Education for social justice: A critique of national education policies of India

Abstract

Education possesses the potential to combat the prevailing systemic inequities in societies through policy interventions aimed at creating inclusive societies. Several studies since independence have critically analysed the indifferent nature of the education system towards certain groups and sections. Despite a rights-based approach to educational access, the data still shows that some social, religious, economic groups and girls are striving for basic educational access. The silent arrival (without any political dialogue) and approval of NEP have left all to accept the policy as it is, leaving no room for any discourse (New education policy 2020: what is concealed and what is unveiled. The New Leam 20). The most recent data available at the national level (UDISE, 2018–2019) also confirms that irrespective of decades-old commitment to equitable education, the social, gender and economic gaps in the education system still exists. The major objective of this paper is to analyse the shift in policies relating to the educational statuses of disadvantaged sections of society in the Indian post-independent era with a major focus on NEP 2020. Primarily based on analysis of all the major educational policies, this paper tries to develop an argument around the policies and how far it has led to un-democratization of education by reinforcing the exclusion of certain groups from the education system. This has been substantiated by the secondary data, which categorically highlights the gaps which exist in the educational access by different groups. The findings reveal that the policies have played a detrimental role in intensifying the already existing inequalities. Further, the children who access and complete the school education constitute a homogenous group and not all children from diverse group enrol for and complete the education.

Beyond the Classroom: A Case Study on the Relationship Between Education as a Public Good, Social Justice and Critical Pedagogy

“…Inclusive and equitable education -while indeed an essential goal in its own right -is also critical to achieving an inclusive and equitable society in which every citizen has the opportunity to dream, thrive, and contribute to the nation.… (Govt of India, 2020, p. 24) Education as envisaged by the Indian policies definitely reflects elements of social justice, but the reality seems to be far from this. Various studies have highlighted that despite the rights-based policies of education in India, there remains high levels of inequality even to access basic education among several social groups, religious groups, economic groups and girls (Borooah, 2017;Saluja, 2022;Tilak & Choudhury, 2021). The educational attainments among the social groups, ST, SC and Muslim populations still lag behind as compared to other backward class (OBCs) and upper caste Hindus (Varughese & Bairagya, 2020).…”

Memperkuat Integrasi Nasional Di Era Digital : Penguatan Resolusi Konflik Di Era Digital Sebagai Perwujudan Warga Negara Yang Baik

“…Perlunya pendidikan dan kesadaran digital yang kuat untuk masyarakat agar dapat memanfaatkan teknologi digital dengan bijak (Saluja, 2022). Pembangunan infrastruktur yang merata dapat memastikan akses yang adil terhadap teknologi (Feldman-Savelsberg, 2022).…”