Exploring Rural–Urban Education Divide in India

Abstract

This chapter seeks to explore the rural–urban education divide in India, in terms of access, capability, and opportunity divide that exists between rural and urban India. This chapter defines our research context where we have conducted our empirical studies and highlights how the socioeconomic, political, and socio-psychological context of rural learners hinder effective educational practices in terms of providing access, nurturing capability, and securing opportunity for rural learners. The chapter bears explicit reference to the numerous attempts undertaken both by private and public organizations to implement ICT-driven teaching–learning practices in rural learners, providing access to educational resources along digital lines. Apart from being sporadic, such initiatives majorly lack the credibility to enhance the capability of rural learners because of the rural target group’s alienation from the digital medium. Although these digital initiatives have attempted in improving educational practices in rural India by improving biotic and abiotic entities, they have mostly ignored the context of implementation and remained negligent of the external influencing factors, namely, social, economic, political, and socio-psychological, that marks the disadvantages of rural India and subsequently hamper rural educational practices.