Rights denied, Dalit kids forced to do menial jobs at schools: report

New Delhi: It talked about a government primary school in Bihar’s Patna district where caste discrimination has led to irregular attendance among Dalit students.

“I don’t go to school when my clothes are dirty. It happens once or twice a week. The teachers say you wear dirty clothes, go sit in the back,” the report cited a Dalit child, who also claimed that they are forced to massage a senior teacher’s leg and clean teachers’ toilets.

Drop out among SC and ST at present stands at around 51 per cent and 58 per cent respectively, much higher then 37 per cent for non-SC and ST students.

The report has highlighted case studies, examining how the lack of accountability and grievance redress mechanisms are continuing obstacles to proper implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

“Dalit children continue to be pushed out of the education system because of discriminatory behaviour of teachers. Dalit children are made to feel inferior in schools and schools reinforce caste norms.”

“When it comes to any manual work such as cleaning of classrooms or picking up garbage, it is always the Dalit children who are asked to do so,” the Rights Watch report said quoting an officer in Bihar who is engaged in ‘Centre for Social Equity and Inclusion’.