The global economic crisis, poverty and education: a perspective from India

Abstract

Debates on the global economic recession have failed to draw adequate attention to the meaning of the crisis for the poor and their education, especially in later developing societies. In this paper, I focus on the education of children of the poor in India – a country that has experienced economic slowdown rather than recession. Available research suggests that the economic slowdown is likely to have resulted in large numbers of informal sector workers slipping into poverty, adversely affecting the education of their children. However, I argue that poverty and the education of the poor has to be looked at in a context much broader than the global recession or the national economic slowdown. I refer in particular to the neoliberal discourse advocating low‐cost private schools as solutions to the education of poor children, a discourse that preceded the meltdown. I argue that while publicly funded schooling in India is certainly in need of an overhaul, the private school agenda is driven by markets and profits and a reduced role of the state in education. There are serious implications that follow that must be urgently addressed.