Dalit Women and Higher Education on Rural Areas in Dindigul District of Tamil Nadu

Ensuring access to education for the Dalits of India has been the greatest challenge for the Indian government in diminishing the social effects of the caste system, which still remain entrenched in Indian society. While India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, many rural villages and communities are suffering from a lack of Education opportunities. Less than half of all children in India’s villages attend school. Approximately one third of village adults are illiterate. And social discrimination against people of “dalit” background (lower caste) results in limited opportunity to develop skills and capabilities. Bridge IT demonstrates the use of IT as an enabler in primary education and adult literacy and helps create digital entrepreneurs who help local citizens. The presence of computers in the classrooms improves attendance (up 52% in most schools); children want to participate, and parents see the value of learning computer skills. Tata Affirmative Action Program adopted by the Tata group in April 2007, which focuses on the Education, Employability, Employment and Entrepreneurship in the program attempts to address the prevailing social inequities in India by proactively reaching out to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) communities.There have been many different reasons proposed as to why the Dalits suffer from low rates of literacy and primary education enrolment, but the most realistic one describes history and unequal access as the causes. The ancient caste system of India, which has resulted in the social and economic oppression of the Dalits, continues to play a dominant role in India. Dalit education were coming from outside influences, rather than from the national government. Because of unchanging social norms and behaviour, incentives to pursue education were minimal for the Dalits who were still physically and emotionally harassed. Increasing efforts to eliminate caste discrimination combined with additional attempts to increase the accessibility and appeal for education have contributed to the slow progression of Dalit education. Recently the atrocities perpetrated by the dominant caste groups on Dalits is an indicator of the situation referred above and Dalits have learnt the language of protest and their assertion of rights which normally leads to caste tensions. Therefore, the atrocities on Dalits are the bubbles of caste tensions beneath the social system in rural India