Jliti10snpitv in ~buration - Institute for Social and Economic Change

educational participation of the labour strata In the
rural communities. The above study was based on
household as the unit of analysis and the household data
was aggregated across villages. Some of the other
studies have shown existence of inter-caste, inter-state
or inter-regional disparities in access to educatIon
with respect to SCs (Acharya 1982; Chitnis 1981; D'Souza
1980).
Acharya (1982) in his study "Education and
Agrarian Relations: A Study of Four Villages in West
Bengal" had the following objectives: (i) to study the
nature and extent of non-participation, and ( i i ) to
identify structural, attitudinal and motIvatIonal
factors for non-participation of the weaker s.ctions of
rural community in the educational programme.
The maIn
findings of the study were that literacy and enrolment
declined steeply with the hierarchical order of the
rural socIety. Of the 55.83 per cent of non-enrolled
chIldren in the age group 6-16, 25.17 per cent
belonged
to agricultural labourers, poor peasants and lower
middle peasant families.
The participation of the lower
classes of the agrarian society, in the process of
organisation of education for the area was
negligible.
Most respondents from the higher strata opposed the
introduction of universalisation of elementary educatIon
(UEE) even though their children registered a higher
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