The article, using the National Sample Survey (henceforth NSS) data, establishes that the non-state providers, particularly the private-unaided sub-sector, have predominantly captured the primary school education market in Punjab. The predominance of these schools in the state has made the primary education a tradable commodity, catering to the demands based on the ability of the households to pay. In such a situation, the type of school (government or private) the households in the state are able to choose for their wards, particularly at rural level, is largely contingent on their caste and gender, which clearly shows that a new form of social inequality has emerged in Punjab (given not only that the learning environment in the government schools is perceived to be of formidable concern, but these schools are also non-English medium). The article suggests that without a properly functional state-financed school education system, the market forces will continue to strengthen the prevailing social inequalities.

Keeping constitutional egalitarianism and social justice as primary goals, Indian state has emphasized on making education more inclusive by improving accessibility of socially marginalized sections. When the exclusion has multi-prone dimensions with social, economic and cultural overlapping factors, the present study attempts to observe how much inclusion the process of formal accessibility has provided in a real sense. In this context, the article aims to interrogate the journey of higher education of Dalit in rural Punjab. On the basis of a case study of a government institute, an attempt is made to understand the challenges of Dalit students’ participation in higher education by looking at their day-to-day struggle in terms of social inclusion, financial constraints and sharing of institutional spaces. Based on the qualitative data, collected by semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, the article primarily endeavours to explore what happens after reaching inside the walls of a higher education institute by looking inside processes such as classroom participation; peer interactions; and intersectionality of class, caste and gender. Underlining the significant role of caste in defining the educational experiences of Dalit students and hidden culture of silence in higher education, the findings underscore that emergence of class along caste lines, different face of patriarchy for Dalit females, inaccessibility of affirmative action with daily financial challenges, make the process of inclusion still a distant dream.

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Existing studies on household expenditure on education in India largely focus on the elementary and tertiary levels of education. Until recently, researchers have paid little consideration to examining the issue of household investment at the secondary level of education, especially in the sub-national context. Using a recent primary survey encompassing quantitative and qualitative data, this article examines the levels, patterns and determinants of parental allocation of financial resources for secondary education in Haryana, India. We find that households spend 7.22% of their annual family income per student per annum in secondary education—with stark differences between government (2.26%) and private schools (10.68%). Besides, the complex interplay of socio-economic and cultural factors in the state leads to systematic patterns in the said expenditures, intensifying pro-male gender disparities and deepening the hegemony of the privileged sections (i.e., in terms of a household’s caste, class and educational capital), particularly at the urban and intermediate levels. The study emphasizes the role of policies and practices of the state in pragmatically aiming at the removal of the aforesaid inequalities, inter-alia, by regulating the commercialization of school education in the non-state sector.

With the upsurge of private schools, parents are struggling with a variety of schooling options. Given the exclusionary nature of privatisation, the market has led to the reproduction of social inequality amidst a plurality of choice. By mapping the school choice process, the article aims to explore school choice in the varied socio-economic milieu in a village in Punjab. Based on the qualitative data collected with the help of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs), the study draws linkages between the determinants of school choice and the positionality of parents. The findings of the study dissect the simple yet complex process of school choice along common factors, that is, teachers, quality of education, learning environment, English education and private tutoring. Drawing upon the nuanced analysis of these factors with parental socio-economic background, the study argues that it is important to understand the varied expectations, aspirations and challenges of parents from diverse sections to comprehend the school choice process.