Search

How do states realize social reforms for marginalized groups in settings of entrenched inequality? This article argues that reform implementation is a conflict‐ridden process driven by the institutional activism of street‐level bureaucrats. Through an ethnographic case study of Mahila Samakhya, a novel government program for women's empowerment in Uttar Pradesh, India, I find that local fieldworkers committed to reform promoted girls' education by mobilizing marginalized citizens and mediating local conflicts. Organizational processes of gender‐based training and deliberation enabled fieldworkers to challenge village patriarchy and exclusion and forge programmatic ties with lower caste women. By altering rules to address the practical needs of households, fieldworkers effectively integrated disadvantaged girls into the education system. Institutional activism also engendered conflicts over rules within the bureaucracy, prompting senior officials to advocate for marginalized groups. The findings suggest that institutional commitment to activism is critical for agencies working on the front lines of reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is increasingly recognized that there is a global learning crisis. This article investigates this learning crisis through a comparative analysis of rural India and Pakistan. Using data from each country's Annual Status of Education Report, it demonstrates that socioeconomic status and gender are important determinants of whether children are in school, the type of school they attend, and whether they are learning. While learning varies across schools, socioeconomic disparities predominate: disadvantaged children in private schools are learning less than more advantaged children in government schools. Gender also plays an important role, with disparities between boys and girls most pronounced among poorer children in Pakistan. In addition, while private tuition improves learning for all children, it does not resolve socioeconomic and gender disparities. The study indicates that policymakers need to focus on government schools since that is where most of the poorest children study and where learning levels are lowest. The fact that more advantaged children are learning in government schools indicates the role that such schools can play in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the findings of a research study which traced 56 rural women learners 15 years after they had participated in an empowerment and education programme in North India. It attempts to understand, from the perspectives of women from marginalised communities, the ways in which participating in the programme had been empowering for them, or not. While most of the women were indeed able to transform several areas in their lives, this study illustrates that empowering outcomes cannot be assumed or articulated in categorical terms and that bringing about change requires the negotiation of power at various levels. The women's narratives stand in contrast to the prevalent discourses around women's literacy and empowerment, which highlight the importance of literacy only in terms of its positive impact on attaining development goals. Despite the vigorously discussed de-politicisation of the concept of empowerment, the authors show in this paper that empowerment, when informed by a critical feminist understanding, continues to provide a useful framework to analyse women's experiences related to education, as a process enabling women to understand and negotiate structures of power - which are neither static nor wholly dominating - and to find spaces to exercise agency. There are few longitudinal studies which trace the long-term impact of educational programmes on adult women, and most studies are in the nature of impact assessments of programmes. Through this paper the authors argue for the need to analyse the complexities around the relationship between women's education and empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We examine changes in educational inequality in India between years 1993 and 2009. [•] We compute the education Gini index using multiple rounds of large scale nationally representative survey. [•] We find though the inequality has declined during the period, the extent of inequality remains high. [•] The results show there is a clear rural–urban contrast. [•] Using the analysis of Gini, we find that a large part of educational inequality is due to intra-sector inequality. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper informs debates about the potential role for low-fee private schooling in achieving Education for All goals in India. It reports Young Lives’ longitudinal data for two cohorts (2906 children) in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Eight year olds uptake of private schooling increased from 24 per cent (children born in 1994–5) to 44 per cent (children born in 2001–2). Children from rural areas, lower socioeconomic backgrounds and girls continue to be under represented. While some access gaps decreased, the gender gap seems to be widening. Evidence on risks to equity strengthen the case for an effectively regulated private sector, along with reforms to government sector schools. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Despite considerable progress made, a significant proportion of children continue to drop out before reaching secondary school in India. This study investigates factors influencing parental decision-making with regard to children''s secondary schooling in the context of a rural area of Uttar Pradesh. The study finds that cost, distance to the nearest secondary school, membership in traditionally marginalised social groups, and being a girl child have a significant effect on a child''s chance of transition. It also finds that factors influencing participation at the primary level may influence the transition decision, having key implications for education policy formulation across education levels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]