Abstract
How does a school dropout navigate livelihood alternatives? Does transition for an early-school dropout vary from that of a high-school dropout? Recent research in these scenarios of post-school transition to employment has highlighted the influences of extraneous factors like socio-economic status (SES) and influences of the local labour market area (LMA). However, the labour market effects that condition livelihood options may not be the same in the context of a developing country like India, where the proportion of unorganized employment sector is relatively higher with the social context as well as basic education achievement particularly challenging for women.
This chapter examines a unique case study located in an urban slum environment in India that traces the trajectories/pathways adopted by poor urban slum-dwelling women to navigate various livelihood alternatives that are outside the mainstream school education. It further highlights the leadership roles these women assume to traverse these pathways. It traces the gender-related opportunities and constraints, as well as a reliance on life skills, calling into question interventional strategies of education for livelihood outcomes.
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Notes
- 1.
Interview with Project Director Subrat Dash, 15 September 2015.
- 2.
National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) facilitates re-entry into the formal education system for school dropouts and others who have not had access to prior formal education. A learning credit system allows them to seek high school certification through a structured instruction and examination system. http://www.nios.ac.in
- 3.
Interview with Mamata Mallick on 28 Aug 2015.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Sobhi Mohanty, Project Director, UMBC, for sharing her insights and providing access to the history and proceedings of the UMBC, Bhubaneswar. The conceptualization of the project from inception to today is due to her passion and vision. The authors are also grateful to Subrat Dash, who is currently leading the project, for facilitating the interviews with the participants and providing crucial support in collating the information and inferences for this study.
It goes without saying that we thank all the participants in our interviews and our visits to the UMBC, particularly Mehran Bibi and Mamata Mallick for spending time with us and sharing their experiences with openness. Their life stories are both concerning and inspiring to learners, starting with us.
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Pattanayak, S., Peri, N. (2018). Informal Education and Learning Pathways: Supporting Livelihood Trajectories of Indian Women in an Urban Slum. In: Pavlova, M., Lee, JK., Maclean, R. (eds) Transitions to Post-School Life. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 41. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6476-0_7
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