インドにおける貧困層対象の私立学校の台頭とその存続メカニズムに関する研究

─デリー・シャードラ地区の無認可学校を事例として─

抄録

  In India, globalization and urbanization have led to the rapid increase of so-called “English-medium” public schools. In general, private schools are considered schools for children of the elite or middle classes. However, this type of school is named an “unaided recognized school”, a school not aided but recognized by the government, which represents only a part of private education in India. The “English-medium” public schools prevalent among children of the poor warrant greater attention. These schools are the “unrecognized schools”, schools that are not recognized by the government, hence not under its control. Since the 1990’s, these unrecognized schools started to emerge throughout India. However, the Indian government has not concerned itself about these schools due to the fact that they were not officially recognized. Hence, the unrecognized schools were not accounted for in many of the educational reports prepared by the Indian government. A comprehensive understanding of student enrollment status, essential for achieving the goal of the Education for All (EFA), has therefore not been achieved.

  This paper examines how unrecognized schools in India have emerged and what the mechanism of unrecognized schools is. Participatory observation, structured and semi-structured interviews were conducted at unrecognized schools in Shahdara, Delhi from September to December, 2008. In the first section of the paper, the educational system in India is briefly discussed, providing a background for the situation of unrecognized schools within the system. Referring to data on unrecognized schools collected by the Delhi government, it is estimated that the percentage of unrecognized elementary level schools in Delhi approaches 20%. This percentage is considerably large to not be accounted for in official education reports. Next, reasons why schools are unrecognized are discussed, with reference to the conditions of recognized schools as outlined in the Delhi School Education Act, 1973. It is revealed that one of the most difficult conditions unrecognized schools face when seeking recognition is to acquire “adequate space” of land, since there is little or no space left for individuals or private societies to start new schools in authorized areas. Many unrecognized schools are established situated in unauthorized areas - those areas not recognized by government - and hence function without public service or public education. It is posited that the following elements have contributed to the unrecognized school phenomenon: 1) immigration from neighboring states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and so forth to unauthorized colonies in Delhi due to urbanization; 2) limited government capacity to provide enough schools to meet the demands of the citizens of Delhi in terms of both quantity and quality; 3) effort to promote the EFA in India since the 1990’s, which has led to an increase of poor people’s awareness toward the quality of education; 4) vagary of rules and regulations related to unrecognized schools as outlined in the Delhi School Education Act.

  In the second section, this paper explores the functioning of unrecognized schools by investigating the management status at nine unrecognized schools in Shahdara, Delhi. In so doing, the following points are investigated: year of school establishment; area where school is situated; status of school application for recognition; background of the founder and the level of education the school provides. Many target schools were established since 2000 and are either situated in unauthorized colonies or residential areas as are other unrecognized schools. It is argued that unrecognized schools in residential areas were “house-turned schools”, which use a house as a school due to the lack of space, and hence do not apply for recognition. (View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)