Sekhar, K Chandra. (2008). PARTICIPATION AND CONSEQUENCES OF EDUCATION OF SCHEDULED CASTE CHILDREN IN ANDHRA PRADESH. Unpublished. ERIC, Education
Objectives of the study:
To examine the current status of school education of Scheduled Caste children and to assess the facilities available at primary and elementary schools in Scheduled Caste habitations in Andhra Pradesh.
To study the role of community leaders and teachers in promoting primary education among Scheduled Caste children in Andhra Pradesh.
To examine the awareness and the extent of utilization of incentive schemes by Scheduled Caste Students and to find out the reasons for non-utilization of such schemes.
To identify and examine the success stories in promoting education among Scheduled Caste children in Andhra Pradesh.
To find out the association between education and socio-economic factors among Scheduled Caste children.
Sample of the study
Primary data is collected from 810 SC households and 100 non SC households consist of total 910 household schedules are canvassed among 18 villages across three districts viz, Khammam, Kummool and Nellor.
Tools Used:
Household Schedule
Village schedule and parents Schedules,
School Information Schedule,
Schedule for the perceptions of School Children,
Teacher Schedule,
Schedule for dropouts
Headmaster Schedule
Design of the study:
Survey Method
Statistical Techniques:
Percentage Analysis
Findings:
It is evident from secondary data that the percentage of children belonging to SC community attending school in the age group of six to fourteen is more or less same compared to other communities in Andhra Pradesh as well as in selected study districts. Among SCs Nellore has the highest percentage of school going children in this age group for about 82.38 and Kurnool is in the bottom i.e. 65.33. Corresponding figure in Khmmam is 79.44
Field observations reveal that most of the sample SC households are living in pucca houses. The major sources of income are from agricultural activities, wages and salaries contribute major share followed by rents and income from other sources. Average annual incomes, average asset values of SC and non-SC households have considerable variations across the selected villages reflecting the economic dissimilarities.
Enrollment of SC children in primary schools reveals that there is not much variation in the enrollment during the period 2001-02 to 2005-2006 in selected villages. It is also noticed that SC girl students enrollment is closely half to that of SC boys enrollment across all the selected villages in three districts. The analysis of SC Students Performance for class I to class V shows that there are more number of repeaters in class I, class II and class III than in class IV and class V for both boys and girls.
It is found from the analysis that though there is more awareness about the scholarships among parents of Kurnool district the utilization is less i.e. 15.5 percent. This could be because most of the parents have agricultural lands and own pucca houses and do not fall under poor category according to government norms. There is not much difference in the percentage of parents utilizing mid-day meal scheme across the districts. Only meager percent of parents expressed that their children are using concession in public transportation. It is found that utilization of hostel facilities is less in Kurnool district i.e. 9 percent compared to 20.7 percent in Khammam and 24.8 percent in Nellore district.
About 70 percent parents said that government schools in their villages are functioning good, whereas 22 percent said its performance is average, very less parents said they are bad i.e. about 2 percent and about 6 percent parents said they do not know about the functioning of the school. Regarding girl child education about 70 percent of the parents felt that if girl studies more it is difficult for her marriage prospect and rest 30 percent parents felt that it will not affect.
Keyword(s): Scheduled caste children, Drop-Outs