Effects of the School’s Environment on Dalit Education

Abstract

The study was conducted to identify the effect of the school environment on the education of Dalit students. Dalit people are known as the disadvantaged communities who are culturally categorized as the untouchable caste in society. Legally, it is not permitted to discriminate in social activities based on caste and ethnicity; however, this practice persists. The study was conducted among the 227 Dalit students in the Nawalparasi district of Nepal. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the respondents from the Dalit communities. A self reported, structured questionnaire was prepared using a 5-point Likert scale to collect perceptual data. The study found that there is significant association (p=.000) on the perception of Dalit students studying in different grades on the chances of sitting on the first bench of classroom, problem faced while taking the drinking water in school, teachers' responses towards the problems or questions raised by Dalit students and responses from school administration towards the problems or question raised by Dalit students at the significant level p = 000 of each test which is less than p = .05. From the discussion, it is found that school environment can affect learning of Dalit students.