Since the 1990s, programmes aimed at universalising elementary eduction in India have increasingly dichotomised ‘quality’ and ‘equality’ and heightened, a view of education which is essentially instrumental. The paper argues that this opposition is mistaken and that equality itself requires a nuanced approach which reflects the quality of education as an involvement in the long-term growth of the person. An example of how a school may be knowledgeably structured for educational quality, given the social reality of entrenched gender inequality, is discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
DubeL. (2001). Anthropological explorations in gender. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
2.
KumarK.PriyamM.SaxenaS. (2001, February17). Looking beyond the smokescreen: DPEP and primary education in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 36(7), 560–568.
3.
KumarK.SarangapaniP. (2004). History of the quality debate. Contemporary Education Dialogue, 2(1), 30–52.
4.
NaikJ. P. (1975). Equality, quality and quantity: The elusive triangle of Indian education. Bombay: Allied Publishers.
5.
StenhouseL. (1975). An introduction to curriculum research and development. London: Heinemann.
6.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). (2005). Education for all The quality imperative (Global Monitoring report 2005). Paris: UNESCO.
7.
WilkinsonR.PickettK. (2009). The spirit level: Why more equal societies almost always do better. London: Allen Lane.
