How does Omprakash Valmiki portray the difficulties the lower caste people faced in obtaining an education could these be attributed to a lack sensitized education Do you think there have been noticeable changes in this situation or does it still continue in another guise
Answers
Omprakash Valmiki (1950 – 2013) through his writings and poetry, portrayed the difficulties faced by Dalits in the field of education.
Education was once considered the realm of upper castes. Dalits were not allowed to enrol in schools. In places where they could, they had to sit separately, eat separately and there were several other restrictions. In short, all these restrictions hampered their education so much so that, they dropped out from schools without completing their education.
This situation has changed vastly in recent times. People’s attitudes, as well as governmental efforts have paid dividends, whereby Dalits have more opportunities to education now. Reservation quotas and other programmes help them with education and employment.
Answer – Omprakash Valmiki has explained the horrors the lower caste went through in their everyday life in his writings. He wrote extensively about the relationship between the education system and the caste system.
The Dalits faced ostracisation in the hands of the upper castes when it came to education; they were not allowed to get an education because education was considered to be very priestly and only the upper castes were privy to it.
The Dalits were not allowed to mingle with the upper caste Hindus, they were made to eat, sit separately and even had their separate well for drinking water. Now the situation has gotten better thanks to government policies and reservations, and NGO's working to uplift backward classes like Dalits.