As soon as her Hindi teacher announced a group quiz in class one day, fear gripped the 15-year-old girl hiding in the back benches at a private school in the South. DelhiAs other students gathered in groups of friends, she stood alone in a corner – knowing that the teacher would have to include her in a group.
“No one chose me. “I sat in a circle with a group, and gave a book to a classmate, who said, ‘Who the hell got my book,'” recalled the 15-year-old. Months later she cried in class over this comment.
Born in an unauthorized colony in South Delhi, the girl grew up seeing her family struggling with money. With dreams of a better future in his eyes, his father enrolled him in a private school 300 meters away from the slum under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota. “My parents put me here thinking it was a famous private school that is now accessible to the poor… but I hate it here. No one talks to me because I am from a slum,” Kishore said on a cold December evening.
Her friend, a 14-year-old student from another prestigious school in south Delhi, is shocked by the revelation. When she consoled her friend sitting next to her at the tuition centre, she shared her completely different experience. “I also got admission in school under this ews quotaOur father is a driver and there is not much money at home. But I never faced any discrimination in school. The teachers are supportive and encouraging. I’m like any other student there… I can’t connect with my friend, but I feel sorry for him,” she said.
She said her friends did not know where she lived or what her father did for a living. “I go to school in a van, they don’t know I live here. Maybe if they came to know, they would treat me the same way. But I can always complain about this to my teachers. They’ll set them straight,” he said confidently.
Between the experiences of these two teenagers hangs a mixed bag of consequences from one of India’s most significant educational reforms – the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which provides for “free and compulsory education for all children aged six to 14 years.” ” has been called for. ” and ordered that 25% seats in private, unaided schools will be reserved for children from the Economically Weaker Section (EWS).
Since its inception, Delhi-based lawyer and activist Ashok Aggarwal has seen the system falter and then slowly evolve. He said, cases of discrimination have reduced but have not ended.
“Till a few years ago, cases of rampant discrimination were more common in private schools. Now, the nature of complaints is different. In the past, there were complaints by parents about EWS quota students being made to sit in separate classes or being forced to wear different uniforms. The schools will motivate the parents of general category students to raise their voice against the inclusion of EWS quota students in classes. The situation has become better now,” he said.
“There are still cases of bheda bhaav (discrimination), but now the most common complaints are about schools not providing books and uniforms to EWS category students, as is mandatory,” Agarwal said. He said the reason behind the apparent change is the important role played by the courts in uprooting schools.
However, for a 15-year-old, that’s little consolation. She has two friends in school – both from the EWS category – and on days when both of them are absent, school becomes unbearable. “Teachers do not let us easily participate in annual functions or any school assembly programme. If I ask for an extra pencil my classmates will not give it to me. They are children from big families, why would they share anything with me? (They are rich kids, why would they share anything with me?” she said. “Bahut dukh hota hota hai (I feel very sad)).”
slowly getting better
Living in the same tuition center with two teenagers, a 12-year-old boy in Class 7 said that his biggest lesson from staying in a private school in an affluent neighborhood for eight years was to always complete his homework before going to school. And avoid it. Getting into a fight with a student.
“If a rich kid beats a kid from a poor family, the teachers don’t say anything. But if a poor child beats a child from a rich family, we get punished,” he said. “Is this discrimination?”
A former teacher at Vasant Valley School, who worked there for over two decades, said that while sensitization workshops for teachers can be helpful, the need of the hour is to initiate a dialogue among private schools across the city. Schools that are better at running inclusive classes can tell other schools about the tools and methods they have implemented. “Conferences on this can help us all learn and learn from each other. When the EWS quota was implemented, there were only three-four children in this category, and they stood out. But once the numbers increased it got better. The numbers help,” she said.
Advocate and activist Khagesh Jha agreed.
“It started as an experiment in 2004. At that time, the number of EWS quota students was very less. They faced harassment and ostracism. Once it was made mandatory that 25% seats had to be kept aside after 2009, the numbers increased and we saw that the cases of discrimination were reducing.
But problems remain. This winter, the parents of a six-year-old EWS student at a school in East Delhi could not get him a winter jacket with his uniform. “The school refused to give him a uniform, so we had to buy it. we spent Spent $2,000 on clothes including sweaters, but were unable to buy jackets; it was for another 2,000,” said the child’s 52-year-old grandmother, who fought hard to get him admitted to a private school.
His son is the sole breadwinner and earns 9,000 per month as an assistant at a shop. The grandmother said, “This expenditure on books and uniforms is a big blow… The school keeps telling us that they don’t have money right now and that someday we will be compensated.”
Jyoti Kukreja Sehgal, field coordinator of Joint Operation for Social Help (JOSH), an organization that works with urban poor communities in Trilokpuri and Kalyanpuri, said the wait for compensation is often as long as five-six years.
“We have come across cases where schools have made similar promises, but the child has now been in school for five years or more, and the parents have not been given any money or the amount is less than the promise. Many parents are willing to give up this EWS quota in private schools only because they know that apart from tuition fees, books and uniforms will also be paid for,” Sehgal said.
institutional hand-out
Textbooks supplied by schools are another problem. Most are dog-eared, torn and bearing old pencil and pen marks, students said. “This may make children feel embarrassed. It is an identifier in many ways. Parents have no option, so they convince their children to use them, but it is these things that sting them,” Sehgal said.
The 15-year-old girl said she faced a lot of embarrassing moments in school. “The school organizes picnics and outings… I also want to go but I can’t because sometimes the expense of outings is more than my father earns. My classmates come back with stories and friendships,” she said.
Shweta Verma, a counselor at The Heritage School in Gurugram, said the government needs to ensure that schools are equipped with strong mental health programs. “Just building infrastructure and talking about inclusivity is not enough. Schools, teachers and staff members should follow an ethos of inclusivity. Buddy systems in classrooms can be very helpful, and of course, regular sensitization workshops for teachers, parents and children.
The situation is gradually improving. Agarwal said students who graduated from private schools four or five years ago faced more difficulties in the classroom as they could be easily identified as those seeking admission through the EWS quota.
“Earlier, we had seen some cases of schools adding the letter ‘N’ in brackets in the name badges of EWS category students. But once the courts took a tough stance on schools, they had no choice but to end the practice. The nature of the complaints we receive from parents and students tells us that things are getting better,” he said.
But for some EWS students, they are not improving fast enough.
A few months ago, at the beginning of the new session, when a 13-year-old boy – an EWS quota student at a private school in East Delhi – came home, he angrily told his mother to quickly buy the books he needed. School. “I will never forget this moment. My son, who is in class 7, told me that his teacher said, ‘you guys want everything for free (You guys want everything for free)’ in front of other students. I calmed him down, and bought books,” said his 40-year-old mother, who lives in an east Delhi slum.
The six-year-old student’s grandmother agreed. She recalled how during a recent parent-teacher meeting, teachers at her private school had gathered all the parents of EWS students in one room, while parents of other students were given individual time and feedback from the teacher. Was found. “They have decided that our children will grow up to be nothing, so they don’t want to waste their time on them or on us,” he said.
