Whose Values? Young People's Aspirations and Experiences of Schooling in Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract

Increasing rates of school enrolment have changed childhoods in the global South, so that it is now the norm for children to attend at least some years of primary school. This paper explores the extent to which valuing of children as educational projects and outcomes may be displacing previous valuations of children as contributors to the domestic economy. The paper draws on qualitative interview data from Young Lives, a longitudinal study of children growing up in four developing countries, using a case study approach to explore the experiences of four children in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. The paper suggests that children are balancing expectations for the future with responsibilities to their families in the present, and concludes that the over‐valuing of formal qualifications and the under‐valuing of forms of work such as agriculture risk being internalised by children, leaving those who do not succeed feeling they are ‘a waste’.

Positive self-concept predicts youth staying in school longer in India

“…Education is rapidly expanding in India, and with the passage of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act in 2009, education became compulsory through primary school at approximately age 14 (Morrow, 2013b). Secondary school begins with ninth grade.…”

“…Nevertheless, private school students tend to be more advantaged than public school students (Muralidharan & Sundararaman, 2015). For youth in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh, attending secondary school may require migrating and living away from family in a dorm (Morrow, 2013b). Beyond secondary school, India has moderate rates of tertiary education, with about one in four men and one in five women enrolling in college (World Bank, 2016a, 2016b).…”

“…The largest sectors of the economy in Andhra Pradesh are agriculture, manufacturing, and services (Rao, 2015). Agriculture is no longer seen as a field for youth to aspire to in Andhra Pradesh, however, and the labor market that youth enter after schooling is uncertain (Morrow, 2013b). …”

“…In the past, parents expressed lower educational aspirations for their daughters, and daughters were less likely to be enrolled in school. More recently, daughters and sons were equally likely to be enrolled in school, but with more money spent on boys’ education (Morrow, 2013b). …”

Lessons from the ‘new’ sociology of childhood: how might listening to children improve the planning of education for development?

“…However, although the rhetoric of capabilities and freedom has been incorporated into contemporary development discourse, particular by UN agencies, the development agendas of both governments in the South and of international agencies and donors continue to focus largely on growth and income, albeit with the 'add-ons' of public services and redistribution, which are to differing degrees rhetorical. Furthermore, the emphasis on individual choice and autonomy in Sen's human development approach is highly compatible with the individualism that underpins human capital and basic needs approaches (Carpenter, 2009;Morrow, 2013). On the other hand, some capabilities theorists have moved beyond this neoliberal individualism, highlighting the importance of collective as well as individual capabilities.…”