Spatial and social disparities in educational status: a case of mayurbhanj district in odisha, india

Being socio-economically backward and culturally rich Odisha (previously known as ‘Orissa’) is one of the important states in Eastern part of India. It occupies a special position in the tribal map of India. Out of 30 districts 9 are considered as tribal district (according to Location Quotient value) and of the total population (41,947,358) a significant share (22.1%) goes to tribal people (8,145,081). According to 2011 Census the literacy rate of the state is 73.45% which is almost same as of literacy rate of India (74.04%). Though previous researches show that in case of education there are significant disparities in the state among the districts. In this paper an attempt has been made to investigate the spatial disparity in education at block levels in terms of caste and gender in Mayurbhanj District of Odisha, as this district has the second highest proportion of STs (56.6 per cent) and highest concentration of schedule tribe population (Location Quotient value is 2.56). The overall objective of this study is to obtain a better understanding of disparities and variations in educational status in Mayurbhanj, Odisha. This study includes: (1) an analysis of present educational status at block level; (2) an intra-regional educational disparities; (3) identification of probable factors responsible for such variations, and (4) remedial measures required to overcome the problems of educational development. To measure the disparities we have used (i) Disparity index in literacy with the help of Sophers’ Disparity Index, (ii) Co-efficient of Equality in Education, (iii) Gender Parity Index in Enrolment and (iv) Teacher- Student ratio. Maps have been prepared on the above-mentioned indicators based on secondary data using Arc-GIS software v.9.3. It is clear from the analysis that the educational conditions in the district has improved remarkably over the years but educational disparities in terms of caste and gender continue to be a major problem mostly in tribal and backward areas.