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Report of the State Level Seminar on Tribal Education in Orissa: Issues and Intervention

held at Pantha Nivas, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India

April 10-12 2006

Summary

This 27-page document is a report from a three day state-level seminar conducted by the Orissa Primary Education Programme Authority (OPEPA) in Pantha Nivas, Bhubaneswar in order to review issues in tribal education and formulate strategies for interventions.

According to this report, the seminar began with a keynote address, from Prof. Dr. D.P. Patnaik, Ex-Director, Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in Mysore, which presented the context - issues and problems relating to the life and education of tribal people. According to the Dr. Patnaik, in Orissa, tribal communities constitute one quarter of the total population. Their voices for their own development have not been taken into consideration and the existing system of education is an imposition which the tribal communities are neither able to accept nor reject, as the system does not fit within their cultural context. Several presentations followed, focusing on teacher training to both sensitise them to the issues faced by tribal communities and to introduce them to ways of integrating tribal communities into their classrooms.

The report of the first day of presentations and discussions included the following suggestions:

  • The state should come out with a state education policy that reflects and includes tribal children and families.
  • Mother-tongue should be used as the chief medium of instruction.
  • There is a need for updating existing curricula and syllabi to be appropriate for multi-lingual situations.
  • English should begin after post primary.
  • Special community mobilisation programmes need to be designed to cement a school-community relationship.
  • Attitudinal training for teachers is needed, to sensitise them to tribal issues and culture.
  • Formation of an Education Advisory Board should happen.

  • Each school must have its own "School Development Plan" within which could be used to guide the students, teachers, and community.
  • The experience of the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) on tribal education is a foundation to replicate in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) districts.

  • In-situ efforts of tribal organisation for education should be promoted (Santali society, Saora Mandali, Gond Mahasabha etc.)

  • Care should be taken when dealing with primitive tribes for their education.
  • In principle, change input should be framed for primitive tribes without disturbing or dis-figuring their socio-cultural set up.

The report of the second day of presentations and discussions included the following suggestions:

  • There is a difference between "language teaching" (a curriculum supporting the learning of a specific language) and "teaching through language" (teaching any number of curricula through the student's mother tongue language). It is important to teach tribal children "through language" and not through "language teaching". A difference between school language and home language has been proven to lead to lower achievement and school drop out of tribal children.
  • Text books should not be the only support materials for tribal children; knowledge from the local community should be made available to the children.

  • Teaching through language should be accompanied by child-centred learning, described by presenters as having the following nature: Learner centered, Active, Solving problems, Team work, and Self discovery (LASTS).

The thrid day started with group discussions, in which the groups expressed their concern about capacity building and noted the following:

  • There is no convergence between the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) Department and the School & Mass Education Department.

  • The relationship between governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is invisible.
  • Community involvement in school activities is very discouraging.

  • District Institute Of Education & Training (DIET) - Sarva Shikha Abhiyan (SSA) relation is not linked up.

  • The capacity of the DIET / State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in addressing tribal education is still a challenge.

  • Accountability is lacking among the stakeholders

  • The Block Resource Centre (BRC) / Cluster Resource Centre (CRC)'s role in the context of tribal education is not clear.

  • Intra-unit relation in the District Planning Committee (DPC) and Deputy Inspector (DI) offices is favourable.

  • Resource mapping is lacking; even when the resource persons and institutions are available they are not properly involved.

  • There is a lack of synergy among the departments.

The report notes additional presentations on monitoring and evaluation of tribal education in which the importance of understanding the weaknesses of the existing systems was suggested, in order to develop a realistic workable monitoring plan. More research on school failures and school successes was identified as an additional need.

For an electronic copy of this report, please contact Mahendra Kumar Mishra at mkmfolk@gmail.com

Contact

Mahendra Kumar Mishra

mkmfolk@gmail.com

Source

Email from Mahendra Kumar Mishra to The Communication Initiative, June 15 2006. Please also see Orissa.net, Bhubaneswar, April 11 2006: "Now, mother tongue to woo tribal kids".


Placed on the Communication Initiative site December 22 2006
Last Updated December 22 2006


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