Dalits say school closures shutting them out of education

On Dr. B.R. Ambedkar death anniversary, members of the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti voiced the issues of inaccessibility of the lower caste to education.

By Isha Bajpai

BANGALORE (Dec. 6)—Dalit activists on Tuesday criticized the closure of government-run primary schools in the state, which they say is hampering the education of members of the lower strata of society.

On the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the death of Dalit political leader Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, R. Mohanraju, state convener of the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti, said, “Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s dream of equality has been curbed by the commercialization of education.”

In a seminar organized in Central College, DSS members said widespread closures of government schools is due to falling enrollments in the schools, which in turn is due to lack of proper infrastructural facilities and other such drawbacks in the education sector.

“If the government implements the Constitution properly, our situation can be better,” Mohanraju said.

The DSS says Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which guarantee equality to all citizens, and Article 17, which abolishes the practice of untouchability, have not been implemented.

Also, according to Y. Mariswamy, state organizer of the Samajik Parivartana Jana Andolan, 485 schools have shut down in the last academic year.

Even though the government promises to relocate the students of the schools it plans to close down, this comes with its own downside.

Where there are no government schools close by, the students have no option other than private schools, which are unaffordable to many.

“People in our community have no access to education due to the shrinking number of schools,” said a scheduled caste woman who did not want her name to be used.

Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, at another event honoring Ambedkar in front of the Vidhan Soudha on the day, said everything proposed by Ambedkar in the Constitution had been implemented by the state.