http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home/Opinion/Edit-Page/Most-Dalit-students-lack-access-to-information-on-education/articleshow/6071802.cms
'Most Dalit students lack access to information on education'
Jun 20, 2010, 12.00am IST
Anoop Kumar , a Dalit social worker from Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar
Pradesh, started Insight, a Dalit student magazine, in 2004 with
friends. Insight Foundation, with a grant from Ford Foundation, has
now launched a telephone helpline (09999484249) and a portal
(www.scststudents.org) for Dalit students. Kumar, 33, spoke to Shreya
Roy Chowdhury:
What are the problems faced by Dalit students?
I was first exposed to the problems of caste at an engineering college
in Kanpur. Dalit students were marked as weak students who didn't
deserve to be there. The students lost confidence and there was no
support system to help them. On my first day a professor said, 'those
from SC/ST background need to work hard. Mayawati will not mark you, i
will'.
When you enter higher education, your name is displayed under the
schedule caste category and that becomes your identity. Caste abuse is
very open, very blatant. Friend circles are formed based on a common
background - fluency in English, dress-sense, food habits, caste and
class. Dalit students are not articulate. They shy away from
approaching others. We know they'd want to know our last names, where
we come from, the merit number, which category we took admission
under. We want to avoid those questions; we don't want to get
identified. The upper castes do both the harassing and the
complaining. They can have your opinion about reservation but a
comment is taken personally.
You get information about education from social circles, family etc.
But i'm the first in my family to come to Delhi. Most Dalit students
have a similar background.
When and why was Insight started?
I came to Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2001 for a master's degree. I
was already reading Ambedkar, Phule. I realised that what i thought of
as a personal matter was a much bigger problem and that there's been
an entire movement against it. I wanted to be a part of that movement.
I found myself in a very different environment in JNU. In the
politicised atmosphere there, you have space to say and do things. It
had the kind of environment we lacked in small towns. I was groomed at
the United Dalit Student Forum, which was active but without a
platform for interaction. I wanted something concrete; a process by
which a student is exposed to Dalit studies and issues and where a
student can contribute. In 2004, i started Insight.
What was the response?
We started getting a lot of queries from other universities and within
a year Insight was reaching 50 universities. We got articles from
different parts of the country. We were creating space for ourselves
within the system. That was lacking in the Dalit movement.
Tell us about the Helpline.
It was launched on May 27 (2010) and is funded by a Ford Foundation
grant. Most of the information on education is available online, but
most Dalit students lack access to internet. But they have access to
mobiles and telephones. We target students from smaller towns who want
admission in elite institutions like Delhi University, JNU, medical or
other professional colleges. The idea is to provide information in
Hindi and English about admission, courses, scholarships and also
career counselling. Our national network has more than 1,000 Dalit and
Adivasi student and faculty members. We also have a group of about 100
teachers and professionals who have volunteered to mentor aspirants.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD?
Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to ZESTMedia-digest@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/
PARTICIPATE:-
On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com
TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:-
If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to ZESTCaste-subscribe@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/
Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/
No comments:
Post a Comment