EDUCATION AND CONCERN FOR THE MARGINALIZED
Keywords:
Marginalized, Education, India, Child labour, All-round Formation, Human Person, Social Responsibility, Culture, Educative Community, Spiritual Dimension, Politicization, Academic Climate, CommercializationAbstract
There are a few stunning bits of information on education in India that will put the entire matter under discussion in a proper perspective: About half of India’s children between ages six and fourteen (82.2 million) are not in school. They stay at home to care for cattle, tend younger children, collect firewood, or work in the fields, tea stalls, or restaurants. India has approximately half of world’s illiterates. Most children who start school drop out. Child labour in India number from 13.6 million to 44 million or more. Many countries in Africa, with income levels lower than India, have expanded mass education with impressive increase in literacy. Among the groups who get little and low quality education are dalits and tribals. Only 1% of the girls in villages who go to school move up to class XII.
References
Myron Weiner, The Child and the State in India: Child Labour and Education Policy in Comparative Perspective, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990, 3, 13, 16.
Weiner, The Child and the State in India, 3. Madhavrao Scindia said in 1995 that 77% of the tribal students dropped out (Times of India, 1.4.95).
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“The Catholic School at the Threshold of the Third Millennium” (1997).
“Consecrated Persons and Their Mission in Education” (2002).
Abraham Vettical, The Catholic School: A Labour of Love, New Delhi: The CBCI Commission for Education, 2006.
“A Myth-Challenging School in India,” http://www.psg.us/resources/ccmyth challenge.html [30 May 2006].
