Impact of Lockdown on the Education of Dalit Community Students of West Bengal

Dalit community members had been the age old prays of upper caste community members. Even after several attempts made by the Government in the recent times, Dalit community members had been suffering humiliation and injustice on a daily basis. In fact it could be said that, there had been no similarity in the existence and treatment of the Dalit community member as compared with the so called elite upper class members of the society. For this reason there had been constant struggle in the history of Dalit community members for proper right and treatment from other upper class community members of the Indian society. The struggle for equality and justice could also be seen in the educational field also. There had been cases of humiliation and injustice on Dalit students for getting admission in an educational institute or job through reservation. For several decades Dalit community students had been struggling hard to find their footing amidst the upper class students. In such circumstances, the appearance of Covid-19 and the consequent lockdown impacted heavily upon the lives, and educational upliftment of these Dalit community students. It had been a fact that majority of the Dalit families had been surviving below poverty line and to survive in such auspicious circumstances they needed help from the government. As the majority of the Dalit community members of West Bengal are daily wagers, they found it tough to survive in such a lockdown period. Being penny less they could not even afford the bare essentials and amenities, and in such a condition attending online classes or giving online exams proved very auspicious for several students belonging from Dalit communities of West Bengal. As a consequence of the inability to meet the demand of the situation, many a dalit community student suffered great amount of anxiety and helplessness. Their education hampered severely as opposed to the members of the wealthy class who had sufficient amount of resources to meet the demand of the hour. As a consequence of such peculiar circumstances, Dalit community students are struggling behind, unable to catch the forward running train of education through electronic gadgets.