Challenges in Schooling for Rural Poor: India versus Kenya (Part II)

By Benard Nyatuka and V Santhakumar

Read Part I here.

The situation in India

The status of school education in India is documented in a number of studies.¹ There is an improvement in enrolment in primary grades to 97-98 percent (even though the remaining 2-3 percent would mean many children due to India’s population size). There is a dropping out of children from primary schools too. By looking at the level-wise enrolment in 2015-16, there is a reduction of 9 percentage points between grade I and grade VI.² The enrolment in secondary schools is around 20 percent less than that in primary schools. The annual surveys note that the academic performance of students in government schools in India is not impressive. Impressionistically, one may say that the situation is not very different in Kenya.

The Government of India was not investing adequately in education until a couple of decades ago. There seems to be an improvement in the situation.³ There is a primary school in almost all inhabitations and the distance to a secondary school is within 4-5 kilometres for most inhabitations. There is also an improvement in the infrastructure and other facilities in schools. Based on the observations of Santhakumar, who has significant exposure to government schools in different parts of India and some exposure to schools in Kenya, it can be said that rural government schools in India are better equipped than those in Kenya. However, urban government schools in Kenya may be better than their counterparts in India.

This difference could be a reflection of the difference in public and private investments in government schools in these two countries. Private investments are generally lower in rural areas in both countries. Poor people use government schools in both Kenya and India, and they may not be able to contribute much towards the infrastructure of these schools. However, there could be a higher level of public investments by the state governments in India (which are in charge of school education in the states). This makes the facilities in rural schools better in India. On the other hand, it seems that the public investment in Kenyan rural schools is not adequate.

But the situation in urban areas of Kenya and India may be a little different. The middle and upper classes seem to have moved out of government schools in India, especially in urban areas. On the other hand, a section of them uses public schools in urban Kenya. Although many children from this section of society use do not use public schools but go to one or the other low-fee private schools, especially in informal settlements. Middle-class parents are in a relatively better position to contribute money towards the upkeep of public schools. These schools have a provision to collect and use money from parents in Kenya. This higher level of contribution by parents or private investments makes urban government schools relatively better in Kenya. Despite this, public investment in schools in Kenya seems less when compared to that in India.

Though there are parts of India which face adverse agricultural production conditions, a major part of the country does not face such problems.⁴ And, though there are vulnerabilities faced by farmers in parts of India, these may not result in food poverty as in the case of Kenya. There are other enabling factors in India. The public distribution system is elaborate and accessible to the whole population.⁵ It provides rice or wheat (and a few other commodities, like sugar) at a highly subsidised rate to those below the poverty line. The lack of basic food in homes, therefore, may not be a reason for the absence of most children in schools. Moreover, all states have implemented noon-meal schemes for children attending schools. This provision of free lunch in school can be an additional incentive to send kids to school⁶ (though this may not be enough to keep grown-up children in school since when they go out to work, their wages add to the family income and consequently, food for the whole family⁷).

The rural employment guarantee programme ensures that unskilled workers get work for a fixed number of days when there is seasonal unemployment (due to the non-availability of agricultural work).⁸ This income can discourage parents from using the labour of their children to ensure the basic sustenance of the family. Higher public investments (enabled by economic growth) and these enabling factors (which are also reflections of public investments) have enabled better educational outcomes in India.

Despite these public investments and enabling conditions, India witnesses a significant number of children dropping out of school. This is partly due to demand factors.⁹ These factors seem to work against academic performance, too. In that sense, the authors may see the low retention or irregular attendance and lower learning achievement as problems of school education in both India and Kenya despite higher public investments in the former. Let us take some of these demand factors in detail.

1. It is noted that even some farmers who have irrigated land (which is an indication of higher productivity) may not be willing to send their girls to schools, especially, in the higher grades. Santhakumar has seen this in north-east Karnataka and Rajasthan. This is due to the severe gender discrimination that prevails in the country. Such discrimination may work against the education (even school) of girls among certain sections of society.¹⁰ The middle class may send their daughters to school but may not be willing to invest in their higher education as much as that of their sons. Moreover, this discrimination discourages girls from participating in paid work even if they have higher levels of education.
2. We have mentioned the problem of teenage pregnancy in the case of Kenya. There is a related issue but with a different reason in India – child marriages.¹¹ Sections of parents marry off their daughters at an early age (and such marriages are not unusual between 13-17 years, even though it is illegal). The need to pay a higher dowry if the girl is older and their safety considerations lead sections of parents to follow this practice.¹² Child marriages also lead to early pregnancy, which affect the education of girls. The difference with the Kenyan situation is to be noted – personal choice (informed or not) can lead to teenage pregnancies in Kenya, while it is the compulsion of parents that culminates in child marriages in India.
3. Another factor that shapes the demand for education is rooted in India’s caste system. The historical deprivation of education for the lower castes means that many children from these groups are first-generation school-goers whose parents are not educated and not able to provide academic support at home. Moreover, the fact that very few people from these social groups have benefited from higher levels of education also discourages them from pursuing education. There is not enough aspiration among these parents regarding the education of their children. These factors may affect not only children’s attendance in school but also their learning achievements.
4. An issue related to the Scheduled Tribes in India is also important here. They constitute a minority and modern education is not in their languages and is not connected to their culture and livelihood.¹³ This, along with the poor economic status of the majority of them, affects their access to and use of education. Though there are some tribes in Kenya whose languages are not adequately reflected in modern education, there is a difference between the Indian and Kenyan situations. Though the majority of Kenyans belong to one or the other tribe, there is not much dominance by a majority or non-indigenous people as in India.Though the poor in both Kenya and India may encounter difficulties in the access and use of education, poverty in Kenya may not be due to unequal access to land. On the other hand, the historical concentration of land in the hands of certain social groups, and landlessness of others (especially agricultural workers), and the absence of effective land reforms could be the major reasons for poverty in India.¹⁴
5. Though religious minorities, especially those Muslims who live in northern parts of Kenya encounter different challenges (due to the terrain and religious practices) with regard to education, it is not rooted in an intense adversarial relationship between those belonging to the majority and minority religions. However, Muslims in certain (especially northern) parts of India could be facing issues of structural poverty,¹⁵ which affects their access and use of education, though there are efforts to address this problem.

Access to and use of schools by the poor: India versus Kenya

Since the per-capita income of Kenya is only about two-thirds of that of India, it is obvious that the latter is more affluent at the aggregate level. Moreover, the poverty rate in Kenya is also higher than that of India.¹⁶ This higher income has also enabled the Government of India to invest more public resources to reduce poverty and provide education. In that respect, Kenya is behind India. Private investments matter even in the case of government schools in Kenya, which could be the reason for the divergence in the quality of such schools between urban and rural areas of Kenya.

Despite a relatively better economic status as a whole and higher public investments, India seems to be facing challenges in terms of retention and learning in schools somewhat similar to those that Kenya faces. But the reasons for the underperformance in school education seem to be different in the two countries. The general poverty which is determined by the low productivity of agricultural land and limited non-farm employment opportunities affects the demand for school education in Kenya. It limits family resources to invest in education. Added to this, the lower per-capita income of the country reduces the quantum of public resources which can be invested in education. Moreover, Kenya did not have effective poverty eradication programmes, which too reduces the demand for education among poor families. The problems of governance and corruption which are common in a developing country may be affecting the effectiveness of public investments too. All these impact the provision of and the demand for education, which in turn affect enrolment, retention and academic performance in Kenya.

India could address some of these issues. Though it did not invest adequately in schools for decades after its independence, this has gone up drastically during the last couple of decades. This is reflected in the availability of schools closer to inhabitations, infrastructure, the provision of lunch, uniforms, and textbooks to students, and so on. Similarly, investments in the social sector, especially that aimed at eradicating poverty have also gone up. The Public Distribution System which provides foodgrains at highly subsidised rates is accessible to all poor, and the employment guarantee act ensures basic wages even during periods of seasonal unemployment in rural areas. The improvements in the provision of education and the investments in poverty eradication have enhanced the use of education, especially by the poor and other marginalised groups.

However, there is a persistence of underachievement in education in India, and this could be mainly due to the inadequate demand from certain sections of society. Gender discrimination affects the use of schooling by girls in certain sections and some parts of the country. People belonging to lower caste are not adequately motivated to get their children educated and this may encourage a section of them to drop out and take up unskilled work. The marginalisation of Scheduled Tribes leads to the underuse of education by their children. Children belonging to religious minorities, especially Muslims, also encounter challenges due to their practices and/or due to non-inclusive practices on the part of the majority.

The economic growth of the country could mitigate these challenges only gradually and partially. There are social or normative issues (like the caste system and gender discrimination) which continue to have a dampening effect on the demand for and hence, the use of education in India. This is working against a significant growth in the demand for education even among those who get out of poverty. This shows that there is a need to address these social/normative issues if ‘education for all’ is to be an achievable goal in India.

It is not that India does not have poverty due to the lack of adequate resources. As noted earlier, there are parts of the country where agricultural productivity is less due to issues which are related to soil and water. However, the ability of the state and central governments to address these issues is higher, and there have been efforts in this direction. However, these efforts are not adequate to address the deprivation of different kinds. For example, the landlessness or asset deprivation of some people is not due to the scarcity of resources or assets at the macro-level. These are more due to distributional issues. For example, the caste system may determine access to assets or capital. In one sense, the persistence of poverty for some people in India is also more due to social and normative barriers (and not entirely due to the absolute scarcity of resources). At a different level, these social issues, like the presence of the caste system and gender discrimination as reflected in the reluctance to allow women to take up paid work, is affecting the economic growth (or the achievement of the potential growth in the country) or the inclusiveness of this growth.  The impact of these social and normative constraints on the achievements in school education is a lot more direct.

It is not that social and normative issues are absent in Kenya. Gender discrimination affecting the education of girls is widespread among sections of Kenyans (and this may be higher in the northern parts of the country). Specific tribal groups may be more deprived and may find it difficult to use the development (including education) services which are provided by the state. The urban poor may have greater difficulties in accessing schools. Children belonging to poorer families may encounter discriminatory practices in school. However, our impression is that the main barrier against the use of school education by all continues to be resource poverty (including the inability of the government to mobilise enough resources to improve the facilities of government schools). This may also mean that the challenges in Kenya can be addressed as part of economic growth or with increased availability of resources. On the other hand, institutional rigidities seem to matter much more in India. This creates a situation where economic growth, poverty eradication or an increase in public investments per se may not be adequate to ensure that school education is used by all children in the country. There is a need to address these social and normative issues. There have to be additional or special efforts to create the demand for education in India.

Though India is relatively better than Kenya in terms of economic development, both countries face challenges in terms of industrial development. This limits the employment opportunities for educated people. Hence, there is a higher level of unemployment among educated people in both countries. The absence of decent job opportunities for those who complete school education seems to have enhanced the demand for higher education in both countries. This may have implications on the interest and motivation of students in colleges and universities and can have an impact on the quality of higher education in both countries.

AUTHORS
Benard Nyatuka is Senior Lecturer/Researcher, Educational Foundations, Kisii University, Kenya.
V Santhakumar is Professor, Azim Premji University, Bangalore.

Featured photo by Hanna Morris on Unsplash