Hyderabad, Dec.30 (Hydnow): Prof G Nagaraju, Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad and Dr. Ch Krishna Rao ( Sociology-CESS) have published a significant book chapter, titled “Scheduled Caste Children and Secondary Schooling: Sociological Study of Andhra Pradesh” in the volume Education and Caste in India: The Dalit Question, edited by Ghanshyam Shah, Kanak Kanti Bagchi, Vishwanatha Kalaiah, and published by Routledge recently.
The essay discussed the educational achievement of Scheduled Caste (SC) children in secondary schools in undivided Andhra Pradesh. Through an analysis of primary data collected, it found that an overwhelming number of Dalit students in Andhra Pradesh come from marginal cultivators and labourers’ families. There is, however, a positive change in the social environment of the schools. Most of the Dalit children do not face discrimination such as a denial of drinking water, seating arrangement in the classroom, teacher discrimination on the grounds of caste. At the same time, there is a sense of insider-outsider in peer group formation.(Hydnow)