DISPARITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE CONTEXT OF SCHEDULED CASTES IN INDIAN SOCIETY

Caste is the basic system of societal organization in India, which is based on highly unequal entitlements to economic and social rights. Education also gets affected by the mechanism of this Caste system. In spite of increasing attention given since independence to the education of weaker sections of the community, the percentage of the scheduled caste enrolled in higher education continues to be lower than their percentage in the population, and this also varies from region to region. The paper looks into the disparity in higher level of education among Scheduled castes and general population. It is based on the unit level data of the two latest NSSO rounds (55th and 66th) with comparable data for the two social groups namely Scheduled Castes and General Population (or others as given by NSSO).