Educational Survival in No Man’s Land: A Stateless Girl’s Journey to Education Through Pseudo Parents in India-Bangladesh Enclave

The present study employs a narrative inquiry approach to explore the lived experiences of an enclave student who, due to the lack of an education system in the enclaves, had to arrange pseudo parents to pursue her education within Indian territory illegally. Through this personal narrative, the study highlights the identity crisis, emotional struggles, and socio-educational challenges faced by the student as she navigated her academic journey, ultimately obtaining Indian citizenship. The investigators collected the student’s stories chronologically, retelling them to reconstruct significant life situations that reflect the inner thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that shaped her experiences. By delving into her encounters with the Indian education system and the complexities of her social identity, this study aims to provide an individualized perspective on the broader issue of statelessness and its impact on education and highlights how these experiences of illegality, identity crisis, and marginalization impacted the student's educational journey, social identity and personal development, ultimately leading to their transformation after acquiring Indian citizenship. The audience gains a profound understanding of how the stateless student’s identity crisis and the socio-political circumstances of the enclaves shaped her personal and educational trajectory, offering insight into the resilience and agency required to overcome such adversities. Her story offers critical insights into the complex intersection of identity, legality, and education, shedding light on the hidden struggles of stateless people for education worldwide.