TRIBAL EDUCATION SYSTEM:ARE WE DOING ENOUGH?

Tribal Education System: are we doing enough?
In the Indian Education System, education has limited connotation. It is largely concerned with the existing formal structure of education and the institutionalized methodology of imparting knowledge to individuals. Within this very system exist many sub-groups of individuals with specific needs and tribals are one of them. In fact tribals form a large group of individuals in the Indian society. For several historical, economic and social reasons the scheduled groups have remained economically backward and socially retarded even to this day. This is true with respect to their educational levels and they are the most illiterate lot of Indian society.
Their illiteracy has shaped the people perception in such a way that they are thought to be a primitive, uncultured group whose youth are not worthy of being student. I can still remember an incident when I was studying in a coaching institute for my civil services preparation. In one of my general studies class we were taught about different tribal cultures, and the teacher mentioned munda culture in passing. One of the students in the class asked the lecturer who the Mundas were. The lecturer showed contempt and said, "a kind of jungly people." The students had a good laugh. One of the students in the class, who knew that my friend kiku mahto belonged to that tribe, turned and pointed towards him, saying, "One of them is here." They all laughed louder. On another occasion in our Anthropology class when the teacher was teaching about the different marriage practices prevalent among Munda tribes, one of the girls sitting close to me said insultingly “now we have to study with these junglees”, pointing towards kiku. Kiku heard that statement and walked out of the lecture hall and for next ten days he did not appear in the coaching institute. These incidents really shake me and made me think why people behave to them in such inhuman way. I came to conclusion that it’s their illiteracy which is the biggest impediment in their assimilation to the mainstream and until and unless these people are brought into the mainstream these slur will continue. Now the most important question arises here is why these people remained educationally backward when on one hand government report indicate that there is no scarcity of schools, other facilities or scholarship for the implementation of tribal education scheme.
These questions were answered when I visited kiku’s village in chaibasa district of jharkhand. There was a small school building with thatched roof which could hardly accommodate 20 students. When I inquired about the number of student in the school the teacher replied “though there are 72 students from this and the neighbouring village but most of them remain absent”. When I inquired about the reason of their absence one of the students said,” our village is 3 km from here and many student come from even more far areas so its not possible for many of us to come to school daily”. Kiku told me that this is the only school in 5km periphery.
Among the various important factors of tribal education that influence integration into the national mainstream of life are the students and their teachers. Most of the time Tribal students have different backgrounds from their non-tribal teachers, who are normally outsiders and do not understand the tribal students. To the teachers, tribal students appear untidy, reinforcing their biases against tribals. These biases are expressed in various forms of discrimination. One of theTribal youth told me that teachers did not teach them in the schools because they believed that if they did, the tribal students would no longer be dependent on them.
One of the important grudge which I found among the student of this school was their educational schedule - the school year, daily classes and holidays which is organized with little understanding of tribal cultures. One of the student said” we have to come to school even in our festivals and celebrations.” The seasonal pursuit of agriculture and gathering are not taken into consideration in planning educational timetables. All too often teachers hold classes as they would in cities or towns, ignoring the daily or seasonal habits of tribal pupils.
The village I visited was of munda tribes and the dialect spoken by the villagers was mundari. While adult males were often bilingual, the women and children spoke tribal dialects almost exclusively. Yet, a tribal child, on entering school, is suddenly expected to understand the state language. Children cannot understand the teacher, let alone answer questions. Many teachers assume that tribal students are slow; even if the teachers are sympathetic, overcoming this language barrier requires a great deal of effort. It would help considerably if tribal pupils were taught, during their first years in school, in their tribal language. They could then be gradually encouraged to learn the regional language.
The Constitution of India, under Article 350A, affirms that every state must provide adequate facilities for instruction of pupils in their mother tongues. Decades have passed and state governments have ignored this prescription for tribal people. Since initial instruction to the tribals is given in a foreign language, they understand and assimilate very little. Consequently, their response to education is poor. Had the instruction at the primary stage been in their own tongue, the progress of tribal students would have been better, and today there would be awareness of the importance of literacy among the tribal populations. Some attempts are being made to educate Gonds, Bhils, Santals, and other groups in their own tongues. According to recent reports, tribal children are responding well to such programs but I could not find any text in mundari dialect there.
My visit to that small village in chaibasa made me realize why despite various effort of the government, education is not making much headway among the remote tribal population. A fresh look in the government policy is badly needed. The content and the method of tribal education must be objectively evaluated. Tribal youth have unique historical and social backgrounds but need special attention and orientation in their attempts to bridge two cultures. Many school and college curricula which tribal youths encounter are either irrelevant to them and/or offer only negative views of tribal societies. While national and state governments, in theory, offer many benefits, concessions and facilities to tribal students, few of them reach the intended recipients. Tribal youth, even while they Study at the secondary and college levels, should, be encouraged not to jettison their own cultures and to remain integrated in their own societies but try to join the mainstream of Indian society. Then only the fruits of development can be evenly harnessed by every tribal and the non tribals perception of tribals as junglee is going to change.