Caste Discrimination against India's “Untouchables” - Human Rights ...

Additionally, Dalit children are often subjected to corporal punishment by their teachers. As
the Special Rapporteur on the right to education noted in his report before the 67 th session
of the then-Commission on Human Rights, “teachers have been known to declare that Dalit
pupils ‘cannot learn unless they are beaten.’” 415 These practices serve to discourage and
alienate Dalit children, contributing to their high drop-out rates. 416 Even more perniciously
such practices serve to instill and reinforce Dalit children’s sense of inferiority, erode their
sense of personal dignity and force them to internalize caste distinctions. 417
b. Low enrollment and high drop-out rates of Dalit students
As a result of their discriminatory treatment, large numbers of Dalit children drop out of
school, especially in the early elementary stages. Though the Committee has made clear
that States Parties should “[r]educe school drop-out rates for children of all communities, in
particular for children of affected communities, with special attention to the situation of
girls,” 418 the statistics for the enrollment of Dalit children, especially girls, are a cause for
distress. According to the 2002 India Education Report, school attendance in rural areas in
1993-1994 was 64.3 percent for Dalit boys and 46.2 percent for Dalit girls, compared to 74.9
percent among boys and 61 percent for girls from other social groups. 419 According to a
2001-2002 report prepared by the Indian government, “the drop-out rate in Scheduled
Castes during 1990-91 was as high as 49.35 percent at primary stage and 67.77 percent at
middle stage and 77.65 percent at secondary stage.” 420 The statistics for higher education
are no less alarming—the same government report states that enrollment of Dalit students
415
The Special Rapporteur on education also noted, “Other studies have documented absenteeism, irregular attendance and negligence
by teachers, who have in addition used Dalit and Adivasi children to do work for them, corporal punishment and fear of teachers - one
reason cited by parents for not sending their children to school.” Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the right to education,
Mr. V. Muñoz Villalobos, February 8, 2006 (62nd CHR session) E/CN.4/2006/45, paras. 84-85.
416
NCDHR response to the Special Rapporteur’s Questionnaire, p. 10. A study of Dalit schoolchildren in Rajasthan revealed that fear of
teachers as well as corporal punishments are factors that parents (especially of Dalit children) cite as constraining regular school
attendance. Mona Jabbi and C. Rajyalakshmi, “Education of Marginalized Social Groups in Bihar,” in A. Vaidynathan and P.R. Gopinathan
Nair (Eds.), Elementary Education in Rural India: A Grassroots View, Sage Publication, New Delhi, 2001.
417
“Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for Dalits in India: Case Study on Primary Education in Gujarat,” Woodrow Wilson School of
Public and International Affairs, pp. 15-17.
418
CERD General Comment XXIX - Article 1(1) regarding descent, para. 45.
419
“Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for Dalits in India: Case Study on Primary Education in Gujarat,” Woodrow Wilson School of
Public and International Affairs, p. 14 (citing India Education Report -- A profile of Basic Education, Ed. by R. Govinda, Publishers: Oxford
University Press, Delhi. March 2002).
420
NCDHR Response to the Special Rapporteur’s Questionnaire, p. 10 (citing Report, National Commission for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes, pp. 151-183, Government of India, New Delhi, 1999-2000 & 2000-2001).
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