Education, poverty and social exclusion: Assessment of youth leaving care.

Abstract

Amartya Sen's (2000) Human Capability Approach considers education as one among the most crucial indicators of human development, and a means to reduce poverty and social exclusion. Education has remained inaccessible and unaffordable to a significantly large section of people, mainly vulnerable children and youth in developing nations like India. Poverty, social exclusion and education are interrelated, and development in any one is dependent on the other two. Upon turning 18 years of age, youth who have lived in child care institutions are expected to leave care, fend for themselves, and transition into independent life without any further support and guidance. While they may receive basic education and vocational training in care, it falls short of quality higher education that is the stepping stone towards independent life. This neglect in education support during childhood translates to poverty and exclusion in adulthood, as this population of youth, also referred to as Care Leavers, are restricted to careers with pay often below minimum wages. In an assessment of the situation of such youth in five different States of India, Udayan Care, an NGO working with children and youth, found that most of the Care Leavers were forced to compromise with their education and take up jobs with lesser remuneration. This study examines the interrelatedness of education, poverty and social exclusion among Care Leavers through secondary literature and empirical data from Udayan Care's national study, analysing the findings from the lens of the Capability Approach of Amartya Sen. This descriptive research with a mixed methods design employs convenient sampling to study the subject. The research highlights the gaps in the present provisions of educational support to Care Leavers and its subsequent limitations to address challenges of poverty and social exclusion of this population, also making recommendations on ways to improve Care Leavers’ outcomes, in the light of expostulations of human development focus.