Looking at the early educational activities of the anti-caste movement in the Western Indian Bombay Presidency (1848-1882), the article sheds light on the diverse, and sometimes contradictory social effects of the colonial encounter. The military defeat of the Maratha Empire, the setting up of colonial educational governance, and the emergence of…

This article discusses from a critical education perspective what it is like to be a Dalit (former untouchable) student studying at an elite university in India. Much writing on exclusion and discrimination in higher education is focused on power relations such as gender, race, ethnicity and religion. This article broadens this focus to consider…

Research Findings: This article traces the status of child rights in India, with special attention to traditional beliefs that have shaped and sustain gender discrimination. The article examines the possibilities and limitations of the newly implemented Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009 for operating as an equalizing…

The Pardada Pardadi Girls Vocational School (PPGVS) in India was established in 2000 by Virendera (Sam) Singh, a retired U.S. Dupont South Asia department head to address the issue of gender bias in India. According to the school's website, nearly half of India's population is illiterate: males outnumber females two-to-one in literacy and drop-out…

Multiple deprivations are widespread in rural India. Literacy levels remain stubbornly low, albeit gradually improving. Caste, class, religion, gender, age and disability all impact on access to education, participation and successful completion. The education of girls remains problematic given the higher value attached to sons, especially in…

With an ancient tradition of educational exclusion, modern India has set democratic goals for educational access and quality, though discrimination still challenges public policy goals. Highlights: Buddhism's ancient challenges to exclusion; early declines of education; missionary education; colonial higher education; distance from the lives of…

This paper compares the influence of state policies on gender roles and women's empowerment in China, India, and South Korea. In 1950, these newly formed states were largely poor and agrarian, with common cultural factors that placed similar severe constraints on women's autonomy. The three countries followed very different paths of development,…

One of the challenges that we currently face in achieving universal education is how do we ensure that girls, who have missed the school bus or simply got off the bus too early, can still realise their right to quality basic education? This paper reviews several key education initiatives implemented in the last decade to reach out to the…