Question

many people still do not get their economic and social rights, such as rights to food, education, or housing. Find a case where there is one of the following: persistent hunger (or malnutrition), homelessness, or denial of education, and outline why this occurs, and why the situation is a violation of human rights?

Answer 1

We will take the case of India where literacy rates are low and see why this appens.

The literacy rate in India is 74%, substantially lower than the average literacy rates across most countries. Right to education is a basic human right, as recognized by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Education is required for full development of personality of an individual and achievement of his/her potential. Having no education handicaps a person in life and inhibits his/her growth. This affects his/her life in physical, financial, mental and even spiritual ways. Thus, the 26% of people in India who do not have access to at least primary education, are being denied of their basic human rights.

There are many reasons why a person doesn’t have access to at least primary education, though they all can be categorized in following 4 types-

• Availability- In many places in India, enough schools are not available. India has one school per ~1800 people. This ratio is very high. It also means that there are various regions within India where this ratio is even worse. The Student Classroom Ratio (SCR) and the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR), though improved in recent times, are still not optimal. In 26% of the schools the SCR is higher than 30. The PTR is 23 for India, as compared to 16 for China. Often times the school buildings are very far from a lot of villages so some children are not able to go. This has been solved to some extent by introduction of roaming teachers, one teacher schools which run anywhere and don’t need a building etc.
• Accessibility- A lot of people don’t have access to schools because of their socioeconomic status. People who are poor, are disadvantaged in some form or are from lower rung of the society, often find it very hard to go to school. Since child labor is still prevalent in some areas of India and it is almost impossible for these children to go to school. Some societies in India still practice gender discrimination and it is not acceptable for girls to go to schools for education.
• Acceptability- The type of education is also an issue. For example, sexual education is not deemed fit to be taught in a lot of places. Many people would rather not send their kinds to schools where this is taught. Secular and scientific education which goes against someone’e religious beliefs is also an issue.
• Adaptability- The curriculum in some places might be such that the people are not able to understand. An English medium school at a remote village will find it very hard to teach people. It might also be that people find no use in it. They might prefer vocational education far more than theoretical. India also has hundreds of languages. A central system of education doesn’t benefit all the people.

As discussed at the beginning of this essay, education is absolutely vital for multi-dimensional development of a person and its denial for any reason is a gross violation of basic human rights.