The fundamental right to education and child neglect: a case study of a particular village in Maharashtra

Education is necessary for each and every society. Education brings into focus the social aspect of human beings. Education signifies human's supreme position in society. By considering the importance of education, the government of India has implemented the Right to Education Act in the year 2009. The main motive behind this implementation was to provide free and compulsory education to each and every children residing in the country. After the implementation of this Act also, the tribal children in the country are not able to get access to education. The main objective of this paper is to explore the factors due to which the tribal children are lagging behind in terms of education. The tribal communities in India have been historically exploited and deprived of their basic rights which include the right to education as well. Literatures show that the tribal children are often discriminated and have been subjected to overt discrimination by the non-tribal upper caste/upper class groups. This paper mainly focuses on educational neglect of a tribal child in a rural village named Aghai in the Thane district of Maharashtra which is about 100kms away from the city of Mumbai. Aghai village is located in Shahpur Tehsil which consists of 36 tribal hamlets. The inhabitants of these hamlets belong to Konkani, Varli and Katkari tribes. These hamlets are mainly situated within the Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary. The remote geographical location, lack of water, limited road connectivity, inadequate electric supply, and unavailability of transport facilities from the nearest railway station to Aghai posses various challenges in the process of development of these tribal hamlets where people live in rampant poverty. This paper explores the situation of educational opportunities available to children in Aghai village. It further discusses the role of the state, educational policy and its implementation, linkages among educational, economic and social policies, cultural belief systems that are relevant to education, teacher’s characteristics and physical conditions of schools. It goes on to examine how superficial lines are drawn between the child and his/her family or community, thereby alienating them from their families and at the same time pushing them towards a mainstream which does not recognize their specificities of socio-cultural location.