Rethinking Assumptions...

The following piece was conceptualized and written by the Project Team of the 'Quality Improvement in Madrasahs' Project. The team comprising Babita, Soma, Saurabhi, Shyamalima and Aparajeeta visited one of the Madrasahs in thier project called the 'Talpukur Ara High Madrasah'. Here they had proposed to carry out a series of interviews and classroom observations in order to reaffirm their problematic on Gender inequity in Madrasahs. However, in course of their study, they saw a lot of their preconceived ideas and notions being exploded that set them to rethink their assumptions. What they find instead in the Madrasahs, how they revised their hypothesis and what they feel about their experience is captured in their write up...

Talpukur Ara High Madrasah–

Talpukur Ara High Madrasah
Madrasah Board Examination
No. of Boys appeared: 12
No. of Girls appeared: 21

The above information compelled us to change our objective of visiting Talpukur Ara High Madrasah. We, a team of 5, went to this Madrasah to capture the scenario of girls’ education in a co-educational Madrasah. Before commencing the study we assumed that the girls are somewhat neglected in a conservative community. As we were climbing the staircase and walking through the narrow corridors leading to the classroom we discussed amongst ourselves that the ratio of male: female teacher of this school (10:1) is strengthening our belief regarding girls’ education.

Keeping all these things in mind we purposefully chose to observe the class of a male and a female teacher seperately. Likewise we divided into two groups and went to class VII and VIII. As we expected in both the classes we found that the children were divided in two groups, the boys were sitting on one side and the girls were sitting on the other. Though the attendance of the girls was much higher than the boys and there was enough space in the classroom yet the girls were seated in a congested way in a single row. In class VII the female teacher was reading a text from Bengali in an almost inaudible voice. She continued to sit in her chair and the children sitting at the back benches were not following the lesson and whispering among themselves. She raised questions and answered them herself without giving the children a chance to think about the questions. The picture was same in Class VIII where the male teacher was teaching a History lesson. He first read the lesson and then wrote the questions and answers all by himself on the blackboard. Only the girls were copying the question answers from the blackboard. In both the cases the teachers had no eye contact with the children and were not addressing the children by their names. While walking through the corridor we peeped into a class where a teacher was teaching Arabic. Here a girl student was distributing the copies of the girls and the teacher himself was distributing the copies of boys. Later he went from child to child asking questions and punishing incorrect answers by hitting the children on their palms with the duster.

Five of us gathered in the corridor and had a discussion regarding the attendance of the classes that we observed. Surprisingly we found that the attendance of the children is very low. Less than half of the enrolled children were present on that Wednesday. The attendance of the girls was higher than that of the boys. We spoke to the teachers as well as the children to find the reason behind this. We came to know that Wednesday is the day when the local bourse where the weekly garment traders buy and sale their materials.

“We cannot afford to attend the school on Wednesday. We have to help our father in trade so that we get a good price of the labour that we have put in during the rest of the week” said Rabi ul Haq of Class V.
At that moment a question arose in our mind. Can we find any pattern in the attendance of the students of the school? We decided to collect the data on attendance and were a little taken aback to find that the percentage of enrolment of the boys had


decreased from Class V to VIII. We also found that in Class V the percentage of boys (45.0%) passing in the Annual examination was 10% less than that of girls (54.9%)whereas in Class VIII the percentage of boys passing Annual examination decreased to half (33.3% ) when compared to that of girls (66.6%). Observing the data we thought that the condition of girls’ in this Madrasah was better than that of the boys. We conversed with the girls and the boys and came to know that even though the girls do better in the Madrasah Board Examination yet they are unable to go to the Higher Secondary school which is a mere kilometer away because their parents fear for their safety and are reluctant to send their girls for higher education. The parents feel that it is safe to marry their girl child after they have completed their secondary examination. They think that by marrying them off they become free from the responsibility.

Afsana Khatun of Class IX said, “I want to study further but my father says that it is of no use because eventually I have to get married and look after my family”.
The parents’ fear for the safety of the girls also echoed in the voice of Mamuni Khatun of Class IX who said “We feel very harassed on our way to school because the young boys of this area are constantly passing comments while we walk down the street”.
When we interviewed the teachers we found that this matter of safety for the girls’ was also a concern area for them. “We have separate events for boys and girls. During the sports meet girls are not allowed to participate in the outdoor events. They are not even allowed to go to watch the outdoor games,” said Sharmila Mondol, Assistant Teacher.

The final bell rang. The students came pouring out of the school gate and ran through the narrow lanes which was lined on both sides with small, dingy shops piled with bales of thread and fabric. We came out of Talpukur Ara High Madrasah. As we walked we saw the houses closely stacked together. Piles of garbage stacked here and there and open drainage system by the side of the narrow lanes created obstacles in our way. After walking for about 15 minutes or so at last we came out on the main road. The picture by the side of the road clearly reveals that this area i.e. Metiaburuz is not only a centre for trade of readymade garments but also it is the only livelihood for most of the people residing here.

We boarded on a car and moved towards our destination. We all were very silent. A lot of questions were swarming in our minds. In Madrasah Quality Improvement Project we are working in 10 Laboratory Madrasahs where the primary areas of intervention have been the development of remedial teaching strategies and materials, teacher development, changes in school culture and environment and we have completed nearly 2 years in those Madrasahs. Talpukur Ara High Madrasah is one of them. The 10 Madrasahs are located in different areas with different socio-economic and cultural background. Whether a uniform academic strategy for quality improvement can bring the desired changes? Without understanding the need of the community, the school, the teachers as well as the students can we intervene in the quality aspect of the Madrasah? If so, will it sustain at all?

Looking back at my childhood...

Sarbani, is a member of the Naba Disha Project which works with underprivileged children, in an attempt to mainstream them into formal schools and the mainstream society at large. During her remeniscences, Sarbani recalled her own childhood and looked back at her life in Jamshedpur , her shift to Calcutta, her family and experiences. Interestingly, she recollects some incidents from her school life that are etched onto her memory...These incidents and her reflections on them made us all think about the nature of the memories and events that remain engraved in our minds as children that stay with us even after years pass...

Sarbani Das


‘Child is the Father of a Nation’- a famous statement made by William Wordsworth, haunted my mother before my birth. My mother, an offspring of a Brahmin Pundit and an early 20th century homemaker had been a protagonist since childhood. The Partition had made her rootless along with her family. She lost her father and continued her studies amidst poverty with sheer will power and determination. At an early age she took up a government job and continued her higher education. Though she took up the responsibility to run the family, preference in all matters being given to her brother made her constantly restless. At this point of time she came across this statement from Wordsworth and started wondering “why ‘father’ of the nation? Why not ‘mother’?” She was not a die hard feminist ever, but she always believed in the equality of men and women.

Mt father on the other hand, has always been a very rational and supportive human being. His long association with the Government of India at a senior level helped him to see the problems of anything at its roots. Having been born in such a family, as the youngest child was thus certainly not heart breaking. Since I had 2 elder siblings, I was not only guided by my parents but also my siblings.

My brother, used to imitate my father in his absence, but when he was present, all my brothers naughty ways vanished. With a wink of an eye he could lie to save his skin. My sister however, was a complete contrast to my brother. Being disciplined, organized and systematic by nature, she was always the prim and proper one. She was the one who complained about by brother’s lies.

Sadly, but truly, I got more attached to my brother and his unscrupulous ways. I found him more colourful by nature, with so many complexities, yet a great amount of ease and simplicity. This contradiction of his nature drew me towards him. It is he who I saw bunked his school to watch movies at noon show, but made swell class notes for that friend who could not attend school due t fever. He often puzzled me when I found that in spite of his truancy and bunking and long absences from classes, he still topped his college.

My first day at ‘Sacred heart’ convent was a wonderful experience for me. The sprawling campus. The greenery the cleanliness all made me instantly cheerful. It was love at first sight. I can still remember the day, when one strongly-built, dusky lady with curly hair came to me with a smiling face and asked “what is your name, baby?’. With her broad smile, she won my heart within a moment. She was my class teacher, Sharon Domingo, my first mentor outside my family. A bond was created between us very soon. And that is still intact.

As I grew up, I was getting many new friends, some liked me , but I did not like them, on the other hand, I liked some, who in turn did not like me. The perfect match I found as friend, was in class seven. A girl from Kolkata joined my class. A plain Jane in appearance, she surprised me when she said at lunch time, “tui aamar theke khete parish”(you can eat from my Tiffin) Such informality was unbelievable in a convent, that too in the first meeting! I was touched by her warmth and friendship grew instantly, which ia still as vibrant today!

A deeply distressing event occurred in my life when I was in class 8. It shook me completely. I had found my geography teacher helping my friend by telling her answers during a test. I knew that my friend was taking tuitions privately from this teacher. This was one extremely disturbing memory for me.

My best moment at Sacred heart occurred when my father was about to be transferred to Kolkata. I had always been branded as a ‘naughty girl’ in school. All my teachers regularly complained to my father about my talkativeness and casual nature. The only exception was my English teacher. On my last day at school, she called me to the teachers’ room. To my surprise, she handed me a gist wrapped in colorful paper. On being asked to open it, I found in it a Bengali book. Though I was not very conversant with Bengali reading, I managed to read the title of the book, “Jiban Smriti” (the memories of life) by Rabindranath Tagore. My teacher then held my hands and said, ‘try to read this book. Grasp the meaning of it.’

My experiences with schools differ entirely between Jamshedpur and Kolkata. I joined one of the reputed schools of Kolkata in class 8. My first encounter with the school was quite interesting. I entered the class 8 A room. A lady in her mid thirties was teaching English. A poem was being taught. The teacher asked the class a meaning of a particular word. While no one else knew it, I did. At that time I was introduced to the class by the Principal. After that, on my own I gave the meaning to the word asked by the teacher. I knew that my answer was correct but it failed to satisfy my teacher. She somwhow started to dislike me from the very first meeting. Not a single occasion was spared by her when she found that I did not know certain answers. In the first term exam I got the lowest marks in English, which was hard to believe. Gradully a sort of dislike grew in me too about he English subject. In my final exams I once again scored the lowest in English.

Thankfuly, the situation changed in class 9. My class 9 English teacher was very encouraging by nature. Gradually my interst in the subject came back. I started scoring good marks in English and made up my mind to continue my higher studies in this subject.

When I had moved to Kolkata , I used to be initially tease din my class by my classmates as ‘Bihari’, due to my accent. I however, never lost my heart and engaged in verbal arguments with them. Slowly all of that disappeared and we all became friends. I started enjoying this school too.

I appeared for my secondary exams and scored good marks. On the fare-well day, tears came into my eyes. I then realized that within a short span of time, I had grown to love this school too. Somewhere within me I felt sad to leave it. But on the other hand, I felt happy knowing that I was entering a new phase of life, wit new experiences in store for me. M childhood was over at last and I had become an adult.

Rising of a New Sun

Atanu is long associated with Vikramshila with the capacity building initiatives of the organization. Atanu has an even longer association and familiarity with Arun, another member of the organization (who is responsible for the rural school in Bigha). Atanu and Arun happen to be cousins and the best of friends...their friendship travels across decades and is much longer than the age of a lot of us newcomers in the organization! To say nothing that it inspires us, the bond and the sincerity of their relationship actually lights up the room! Atanu is a prolific writer and has attempted a biography of his childhood mate, friend , companion and brother- Arun. The original piece is written is Bengali and titled "Arunoday" (which translates to 'the rising of the new sun')... the published post is a translation made by the author himself ...

Atanu Sain

Rising of a New Sun

Snap shot 1:
A teacher is trying to trace one of his students. He is moving from one field to another, one garden to another. He has information about the ‘absentee student’ and has found out that he has a habit of playing with coins (type of gamble popular among cowherds). After a tiring search he reached school at 12:00 O’clock with the student. Every one in the school was waiting for a severe punishment but the teacher said to the student, “Ok, let us play coins! If you lose then you have to attend school everyday.” The student became astonished and could not understand what to do. Then suddenly he started crying. Handed over all the gambling material to the teacher and promised, “I will not play coins again!” The teacher said, “I trust you! Now please go to your class.”

Snap shot 2:
Teacher is going from one house to another house holding a torch in his hand. Most of the students are the first ones from their families to be attending school. Nobody is there to guide them. ‘The least we can do is ensuring their reading habit by discussing with their parents.’ This is what is on the teacher’s mind.

Snap shot 3:
Teacher is discussing some issues with his students and traditional fishermen just beside a pond. They are experimenting with water.

Snap shot 4:
Teacher and his students are going to blacksmith’s workshop. Today they have a class there at the workshop.

Snap shot 5: Teacher is leading a rally with the students in the village. They are requesting people to participate in the ‘pulse polio’ programme.

Snap shot 6: The teacher and all his students are cleaning their village.

Snap shot 7:
The teacher is asking a student very affectionately, “Did you have your lunch? Why is your face looking so dry?” He puts his hand on the forehead of the student and after checking temperature says, “No fever! Thank God! Weather is so bad!”

Snap shot 8:
The teacher is having a discussion with a group of farmers in the paddy field. He is explaining how ‘chemical fertilizer and pesticides’ spoil the soil.

Snap shot 9: The teacher is making a ‘plant nursery’ with his students. He is giving hands on training to the students on soil making, making bed for the plants etc.



Snap shot 10:
In the evening the teacher is writing all his experience in a diary. He is discussing issues with other colleagues and making teaching learning materials. They sit together for future planning.

Villagers are used to experiencing many ‘snap shots’ like these everyday. It leads to a change of the ‘image’ of a teacher in their mind and creates a new image of a new teacher. Villagers convey their thanks to Vikramshila for this teacher. Ok, let us watch a few more ‘snap shots’ from this teacher’s childhood and adolescence. It should be interesting.

Snap shot 11:
A thirteen year old boy, with fair skin and short height has built a team with 20-22 of his peers. The team members are desperate, aggressive, antagonistic, sometimes arrogant and great fighters. Often they break away from school. They are very fond of discovering dangerous games. Even the senior students avoid this team. All the members are experts in fighting. This team has called itself ‘the vindictive gang’! The leader is especially desperate and aggressive; always leads from the front.

Snap shot 12:
“The middle son, is good for nothing!” –this aphorism from grand mothers made him mentally very tough. He wants to do something that all others have failed to do.
Nobody dares to climb a palm tree because of snakes but he easily climbed to the top. Nobody dares to swim in the lake, but he swims for hours and hours.

Snap shot 13:
Leader and his team busy with social forestation. They made a beautiful garden on an infertile land. The leader has forgotten everything else, spends all his time working in the garden. The villagers call him ‘Banchharam’ (a popular character in a Bengali movie known for devoting his life for a garden and even after his death, his ghost was guarding the garden). Villagers have noticed his conviction towards work.

Snap shot 14:
The boy with the short physique wanted to be a sweeper defender for his football team. Other team members opposed and said, “Sweeper, with this height? Impossible! Any opposition will take advantage and will score a goal easily by heading.’’ The boy took on the challenge and became an excellent sweeper defender. In his football career nobody beat him with a high ball; he never lost in any 50-50 situation. He overcomes his short height with his great spot jump. From that very day, people noticed his instinct to take challenges head on.

Snap shot 15:
Attending a wedding ceremony without being invited was one of the favorite games for the leader and his team. Once, they badly beat up the groom’s side because they demanded dowry during the wedding ceremony. People noticed his courage to protest against a social evil.

Snap shot 16:
Straw roof of a mud building is burning. Within a few minutes the entire roof will be burnt to ashes. The leader and his force just jump into the fire and start fighting it. They don’t bother about their lives. Every one in the village has noticed their ability to take risks.


Snap shot 17:
It is a dark night, raining heavily. A patient is in a very critical condition and has to be admitted to the block hospital. The ‘fair skinned’ leader appeared with his team. They carried the patient in a cot and started running towards the hospital. They took only 45 minutes to cover 11 K.M. distance. They saved a life.

The work which others cannot do, they do in a most casual fashion. But still they are neglected within the community. Nobody pays attention to them. They have never got recognition from anybody. They have only one identity - ‘unemployed youth’. It increases the fire inside, makes them more focused. They feel an enormous urge to invent something. One day the leader gets the right platform; the aggressive, brave, sensitive and dynamic Arun is selected as a teacher of the Vikramshila School. Ok, let us see a few more snap shots from when Arun was asked to attend training in preparation for becoming a teacher.

Snap shot 18:
“Teacher! Me? Am I suitable for that?” He had many more questions on his mind. When he was asked to attend a training programme he said, “Ok, I will join. But I want to make it very clear; I will leave the programme, if it is not interesting. I know very well how to teach a young child!”

Snap shot 19:
It was lunch break. He was asked to respond about the training programme. He said, “So far fine! Today I will stay here. Madam is asking me to share my life experiences and giving opportunity to share my school experiences. She is not teaching any thing. If she teaches, I will depart tomorrow.”

Arun was not able to escape from the teachers training programme. In fact, he returned home with high motivation and conviction. That boy changed into ‘Arun Master.’ He wanted to be an ‘ideal teacher’, that is why he left all his bad habits outside the school. Arun started his teaching life with his honesty, passion, conviction and integrity towards work. With his other colleagues he started to build an image of Vikramshila School. Arun spends the whole day with children. At night, he prepares himself. Vikramshila prescribed a series of books for him and other teachers.



Arun started his work with great passion. It was a rainy day; Arun was holding a child by her hand and helping her to cross the slippery road. Another day he was visiting the home of a student to address her frequent absenteeism. Sometimes he was busy looking for dropout students in the village. He had no time to rest.

Arun grew up in a feudal environment. This environment created a set of beliefs in his mind. The feudal society of the village influenced Arun to nurture these following beliefs about the Laboring Class. “Do not pay more respect to labour! Force them for more and more work! ‘Pay’ them as little as you can!” Most of the parents of Vikramshila School are daily labour. Many of them are used to working on Arun’s land. It has created a conflicting situation. Conflict between two set of beliefs, on the one hand beliefs he gradually acquired since his childhood and on other hand beliefs he has learnt from his organization. After a long topsy-turvy in his mind, finally Arun found the answer. The “teacher” entity won the battle. For the first time Arun paid respect to these daily labourers. Now they are the guardians of his school. Silently a chemical change started to take place in the personality of Arun.

One day, a farmer asked, “Sir, which fertilizer should I use for my land?’’ This question leads to many questions in Arun’s mind. “Should I answer this question? What is my role as a teacher? Should I teach school subjects only? Should I restrict myself within the school boundary or should I work beyond the school periphery?” Once again, discussion started. He discussed within himself, discussed with the organization. Finally he realized that education is not an ‘isolated issue’ but linked with all other livelihood issues. So he visualized a broad role for a teacher. The existing image of a teacher gradually changed in his mind. Another chemical change took place. In spite of strong disagreement from his family Arun admitted his son at Vikramshila School. “How can we ensure quality for others, if we have no confidence about our own capability?’’ This was his argument. The students of Vikramshila School started doing well in local government high schools. Among 22 government primary schools, ‘Vikramshila School’ stood first in a talent search examination. So the school and one of its architects ‘Arun Master’ became very popular in the locality.

Arun brings a little piece of brick from outside the school. He says, “Who knows, this could be very useful someday.” He includes everything into his accounts, even the expense of a cup of tea in the school. Arun always bargains while buying things. This way he is a perfect example of ‘close-fisted’ person among his colleagues. But this so called ‘miser’ Arun goes out of his way to help a helpless mother for the treatment of her only son, knowing fully that he will never get this money back.

Arun says, “One should not calculate time while teaching. Once you become a teacher, you will be a teacher for your entire life! So in Vikramshila School a teacher should not calculate time for her work. In fact I believe that teaching profession is not a time bound profession.” Today Arun is a ‘teacher’! Everywhere, every moment and twenty four hours he is a ‘teacher!’




That very boy! The ‘vindictive leader’ - hostile, aggressive, quick-tempered and insistent - Arun has transformed into a ‘polite’, ‘friendly’ and ‘open-minded’ person. Now, without any hesitation, all villagers can share their opinions, feelings, joy, sorrow, anything, with their ‘Arun Master’. He is everyone’s teacher! That is why Arun is teaching not only in the school but also in the paddy field, in the kitchen garden, in a health camp, in the rehearsal of a ‘Yatrapala’ (a traditional form of drama) and every where! Now, the old image of a teacher has changed in his own mind as well as in the villagers’ minds. Today the ‘new sun’ is in the middle of the sky of Vikramshila! It is shining! Like Arun many youths are coming forward. They are dreaming to change the picture of development, dreaming to change the image of society! They always chant the inspiring speech of Swami Vivekananda, “Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached!” which they have learnt from their organization, Vikramshila. The goal is still ahead! The journey is still on……………



Written by
Atanu Sain
Process Documentation workshop
25th June 2009

My questions...

What are my questions?
Namrata Ghosh

A man once believed that the history of all humankind involved a struggle of classes at every juncture, in every domain, at all levels. It was an astute observation of the then social fabric that created a new wave of idealism. His belief has since then brought about a huge transformation in the thoughts and ideals of millions of people, created an unprecedented amount of literature and debate, brought about a massive change in lives and lifestyles of people, across all possible geographical zones, created a new discourse on the ‘problem of order’ and even succeeded in bringing about a couple of revolutions!

Even though personally I haven’t been swept away by this wave, it would be dishonest if I said that I was altogether unmoved by the statement or the aftermath of it all. The belief that ‘as long as man existed, struggles existed’ caught my attention. Why was there a struggle in the first place? What for? The struggle would obviously not ensue if we were all equal, for then there would be no play of power, domination and subservience. It is only because there are definite inequalities, that there is struggle. So in turn, it means that as long as man existed inequalities existed!

If inequality then, is as old as Man himself or Woman herself, then my other question is – specifically, what is the one single factor that is instrumental in causing this ‘lack of equality’?

After a lot of reading and deliberation I came to a conclusion that it is actually differences- individual, social, physical, occupational, economic and others that is the epicenter of inequality. However, differences by themselves don’t breed this vice, it is only when these differences instead of being celebrated, are exploited, that it leads to disarray, anguish and conflict followed by struggle. It is this negative view towards differences that create and perpetuate inequalities. We, who believe in inequalities and are ingrained with this notion, then become prejudiced. Prejudice takes on a practical form and turns into the lethal practice of discrimination. Ethnocentrism, parochialism, casteism, racism, chauvinism are some manifestations of this phenomena.

However, a lot of us truly believe that differences should be celebrated; that we are all one, that despite all odds and evens, we belong to human kind and thus, a common vein runs through us all. Isn’t this the sentiment echoed in all our written and unwritten Constitutions, in all our laws and decrees?

If then, we believe in equality for all, what measures have we taken to ensure it? Education and Affirmative Action are some of the responses one might give. Let’s focus on education. After more than 50 years of independence, does the current system of education at all point towards the ideal of equality?

Education is supposed to be a leveler. Then why has it knowingly, consciously and methodically dismissed certain information systems and knowledge content as irrelevant? Why is it then that only certain kinds of knowledge are considered worth teaching and find a place in the curriculum? Why are the indigenous knowledge systems, the indigenous techniques, sciences and languages systematically rejected and dust binned. Why isn’t modern knowledge system integrated with the indigenous and local ones. Why do certain sections of society squirm at the thought of their child’s classmate being a durwan’s daughter or the gardener’s son? Why do dropout of students from upwardly mobile families start the minute a school opens its gates to the more underprivileged sections? Why has education, which set out to bridge divides, ended up acting to create and foster greater inequalities?

We have today not one education system but as many education systems as there are classes in society. The poor and underprivileged children go to government schools, usually discontinue education after primary and upper primary, the lower middle and middle class children go to the scores of private schools and take scores of private tuitions due to the poor quality if teaching learning in the schools, and the upper class children go to elite schools.

From the very beginning differences are grounded- Munipality and Corporation schools, Government, small private schools and big private elite schools, state schools and Central schools are created to schematically generate differences among the children studying there. These crevices are further deepened thorough language barriers. Today the difference created by these different schools in the minds and lives of the children has led to the continuation of inequalities. If equality is what we cherished, why have we allowed a variety of schools to run? Why have the government and the various commissions and schemes not foreseen this eventuality? Was it at all unforeseen or was it deliberately willed?

From the very inception then, a child’s destiny gets written, much like the practice in ancient India. We are still as ascriptive as we were, as feudal as were and as colonized as we were. Our birth still determines our fortune, if not the exact occupation, at least it determines the education we would receive and consequently our employment opportunities and status. Is this what the writers of the constitution had in mind? Is class the new caste in modern India?

A recent study undertaken by the National Law School of Bangalore has shown that untouchability, one of the worst manifestations of discriminatory practices, though made illegal, is far from abolished. This kind of untouchability is faced by children in schools as well. The study says that in many schools in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and some other states, children of lower castes are made to sit at the back benches and are given the mid day meal separately. If these are the practices operative even in schools, what kind of education are we passing on to the children? How can we expect these children to be righteous citizens of a new tomorrow? Can the upper caste children in these classrooms ever appreciate the spirit of equity and equality? Can the lower caste child who goes to this school everyday, sits secluded and eats secluded ever be free from the trauma and the stigma she undergoes each day? Will she ever consider equal to her peers?

The man who had believed that the history of mankind to be a history of struggles is no more today, but the differences, the inequalities and the struggles continue to exist as much as they did, when he was provoked to write. The only difference is that inequality today is far more institutionalized. It is systematically created and perpetuated, and the prime lever for creating this systematic production and reproduction of inequalities is the education system.

Call me a cynical if you will, but I wonder if ideology and consciousness are redundant concepts today? In this light, will making education free and compulsory make any difference in this landscape, or will the vested interest groups find a new innovative ways to ensure further deepening of inequalities?