Equity in School Water and Sanitation

EQUITY IN SCHOOL WATER AND SANITATIONget priority; they may extend this privilege todominant caste children, but not to Dalit children.It is also seen that in the list of errands done bythe children in schools, fetching water for teachersis routinely not entrusted to Dalit children. In manyof the villages, when the water sources arecommon, Dalit children have to wait for their waterpots to be filled (UNICEF, 2007:14).In the last five years, the midday meal hasemerged as another area of exclusion. Apart fromnumerous newspaper reports, recent researchpoints out that, ‘In measuring Dalit participatoryempowerment in and ownership of the MiddayMeal Scheme, the IIDS survey data unearthsinteresting patterns both in terms of national trendsand interstate variations. In hiring practices,Rajasthan is consistently the least likely to employDalits, with 8% of respondent villages having aDalit cook, and not a single respondent villagehaving a Dalit Midday Meal Scheme organizer.Tamil Nadu hires proportionally more Dalits, whilestill keeping them firmly in the minority, with 31%of respondent villages having Dalit cooks, and 27%having Dalit organizers’ … ‘One argument againsthiring Dalit cooks is that where the society is notprepared to accept a shared meal cooked by aDalit, it will “create tension”, schools will beparalysed and (dominant caste) children’sattendance will drop, thus defeating the purposeof the midday meal. In terms of treatment of Dalitsin the MDM scheme, research has found severalinstances of segregated seating, or segregatedmeals altogether, and even of being served foodinferior to or in lesser amounts than their dominantcaste classmates’ (Lee and Thorat, 2004).Teachers and school principals have beencommonly found to discriminate against Dalitchildren. Recently, an incident in a schoolsnowballed into a human rights issue. On 18December 2008, six Class 8 Dalit girl students inthe private Jyoti Shiksha Niketan in Tejapur villagein Mau district of UP accused their upper casteschool principal of refusing to taste the food thatthey had cooked for their home science practicalexaminations. It was learnt that the principalrefused to eat the food cooked by the Dalit studentsBox 1 Caste-based exclusion in schoolsWe have an appalling body of evidence thatsuggests that the teacher’s preconceptions, biasand behaviour, subtle or overt, conscious orunconscious, operate to discriminate againstchildren of SC/ST backgrounds. Lowexpectations, condescending and downrightabusive, unstated assumptions of ‘deprived ordeficient’ cultural backgrounds, languages andinherent intellectual deficiencies of SC/STchildren and other discriminatory classificationsare common and routine. Discriminationincluding being made to perform menial jobs likesweeping, and being forced to form their owncircles, results in the feeling of isolation,alienation and discrimination experienced by SC/ST children.Source: UNICEF (2007)when they offered it to him. Nearly 40 studentswere asked to bring cooked food from their homes.The teachers were to taste the food for giving themmarks in the subject (theindian.com, 18 December2008). 8It is important to acknowledge that exclusion couldalso be subtle and not discernible in routineclassroom observations or during school-levelinteractions. For example, the teacher may nottouch or encourage any physical contact withchildren from specific communities and otherchildren may move away and sit at a distance fromthese children. In case a child from an excludedgroup touches the water pot or tap, the otherchildren may either not touch or use it, or maywash it before using it; the teacher may allocateduties (like cleaning the room, washing the toilet,bringing water, etc.) differentially. For instance, aDalit child may be asked to clean the room whilea forward caste 9 child may be asked to fetch water.Such practices affect the self-image and selfesteemof excluded children leading to withdrawalfrom classroom processes, from activeengagement with learning, and gradually droppingout.8The principal has been charged with practising discrimination and the police and education authorities are jointly investigatingthe case.9Forward castes include Brahmins, Thakurs and Vaishs, as well as some minority religious groups such as Jains.8