Government programmes to improve literacy among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been a miserable failure. An increasing number of SC and ST children are dropping out of schools. According to a recent Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, the gross dropout rate (GDR) of SC/ST children from schools has grown from 15.1 per cent in 2001-02 to 16.6 per cent in 2003-04.  Illiteracy is far more widespread among SCs and STs than it is among the general population. At every stage in the process of acquiring education, SC/ST children lag behind. Fewer SC/ST children enrol in schools and few stick it out. Programmes to draw SC/ST children to school and to keep them there are routinely announced by the government. Huge funds are allotted to these schemes. But these have failed to make a positive impact. The CAG report has blamed poor financial management for the failure of these projects to prevent children from dropping out of schools.

Corruption lies at the heart of the failure of our socio-economic programmes. Funds do not reach intended beneficiaries. Scholarships are siphoned off by students from privileged backgrounds. But besides the financial irregularities that plague execution of projects is the poor quality of education being imparted in government schools. It is of little interest to children and irrelevant to their lives. Parents prefer their children earning a livelihood instead of wasting time at school. Then there is the problem of SC/ST children facing discrimination and violence in schools. There have been many instances of teachers battering SC students for poor performance or not obeying orders. Why would a child want to go to school if he is kept apart from his peers simply because he is SC or ST?

Politicians routinely claim commitment to empowering those from the SC/ST. But such claims ring hollow as they have done little to ensure that children from these groups get to complete their school education. If reservation of seats for SCs/STs in institutions of higher learning or in jobs has not gone far enough in empowering these groups, this is because there are not enough qualified SC/STs to avail the quotas. For reservation at the higher levels to usher in change, SCs and STs must first get school education. Tackling the dropout problem should be given higher priority.