Tharoor blames Modi government for caste discrimination.

Last weekend saw a healthy discussion between former Union minister Shashi Tharoor and social activist Aruna Roy at a conference on ‘Democracy in education’ held in the city. The freewheeling discussion covered stringent monitoring of private schools, revival of government schools and elimination of caste discrimination from education. The two took stage at Vidya Vanam, a school dedicated to the children of tribal villages in and around Anaikatti.

Unsurprisingly, Tharoor, a Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, blamed the Modi government for issues related to caste discrimination. He said in order to achieve democracy in education there was a need for democracy within the classroom. "We talk to our students about an issue or a topic, and end up explaining only one perspective. We should, instead, tell students about all perspectives, thus allowing them to make up their own minds," Tharoor said.

Adding to Tharoor's points, Aruna Roy highlighted cases where dalit students are not allowed to drink water from the same pot as those from other higher castes. Instead of allowing them the basic dignity of drinking water, they are forced to collect refuse from the surrounding, and any resistance results in physical violence. She also brought up the case of the suicide of Rohith Vemula, the dalit student of Central University of Hyderabad. She said, "I visited my alma mater (Delhi University) around 9 months ago, and the first 2 questions that I was asked were about how liveable India is when we are being told every moment what to wear and what to eat?"

Training her sights on the government, Roy said that successive governments have refused to even engage in a debate to discuss or outline the reasons for failure of government schools. Referring to the dismal quality of education in government schools including in Tamil Nadu, Tharoor said that there are instances where Class V students struggle to read a Class II text or solve mathematics problems. "Most students in government schools attend school only because of the mid-day meal scheme. Many students walk out of the schools after lunch," Tharoor said.

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Another major issue plaguing government schools was high teacher absenteeism among teachers, said Tharoor. Adding to it, Roy said it was the failure of governance that had prevented teachers from performing their duties.