Elementary Education in Tribal India- Education Vs. Welfare Department Schools

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Elementary education is considered the bedrock of any development and therefore, the curriculum of primary education and the working strategies for running of primary schools are very vital aspects Different agencies are engaged in spreading of primary education in tribal areas and, of course, they have their own resources and working strategies As such the performances of schools of different agencies vary India is a multiethnic country and there are many tribal communities that are dispersed in forest-dominated hilly and mountainous areas It has not yet been possible for the School and Mass Education Department to access all these areas due to various constraints. Therefore, the Welfare Department has established many special schools in TSP areas with a view to providing better education to the tribal pupils residing therein.

The present book speaks about the strategies of functioning of primary schools established in Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) areas by two different government departments, viz., School and Mass Education Department and Welfare Department, and highlights how do these schools perform comparatively in two eastern Indian states, namely Orissa and Chhattisgarh. The important aspects discussed in this work include features of special schools and the government educational schemes, location of schools and their accessibility, physical condition of schools, number of classrooms and space available for pupils, indoor and outdoor facilities available for students, availability of teaching aids and study materials, number of classes and teachers available, medium of instruction parental awareness and mobilization, management of school administration, etc. The performance of schools is highlighted in terms of enrolment and attendance, retention and dropout, academic achievement, etc. It also speaks intensely of the reasons of irregular attendance and dropout cases.

The book is very useful for the academicians, researchers, students, administrators, public action planners, civil societies and all those who are interested in this area of study.

R.P. MOHANTY (b. 1963), researcher in Social Anthropology has constantly been focusing on the contemporary issues for the last 18 years. After taking his MA, M.Phil, and Ph.D. degrees in Anthropology from Utkal University, Orissa, he has so far contributed 60 research papers to various journals, edited books, encyclopaedias, ethnographic atlases, etc. and authored nine books including this one. His earlier books are concerned with the problems of Dalits and their development, social situation of elderly populations, gender issues in simple and complex societies, family welfare and adoption of contraceptives, problems of street children in growing urban centres, in situ development of primitive hill tribes, primary education for tribal students etc. He has contributed his expertise to 30 research projects and authored 18 research project reports. His pioneering work is concerned with the Bonda Highlanders, the most primitive tribal community of Eastern India.

Presently he is based at Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies, Orissa, (Co-sponsored by ICSSR, New Delhi and Government of Orissa) and engaged in identification of vulnerable groups from the broader Indian masses and the social situation of spastics, and evaluation of National Child Labour Project in Orissa. His areas of interest include: problems and development of ST and SC communities, current social problems, ethnographic studies, caste studies, education, displacement and rehabilitation, in situ development of hill swiddeners, peasant economy, rural labour, etc.

D.N. BISWAL (b. 1965), gold medallist in Anthropology at graduation, has bagged her professional degrees in the subject, M.A. to PhD from Utkal University. She has worked as a researcher in some professional institutions of the state of Orissa and has also served a leading public school as its headmistress. Nowadays she has devoted herself to the socio-economic development of the weaker sections, especially the tribal communities of western Orissa.

She has authored four books including this one Her areas of interest include displacement and rehabilitation of denizens, tnbal development, political institutions of simple Societies, etc.

Elementary Education is considered as an indispensable agent of development. Therefore, right from the very beginning of planning, India has been showing its utmost concern and commitment towards the spread of primary education throughout the country. With a view to spread it in the remote and forest dominated areas where the tribal communities reside, special schools have been established under the Tribal Welfare Department as a special measure where the tribal children enjoy many educational and related facilities. This, the government has done to protect the broader interests of the simple societies who have been lagging behind the mainstream since remote past. After several years of implementation of primary education, India is now thriving on three basic aspects, such as (1) Universal access and enrolment, (ii) Universal retention of children up to 14 years of age and (ii) Substantial improvement in the quality of education to enable education to achieve essential level of learning. These thrusts are common for all categories of schools and sufficient amount of money is being spent on this. But, in many cases the performances of Government and Welfare Department schools do not come out at par with of each other. This happens because of various situational aspects and age-old chronic problems. Such problems need to be sorted out without delay and critically examined. This would certainly help the planners to rectify the existing loopholes and hindrances of the whole primary educational system. Keeping this broad objective in mind, the present study makes a comparative picture on the performance of schools functioning under School and Mass Education Department and Welfare Department in two different localities of the country viz Sundargarh district of Orissa and Raigarh district of the state of Chhattisgarh where quite a good number of tribal people have been residing as the autochthones since the times of yore and the government has been spending huge amount of money to bring them into the mainstream.