Education for Dalit Children in India | Children on the Edge

Caste discrimination in India is trapping Dalit communities in a cycle of poverty and exclusion. As a result, Dalit children are denied their rights and struggle to access education.

Children on the Edge supports 35 Learning Centres in Patna, Bihar State who offer education to over 1,200 Dalit children who face crippling discrimination in mainstream government schools. Our Learning Centres provide a safe, protective space for them to learn and play.

To build a protective environment for Dalit children in their wider community, not just at school, we also support 92 Women’s Groups. We work with them to develop essential skills and knowledge so they can realise their rights, advocate for change and break the cycle of discrimination for them and their children.

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Nisha, a young Dalit girl standing in the slum community where she lives. She is smiling at the camera and is wearing a red headscarf and blue cardigan.

LAXMI started attending one of our Learning Centres for Dalit children when she was 10 years old. She loves to study and play.

She stopped going to mainstream school because of the abuse she suffered from her teachers.

Laxmi is now 13 years old, and over the past few years she has excelled in the learning centres and her favourite thing is to dance! Her dream is to open her own dance school when she grows up.

She hopes to continue onto secondary education through the National Institute for Open Schooling scheme that we support in Bihar State.

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1,200 CHILDREN RECEIVING EDUCATION & SUPPORT

35 LEARNING CENTRES

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92 WOMEN'S GROUPS ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE

WORKING ON 'THE EDGE' IN INDIA

The Dalit people, often referred to as ‘untouchables’ are India’s lowest caste. They are shunned by society and suffer from exclusion, discrimination and exploitation.
Whilst caste discrimination is illegal, it is culturally ingrained.
Dalit people face extreme poverty, forced to work in low paid, ‘daily wage’ jobs.
Dalit children are ostracised from mainstream education and denied their rights. Whilst schools in Bihar are legally obliged to include Dalit children, they are treated with cruelty and neglect by teachers and fellow students.
As a result, those who do make it to school often drop out at an early age and 62% of Dalits are consequently illiterate.
With no access to education, Dalit children are stuck in a cycle of poverty and exclusion, with many facing abuse and the risk of child marriage and child labour.

A young Dalit girl crouching on the muddy ground in front of some long grass. She is holding a handful of something brown and has a metal bowl in front of her on the ground. She is wearing a blue scarf and black dress with red flip flops. Litter is on the ground around her. Click on the image to read more about the issues in India

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WHAT WE DO TO HELP

Our work in India is focused on providing education for the most marginalised Dalit children, informing Dalit communities about their rights and supporting them to realise them.

By providing supplementary education and support for Dalit children, we aim to counter caste discrimination and enable them to integrate into mainstream school.

With local partner Navjeevan Educational & Social Welfare Society (NESWSD), we work alongside Dalit communities in and around Patna, in Bihar State, to give them the tools they need to practice self-determination and develop their ability to create better lives; breaking the cycle of discrimination. We support them to advocate for equality and sustainable livelihoods through non-violent action.

Two Indian girls standing at the front of their class facing the camera. They are both smiling. The girl on the left of the image is wearing a blue and gold dress with a red and white scarf. The girl on the right has a white and blue striped top with blue dungarees worn over the top. They are standing in front of a room full of other students who are sat down, most are looking in another direction. There are posters on the wall of the classroom showing numbers and letters.

Dalit children at one of the learning centres we support in Bihar State

We support 35 community Learning Centres for over 1,200 childen in Patna, Bihar and the surrounding rural areas to tackle the barriers to education faced by Dalit children.

Our Learning Centres are colourful classrooms with nurturing teachers, where over 1,200 children have lessons in maths, science and language. A separate Computer Centre in Patna offers IT lessons and access to computers for the children, helping to break the digital divide.

The curriculum in our Learning Centres includes a focus on self esteem, human rights (under Indian and international law), caste discrimination and local justice systems. The children are encouraged to grow in self worth and are given the tools to change their futures.

Our partners also work with local government schools to encourage integration of the children we support, back into the mainstream school system. They actively support children once they graduate from the Learning Centres, building relationships with local schools to help with the transition and allowing students to return to the centres after school for extra guidance and encouragement.

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SUPPORTING FURTHER EDUCATION

6 young Indian women working in A4 workbooks, writing. You cannot see their faces, but they appear to be concentrating on their work. They are sat in two rows of three. Three are wearing bright coloured Sari's.

NIOS Centres support older children to gain secondary exams

The National Institute for Open Schooling in India estimates there are 105 million children who have dropped out before Grade 8, which is the end of Indian upper primary, when key exams are taken. Informal data on school drop outs show more than nearly 60% children who drop out are Dalit children.

Older Dalit students that can’t access formal secondary schools are offered support from expert National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) teachers in three dedicated NIOS Centres to cover the secondary syllabus. Through this scheme, they are able to take formal Grade 8 (end of primary), Grade 10 (lower secondary) and Grade 12 (upper secondary) exams and certification, after which they could go on to College or University.

CHILD PARLIAMENTS

A room full of older Indian children holding their fists up to the air and looking at the camera. Some are smiling. Two men are standing on the right of the image, also smiling. A woman is standing on the left, also smiling towards the children. They all have lanyards round their necks with name tags and are members of the the child parliaments we support in India.

Child Parliament Members

Our Learning Centres also form a platform to bring change in the wider community. Twelve 'Children's Parliaments', consisting of ten elected ‘ministers’, represent their friends, learn about their rights and peacefully campaign in their communities.

Children’s Parliaments have a huge, positive impact in their communities, improving health and hygiene, holding immunisation drives, helping children access education and preventing incidences of child trafficking. As well as campaigning, these children lead the way on the programme, creating events, identifying needs in the community and educating their peers.

WOMEN'S GROUPS

A group of Indian women, dressed in bright coloured clothes and headscarves. They are sat down in a dark brick room with a fan behind them. The women 5 women are looking at the camera with serious faces. Two children and a baby are sat with them, looking at the camera and smiling.

We support 85 Women's Groups in India

To help create a protective environment for Dalit children, 92 women’s groups in and around Patna are supported to realise their rights; bringing change through nonviolent action. The groups offer meetings and workshops which talk about health issues, government schemes and free services available for women struggling with poverty.

We help these women to access vital medical services, like maternity care, by accompanying them to the hospital, or assisting with filling in the correct paperwork. As a result of these groups, over 1,000 women have started to see incredible change in their lives, many going on to support neighbours, friends and family.