Educational exclusion and socio-cultural constraints for tribal women in the Ganderbal district

Using a phenomenological approach, this study aims at understanding tribal females' educational deprivation due to socio-cultural limitations. The study, conducted in the Ganderbal district of Kashmir in 2022, included 30 women. A semi-structured interview schedule and observation method was used to collect data, which was analyzed with Moustakas' modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen phenomenological approach. We identified four themes associated with women's challenges in their communities: (a) poverty, domestic duties, and co-education challenges, (b) cultural and structural barriers, (c) economic exploitation, early marriage, and gender bias and (d) intersection of marginality. Deep-seated cultural norms favoring men's education and relegating women to domestic roles hampered tribal women's access to education. These norms, in turn, resulted in detrimental practices such as child marriage, forced labor, child labor, exclusion from the market, social alienation, exploitation and backwardness, poor decision-making power, and increasing school dropouts. To promote educational inclusion among tribal members, it is necessary to implement National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 fully and make both tribal men and women aware of the impact of socioeconomic and cultural exclusion on their mobility.