1. EDUCATION AND CLASS
9/8/2015
Response paper- Sociology of education, APU(Bangalore)
Pooja Jayaram
INTRODUCTION
Social stratification refers to the division of the society in a
manner that it leads to inequality and unequal distribution of
power. The society has been stratified on different grounds
ever since humans started to practice agriculture. Across the
world, the society has been stratified on the basis of colour (
like in the USA), caste ( in India), class and gender.
This paper aims to see the change in class structure in
Bangalore after the economic liberalization in 1991. We would
first start with understanding the history of Bangalore and
how it was before 1991. Later we shall analyze the impact this
has made on the economy and subsequently on the education
sector.
HISTORY OF BANGALORE

2. The modern city of Bangalore was set up by Kempa Gowda in
1537. It was declared as the capital of Mysore state( later
changed to Karnataka in1973) in 1956
Bangalore (now changed to Bengaluru) is one of the sought
after city for professionals across the country. It initially
developed as a cantonment in 19th
and early 20th
century. A
cosmopolitan city with a pleasant climate, Banaglore is often
regarded as pensioner’s paradise. The late Prime Minister of
India, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru regarded it as “India’s city of the
future”.
PRE LIBERALIZATION ERA
Bangalore was one of the fastest developing cities post
independence. It hosts one of biggest Public Sector
Undertakings in India, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HUL)
which was setup in 1940. It also hosts Bharat Electronic
Limited setup in 1954 by the Ministry of Defence. In this
manner Bangalore became the favorite destination for
industrialist to set up their industries. These include some of
the biggest engineering companies of those times like HMT
and Kirloskar.
During the same time, two major institutions DRDO( Defence
Research and Development Organisation and ISRO( Indian

3. Space Research Organisation were set up to create rich
scientific and technical human resource pool.
Apart from these, the traditional industries silk and
sandalwood also started to expand. Few successful companies
set up in this time was the Karnataka Silk Industries
Corporation and Gokuldas Exports. The Karnataka Silk
Industries Corporation was set up in 1981. The 100% pure
silk processed there is exported across the world. The current
turnover of KSIC is Rs.35,000 lakhs. Gokuldas Exports that
was setup in 1979 pioneered in designing women casuals. It
also partnered with Levi Strauss & Company, tied up with
Weil-France for suits.
We observe that even before liberalization, human
development became the area which the government wanted
to develop. Establishment of reaserch institutes also tells us
that the city was already gearing up and preparing itself for
the economic reform (1991)
POST LIBERALIZATION ERA
Post liberalization, Bangalore has expanded far and wide.
Between 1993 and 2004, the IT city grew at a rate of 20.76%
annually. There was a big shift from primary to tertiary
sector. While in 1980, primary sector contributed 20% to the

4. GDP, in 2004 its contribution to the GDP was less than 2%. A
young and educated city, whose economy is best suited for IT
industry and also experiences a lovely climate, Bangalore had
all of it thus it became a favourite place for industrialists like
Narayan Murty and Azim Premji to setup their empire. This
rapid expansion of software sector has had a big impact on
the Gross Domestic Income. The growth is tabulated below
YEAR GROSS DOMESTIC
INCOME
1980-81- 1993-94 5.32%
1993-94-1999-00 10.79%
1999-00-2004-05 9.29%
Source: KARNATAKA DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2007
CLASS AND EDUCATION
The 1991 liberalization has made a tremendous impact
in the service sector in India, especially in Bangalore.
This aim of this paper is to see the relation between
different economic class and their preference for the
type of schools.
To see the relation people between these two, survey
was carried in these three classes namely lower class

5. (daily wage labourers, coolies or construction workers),
middle class( working as clerks, admin staff, owning
small shops etc) and higher class. (working as
managers, senior managers)
1.1 LOWER CLASS
OCCUPTN. MONTHLY
INCOME
CAREER
OPTION
GOVT. /
PVT.
SCHOOL
IDLY
SELLER
1500-2000 Good job- GOVT.
TAROT
CARD
READER
500-700 Good job GOVT
MAID 2000 Any job
apart from
the one
that we do
GOVT.
MAID 2500 Govt. job GOVT.
CLEANER 3000 “big man” GOVT.
HIGHLIGHTS
1.People coming from this class of the society are
unable to afford a private school, hence they send
them to a public school.
2.They look at education as mode of uplifting their
financial situation. 80% of them responded saying

6. “big man”.
3.This idea of “big man” tells us that they don’t
exactly know why education is important but they
have a strong faith that it will surely uplift them.
1.2 PETTY BOURGEOISIE
Marx believed that there are three main class-
capitalists, works and a community of small merchants,
juice shop owners which he referred as “petty
bourgeoisie”.
An independent survey was taken on these “petty
bourgeoisies” and their responses were recorded in the
following table
OCCUPAT
N.
MONTHL
Y
INCOME
CAREER
OPTION FOR
THEIR
CHILD
SCHOOL
PRF.
SHOPKEEP
ER
5,000 INDIAN
ADMINISTR
ATIVE
SERVICES
PRIVATE
SCHOOL
OWN
MICRO
BUSINESS
6,000 ENGINEERIN
G
PRIVATE
SCHOOL
SHOPKEEP
ER
4,0000 ENGINEERIN
G
PRIVATE
SCHOOL
PHOTOCO
PY SHOP
5,000 GOVERNME
NT SERVICE
GOVT.
SCHOOL

7. JUICE
SHOP
OWNER
4,000 DOCTOR PRIVATE
SCHOOL
HIGHLIGHTS
1.90% of people interviewed, wanted their ward to
study in a private schooling with a assumed belief
that their ward will be able to speak better “English”,
hence will farewell in life.
2.It was also observed that none of the people
interviewed wanted their ward to take their parent’s
current profession ward. This response highlights
that these “petty bourgeoisie” aspire to move
towards the capitalist class as Marx predicted.
3.This survey also threw a light on deterioration notion
of government schools in Bangalore.
4.People are now more aware about the importance of
education and are willing to earn more to pay for the
education expenses.
1.3 CAPITAISTS
The third group of people whom were interviewed were
the HIGHER CLASS which Marx referred as the
CAPITALIST. Mark believed that only two class i.e
CAPITALIST and WORKER CLASS exists. He believed
that the petty bourgeoisies would move to either of the
two group over a period of time. Weber on the other
hand modified the class structure presented by Marx

8. saying that there is a sub sect that exists under the
CAPITALIST. These people are the one who actually
run the company.
For this paper let us refer this section of people as
“CAPITALIST”
The table below tabulates their responses
SCHOOL
PREFEREN
CE
CAREER
OPTION
FOR
YOUR
CHILD
Which
school
did you
study
in?
EDUCATI
ON
QUALN.
PROFE
SSION
LPS
Engineer
ing/
Architect
ure GOVT.
ENGINEE
R IT
Home
schooling Depends LPS
B.Tech
Civil
Engineeri
ng
Educati
on
IS
Anything
the child
wants LPS
Mphil
Phd
Educati
on
HPS
Whateve
r they
wish to
pursue HPS
Graduate
in
Science IT

9. HPS
Engineer
ing/
Architect
ure LPS
Post
graduate
in
Comm. IT
HPS Medicine GOVT.
Bachelor
of
Engineeri
ng IT
HPS
Their
choice GOVT.
Post
graduate
in Arts
Pharma
cy
HPS
Let him
choose GOVT.
Graduate
in
Science IT
HPS- HIGH INCOME PRIVATE SCHOOL; LPS- LOW
INCOME PRIVATE SCHOOL; IS- INTERNATIONAL
SCHOOL
HIGHLIGHTS
1.75% people wish to send their ward to a private
school. Also one can see that people are in favour
of HOME SCHOOLING” as they don’t want their
child to victim of our current education system.
2.62.5% of people are coming from a science
background and amongst them only 33% people
want their ward to pursue Engineering/ Medicine
(commonly perceived as “superior” courses). This

10. throws some light on the fact that parents are
becoming more liberal in giving freedom to their
child to pursue of their choice.
3.50% of people studied in government school and
all of them prefer sending their ward to a private
school. This mindset shows that people strongly
feel that government school fair to deliver good
quality education.
CONCLUSION
NUMBER OF PRIMARY AND HIGHER PRIMARY SCHOOLS
IN BANGALORE
Source: DIES annual Bangalore district data
( Schools here refers to lower primary and higher
primary schools (I-VII) in Bangalore)
STUDENT ENROLLMENT IN GOVERNMENT AND
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Year Government
schools
Private
schools
2002 619 920
2003 628 1010
2004 675 1270
2005-06 675 1,270
2006-07 666 1375
2007-08 665 1333

11. Year Government
schools
Private
schools
2002 1.43,215 2,33,800
2003 1,64,446 2,97,457
2004 1,88,820 3,62,142
2005-06 1,67,385 3,00,291
2006-07 1,79,814 4,02,501
2007-08 1,79,840 4,13,811
Source: DIES annual Bangalore district data
( Schools here refers to lower primary and higher
primary schools (I-VII) in Bangalore)
1. The rapid growth of Bangalore’s economy is seen
to be directly proportional to the student
enrollment in private schools in the city. This is in
my view is a serious concern that the
government.
2. In 2002, student enrollment in private schools
was 38.7% more than government schools.
3. By 2007, student enrolled in private school were
more than double compared to those enrolled in

12. a government school.
4. The growth in income in Bangalore after bought
in a lot of changes class structures and their
education preference. As the income increases,
institution preference for education moves up.
5. The number of government schools in Bangalore
is substantially less than the private schools.
6. Like Marx pointed out, petty bourgeoisies are
trying to move up the class ladder and aspiring
to be a part of the capitalist class. In their
opinion it is the good quality (delivered in private
schools) that will accelerate this growth.
The desire to move up the economic ladder amongst
people is increasing at a faster pace. Parents are
beginning to see education as a tool to uplift their
economic status. They are now willing to shed extra
money from their pocket to ensure their ward gets the
best education available. A good quality education will
get a person a high salary job that will eventually
remove the class stratification.
BIBLOGRAPHY and REFERENCE
 Karnataka Development Report, 2005
 DIES district report 2002-08

13.  Economic growth in India and Bangalore by Caroline Louie
 HAL website: http://hal-india.com/
 BEL website: http://www.bel-india.com/