Jalpaiguri, Murshidabad, Uttar Dinajpur and Birbhum is still behind. Kolkata, Nadia and North 24 Parganas show higher GER at secondary and higher secondary levels but Birbhum, Murshidabd, Bankura are still well behind in this regard.

Temporal Variation of Dropout Rates in Various Educational Levels:

Fig. 2 indicates that the dropout rate at the primary level was 4.2% in 2013-14 which has increased to 8.78% in 2016-17. Parents are very eager to send their children at this age and they cannot be engaged in any types of economic activities.

The dropout rate in the upper primary level was 4.14% in 2013-14 and remains constant for the next three consecutive years but radically increased to 11.36% in 2016-17 (Fig. 3). Parents are not so much taken care of in their daily educational activities and they are fit to engage as child labour. DISE data also reveals that the dropout rate among the Scheduled Caste population is higher at the secondary level. It was 18.48% in 2013-14 which has alarmingly increased to 32.17% in 2016-17 (Fig. 4). Lack of interest in studies, unable to cope with different types of adolescent problems and child marriage certainly increased the dropout rate.

Many of the students also permanently engaged in various types of economic activities to support their families. The dropout rate is slightly lower in higher secondary levels than the secondary level but the situation is not satisfactory as the rate has increased from 6.75% in 2013-14 to 17.08% in 2016-17 (Fig. 5). Difficulties in the study and poor economic conditions trigger the dropout rate at this level.

Spatial Variation of Dropout Rate:

There is a huge spatial variation in terms of dropout rate among the Scheduled Caste pupil. The concentration of Scheduled Caste population is observed higher in the rural areas than the urban and hence the dropout rate also follows the pattern. It is observed from figure 6 that Murshidabad has the highest dropout rate in primary education followed by Darjiling. The dropout is within 10-15% in the district of North and South 24 Parganas and Uttar Dinajpur. The district of West Bengal has 5-10% except for Bankura. The lack of infrastructural facilities, poverty and underdevelopment is the major cause of such a high rate of dropout rate in these districts.

The spatial distribution of the dropout rate is observed in fig. 7 and found that the rate of dropout is above 16% in the district of Murshidabad, Birbhum and Darjiling. The dropout rate of South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hugli, Paschim Medinipur and Maldah is between 12-16%. The dropout rate at the upper primary level is relatively low i.e. below 8% in the district of Koch Bihar and Bankura. Poor economic condition and the migration for work to the other district is the major causes of the high dropout rate.

The dropout rate of Scheduled Caste students is observed very high at the secondary level. The dropout rate is above 40% in the districts of Birbhum, Murshidabad, and Hugli (Fig. 8). The dropout rate is between 35-35% in the districts of South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Maldah, Dakshin Dinajpur and the three districts of north Bengal i.e. Darjiling, Jalpaiguri, and Koch Bihar. Nadia and North 24 Parganas have a relatively low dropout rate at the secondary level.

These districts have less than a 25% dropout rate among the Scheduled Caste students. These two districts are mainly inhabited by the Namasudra and Poundra communities. The literacy rate of this community is very high. As a result, parents are conscious of their children's education.

The distributional pattern of Scheduled Caste dropout rate at higher secondary levels shows that Murshidabad, South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur have the highest dropout rate in this regard (Fig. 9). The parents of these districts migrate to the state like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and

Maharashtra for work and take their children with them who are studying in the higher secondary level. The dropout rate is observed between 20-25% in districts like Paschim Medinipur, Birbhum, Darjiling, Jalpaiguri. The student of North Bengal drops out at the higher secondary level as they engaged in the tourism industry to help their family. The dropout rate is observed relatively low in districts like Bankura, Puruliya, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, and Uttar Dinajpur.

Major Causes of Dropout:

National Sample Survey Organization (2010) has found some reasons of drop out.

1) Poor Economic Condition: The 2011 census report shows that 35.17% of Scheduled Caste students are engaged as an agricultural laborer and 17% as a cultivator. It is clear that more than 50% population is engaged with traditional and menial work. As a result, most household has low family income. After meeting all the daily livelihood expenses, they have nothing to expense on their children’s education. An educational expense is burdensome to some parents(Ghara, 2020)⁶. Due to this poor economic condition majority of the Scheduled Caste students drops out in the midst of their study.

2) Have to work to Help Families: During the secondary and higher secondary when most of the students are capable of working drop out to help their families. Apart from that parents discourage to continue the study who are poor study.

3) Parent’s Attitude: It is found from the census 2011 that the literacy rate among the Scheduled Caste students is 69.43% in West Bengal. Among the literate Scheduled Caste, 62.37% are literate up to primary education, only 3.55% literate with graduation and above. As most of the parents are not well educated they are not aware of the impact of education and they are unable to motivate their children to continue higher education.

4) Poor in the Study: RTE Act (2009) has legalized free and compulsory education till class VIII but after that school takes test according to their norms and most of the students fails to clear that test and the failed students lost the encouragement to continue their study.

5) Child Marriage: Child marriage is very much prevalent among the rural Scheduled Caste (Rana,2009)¹². The lack of consciousness about child marriage among the Scheduled Caste parents leads high dropout rate among the girls at the secondary and higher secondary level.

6) Poor Infrastructural Facilities at the School: It is observed that still in many schools, there is no separate toilet for the boys and girls. As a result, girls feel shy to attend school.

7) Location of the School: Sometimes the remote and distance of the school act as impediments to the girl's child attending the school. Due to the distance, parents are reluctant to send their children to school.

Various Governmental Initiatives to Decrease the Dropout Rate:

It is true that dropout is a problem in achieving Universal Elementary Education. Drop out are observed in the various states of India. but the dropout rate is relatively very high among the rural Scheduled Caste students. The Central and State Government has taken various initiatives to decrease the dropout rate at different educational levels.

1) Mid Day Meal: Central Government has introduced the Mid Day Meal scheme in 1995 for students up to class VIII. The survey of Pratichi Trust¹¹ (2013) found that Mid Day Meal scheme has lowered the dropout rate and increased the enrolment rate. The rural Scheduled Caste students mainly come to school to take food during mid day.

2) Distribution of Educational Materials:

a) Book Distribution: The government of West Bengal has launched free book distribution to all the students. The students who study in classes I to VIII will get all the all textbooks free of cost. Some books were also distributed among the classes IX to XII free of cost. Apart from that, the student also gets free exercise books.

b) Dress Distribution: Government also provides Rs 600 to each of the students to buy dress up to class VIII.

3) Scholarship Schemes:

a) Sikhashree: The Backward Class Welfare Department of the Government of West Bengal provides each of the Scheduled Caste students who studying from class V to VIII with Rs 800, so that they can buy their educational materials.

b) Pre-matric Scholarship for the SC Students Studying in class IX-X: Pre-Matric scholarship scheme for the SC student studying in class IX-X was initiated by the Backward Class Welfare Department of the West Bengal This scheme provides financial assistance as 150 for day scholars and 750 for hosteller per month for ten months, besides that there is the provision of an additional 750 and 1000 per annum for day scholar and hosteller as a book and ad hoc grant.

c) Merit Scholarship Scheme for Students Reading in Class V-X and IX-XII: Merit scholarship for the class V-X is purely for the SC girls’ students. The rate of scholarship is different for the different classes such as V-VI-100 per month, VII-VIII-125 per month and IX-X-150 per month and Class XI-XII is RS 400 per month as financial assistance through this scheme.

d) Ashram Hostel: The ashram hostels are set up by the Backward Class Welfare Department both for the Scheduled Caste boys and girls. These hostels are for the students reading in class I-X. Financial assistance is provided for Rs750 per month as maintenance cost and besides this cot, bedrolls, garments soap are given to each SC student.

4) Kanyashree Prakalpa: Under this scheme, the students of classes VIII to XII will get Rs 1000 per annum. After passing the class XII Exam, unmarried female students are entitled to get Rs 25000 at a time. This scheme is very popular among the Scheduled Caste female students. This scheme has an impact on reducing the dropout rate and increasing the enrolment of female students.

5) Role of Para teacher: The government has assigned the duty to each of the para teachers of the government school to visit the house of the dropout students every Saturday and encourage their parents to send their children to the school.

CONCLUSION:

The RTE Act has made education free and compulsory till the age of 14. Universal Access, Universal enrolment and Universal retention are the main base of the Universalization of Elementary Education. But the dropout rate is a major impediment to achieving the Universalization of Elementary education (Chaudhury, 2006)⁵. The drop rate among the Scheduled Caste students is high at the secondary and higher secondary level in comparison to the primary and upper primary levels. The government has taken various steps to reduce the dropout rate and as a result dropout rate has lowered at different educational levels. The various initiatives and the growing awareness have reduced the dropout rate at different educational levels but still, the zero dropout rates have not been possible to achieve. The Government of West Bengal has prepared the textbook in a simplified manner so that students can learn through enjoyment. The awareness of parents, civil society and the active role of school can make all the students as responsible citizens of our country.

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Received on 27.05.2022 Modified on 10.06.2022

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2022;13(2):85-90.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5828.2022.00014