Low Literacy – Anthropology by K.V RAMESH

Introduction

Aiyappan (1946), M.N. Basu (1955), Das Gupta (1962), Haimendorf (1962, 1976), A.R.N. Srivastava (1976) and several other anthropologists studied the problem of tribal education and suggested some remedial measures.

As per Census 2011, the rate of literacy in India is 72.99% whereas that of it in scheduled tribes is 59%. Though the Government had made several efforts for the educational development of tribals these groups lag behind their non-tribal counters parts. Absenteeism, stagnation and a large number of dropout characterise tribal education. The proportion of enrolment is less that the population proportion of scheduled tribes. In the primary school stage, the dropout rate among them is alarming. The scheduled tribes are lagging behind in all spheres of development because of poverty, geographical isolation and other socio-cultural constraints.

Causes of slow progress in tribal literacy:
Main Causes of slow Progress in Literacy

1. Poverty of the parents.
2. Contents of education
3. Inadequate educational institution and supporting services.
4. Absenteeism,
5. Medium of institution, and
6. Education policy.

1. Poverty of the Parents.
For the poverty-ridden parents, education of their children is luxury which they can hardly afford. The children assist their parents in earning their livelihood. Grown-up children also took after the younger ones when the parents go out for work either as cultivators or as labourers. Absence of child care centres,
crèches, Balwadis etc., in the remote tribal areas, also has to share the blame for depriving the children of the poor parents of the facility of education.

2. Contents of Education
The curriculum of education for the tribals has to be carefully evolved. It has to take into consideration the socio-cultural milieu of the Scheduled Tribes. Presently the general contents of education have been extended to the tribal areas which in many cases are not relevant, particularly at the primary stage.

3. Inadequate Educational Institution and Supporting Services.
The tribal areas suffer from inadequacy of educational institutions, boarding and lodging facilities. Even where centres have been opened, about 40 per cent of them are without buildings. The supporting services, such as the incentives in terms of scholarships, book banks, etc., are very insignificant and generally do not attract the children.

4. Absenteeism
In the tribal areas the problem of absenteeism of the teachers is one of the important factors affecting the education. They generally remain absent for days together due to absence of supervision over them and also due to lack of dedication to the cause of education of the tribals. The children and also the
parents, cannot afford to waste their time and generally apt to drop out from the schools.

5. Medium of Instruction
For the tribals the medium of instruction in the schools is a difficult problem. Even after 40 years of Independence we have not been able to provide education to the tribals in their mother tongue. The tribal children are not generally able to follow the lessons given to them in the school in the language which is totally alien to them. The tribals, undoubtedly, form linguistic minority groups and are entitled to facility of instruction in their mother tongue at the primary school stage. Article 350 (A) of the Constitution specifically provides for adequate facilities for instruction in mother tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups. The President has also been vested with the power of issuing directives to any state for this purpose.

6. Education Policy
So far there is no clear educational policy for the tribal areas. Inspite of the recommendations and suggestions of various Committees and Commissions, no policy for the tribal areas has been evolved. In some states the schools in tribal areas under the control of Education Department. Lack of administrative policy regarding the educational institutions in tribal areas adversely affect the education of the tribals.

Social Problems:

Except north east region all tribes believe education for boys made defiant and separate from their villages and girls will turn to modern or astray.
Some tribal oppose spread of education in their midist.
Superstitious beliefs and myths that some tribes belive that sending their children’s to outsiders run schools cause their gods angry.

Economic Reasons :

Studied by Verrier Elwin and LRN SRIVASTAVA , Beacuse lack food for the whole year and abetment of poverty education luxury for them. Children aid their parent in tasks or taking care of younger ones. Even modern education setup required for 14 to 15 years to earn livelihood .

Lack of Interest in formal Education: Subjects relevant and no guarantee of livelihood even after education but in trinational setup child enter confidently in family life

Suitable Teacher:

Single teacher
Absentism of teachers
Inferior attitude towards tribal students

Lack of Infrastructure facilitates

Ashram Schools:
It was in 1922 that Thakkar Bapa a social reformer initiated the experiment of Ashram school in Panchmal hills of Gujarat for the benefit of tribal children. Later on, he introduced these schools in the states of Maharasthra and Bihar. After independence many voluntary organisations established ashram schools in
Maharasthra, Gujarat and Orissa. Though Government of India made efforts to start ashram schools in the tribal areas during the First Five Year Plan, it was only in the Third Five Year Plan that they gained momentum. These schools were started in the tribal areas to meet the educational needs of tribals living in interior areas where it was no possible to set up modern formal education schools. Ashram schools are residential schools. Free boarding and lodging is provided to inmates of these schools. Along with formal education, skills in crafts and vocations are imported in these schools. Various committees or tribal welfare programmes set up by Government of India have suggested that Ashram schools should be inter-village schools. Ashram schools should be opened in such areas where normal schools cannot be opened and Most backward tribal groups should be covered by tribal schools.

Christians missionaries working in tribal areas were the first to start modern formal education among tribes (in 1831). During this period the illiterate tribes were found to be exploited in various ways by the landlords, moneylenders and other non-tribals. To rescue the Tribals from all these people the missionaries started schools. Besides these missionaries’ voluntary organisations like Bhartiya Adimajati Seva Sangh also spread Formal Education.

Government Initiatives

The Constitution of India provides certain specific and general safeguards for the scheduled tribes to promote their educational and economic interest and to remove their traditional social disabilities. Article 46 of the constitutions lays down a Directive Principle of state policy. It provides that “the state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interest of the people and in particular of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and shall protect them from social injustices and all forms of exploitations.” The government of India has appointed several commissions and committees from time to time to suggest reforms in the educational system in order to meet the new demand of the country. The suggestions made by these committees and commissions form the main basis of the educational policies in India. The following are the National commissions appointed by the government.

1. University Educational Commission 1949)
2. Secondary Educational Commission 1950 to 1953
3. Kothari Educational Commission 1964 to 1968
4. National policy on Educational (1986)
5. Revised policy (1992)
6. New Education policy , 2020

The Kothari Commission made some suggestions to improve the conditions of Scheduled Tribes:

1) Opening of ashram school in the sparsely populated areas
2) Medium of instruction in the first two years would be given in the tribal language and during this period the children should be given oral instruction in the regional language and by the third year the regional language should become the medium of instruction.
3) Should have all the teachers serving in these school.
4) Selection of suitable and promising young men from among these people to train them to work and serve their brothers.

The National Policy on Education 1986, the government document on Education, has a strong bearing on tribal education. Various measures such as the following have been taken in favour of scheduled tribe children’s education:

1) Post metric scholarship for all tribal children,
2) Incentive schemes like supply of books and uniforms,
3) Opening of hostels and schools,
4) Crash programmes for training scheduled tribe teachers with preference to women by relaxing qualifications.
5) Changes in the content of curricula,
6) Preparation of books in tribal languages.

Suggestions:

(i) The content of education should take into consideration the needs and aspirations of the tribal people. The choice of subjects at the primary level should be carefully made. Education should be job-oriented. There should be proper arrangements for vocational education. The curriculum should keep in view the traditional local skills and crafts. The tribals should also be taught elementary civics to familiarise them with their rights and duties.
Inclusion of local culture, folklore and history in the curriculum can help in building confidence of tribal children and enhance the relevance of education in their lives. Music and dance are a central part of tribal life. Therefore, storytelling, theatre, painting, music and dance performances should be promoted. Similarly, sports such as football, archery and other popular local sports are extremely beneficial and therapeutic for children and should be promoted.
(ii) Due priority should be given for opening of educational institution in the tribal areas and construction of school buildings should be undertaken under the National Rural Employment Programmes. In these areas more and more, residential facilities like hostels should be provided to all those who walk more than 4 kms to attend the schools. The curricula should take into consideration the socio-cultural milieu of the tribals.
(iii) The teachers should be selected from the tribals themselves even by relaxing the educational qualifications, in case sufficient number of qualified teachers are not available. The non-tribal teachers who know the tribal language may be selected. Steps should be taken for setting up more and more Balwadis, crèches and child-care centres in the tribal areas. Suitable nutrition programmes should also be carried on in such centres to create among them an awareness about health and balanced diet.
Keeping in view the difficulties of adjusting to a new cultural environment, teachers for schools in the tribal regions should be recruited locally. Along with the teaching staff, the administrative staff dealing with tribal education should have regular orientation courses to appreciate tribal culture and way of life. To facilitate such training, the centres of training should be located in the tribal areas. There should be a separate cadre of teaching and administrative staff, who will serve among the tribal schools over the long run.
New teacher training institutions should be opened in the TSP areas to meet the full requirement of qualified and trained teachers. The curriculum for the training should be drawn up very carefully, taking into account the socio-cultural milieu, tribal ethos, language etc.
The dearth of teachers fulfilling the eligibility criteria set out under the RTE Act is an impediment to achieving the right to education in tribal areas. For addressing the current crisis of absence of teachers in tribal areas, special efforts need to be made to produce more teachers who have qualified the Teachers Ability Test. This must be done on an emergency basis. In the interregnum, teachers appointed in educational institutions must be given a term within which they qualify the Teachers Eligibility Test, and facilities be provided to assist them in taking this test, including training, courses and access to materials.
(iv) Non-formal and vocational education centres are very successful and should be able to provide academic education as well as vocational training to meet the needs of various industrial and other projects set up in the tribal areas. Industrial Training Institutes should take into consideration the tribal needs. Post training care should also be the part of the training programme.
Education should not provide bookish knowledge alone. It should also create interest for better for better life. The tribals equipped with knowledge will not only be able to protect themselves from exploitation but will also be able to take advantage of the various development programmes. The tribals have inherent talent for sports. Their talent in this field should be harnessed. Thus, education plays a key role in the development of the tribes and therefore as laid down in the Directive Principles of States Policy it should be promoted with ‘special care’.
The purpose of education anywhere, including in tribal areas, should be to provide children with an understanding of the environment and society in which they live and to endow them with the capability to earn a livelihood in the local society and, for those who have the desire and ability, in the national job market.
There is a marked gender gap with respect to education in tribal society. This is reflected in the disparity in literacy levels, drop-out rates and enrolment in higher education. Hence, there is a need for greater gender focus and social mobilization to encourage education of girls. The State must develop certain mechanisms to this effect.
Since the educational scenario in tribal areas is marked by poor infrastructure, providing adequate infrastructure, such as classrooms, teachers and teaching aids as well as basic facilities like electricity, water, boundary walls and toilets is absolutely essential for the proper functioning of these schools and from the perspective of security and safety of children.
In view of the deteriorating condition of elementary education in tribal areas, where Sarva Siksha Abhiyan has hardly been of help, recourse should be taken to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 which provides for compulsory enrolment of all children between the age group 6 to 14, re-enrolment of those who have dropped out with the facility of special coaching for admission in a class appropriate to his or her age, and admission of a child in a neighbouring school of his or her choice. The Act should be stringently implemented.
The State Governments should develop a policy for multilingual education, so that early learning is conducted in the local language.
The experiment with the Model Primer developed in Odisha and other similar ventures may be worked upon in TSP areas and in tribal languages in other states as well.
Recognizing that the tribal people have certain cultural ‘genius’, different aspects of ‘indigenous knowledge’ should be documented, researched and promoted. For developing better understanding of the tribal cultures and their promotion, there should be appropriate number of tribal cultural academies in regional centres. An important step in this direction is teaching tribal history and culture in schools for both tribal and non-tribal children.
To address the problem of low representation of the tribals in higher education, it is necessary to refurbish primary and secondary school education through special coaching.
Institutions of ITDAs/ITDPs and micro-projects support to the tribal schools should be strengthened for prevention of dropouts.
The policy of no-detention needs a review. When the student, teachers, or parents of the student request for retention of a child to enable him/her to acquire skills to move to the next class, he/she should be retained.
In light of the harsh terrain of tribal inhabitations, norms concerning distance and Pupil-Teacher Ratio, at all levels of school education, should be reviewed.
The policy of vocational education at the secondary and senior secondary level needs further integration and strengthening.
Residential schools should be set up specifically for Nomadic Tribes. The basic principles are: (a) The residential schools should be in places where the weather is least harsh, (b) there should be special security for the children, including girl children for whom there should be women wardens, (c) the parents of students should be brought to these institutions so that they are informed about the education, and quality of life, of their children, (d) there should be proactive efforts by Tribal Affairs officials of the State to approach every family to help them make an informed choice to send their children to the schools, (e) the holidays for these schools should be fixed in such a way that the children can meet their family, when the family returns to the place where they celebrate festivals, weddings, etc.
In residential schools, which are often in the news for incidents of sexual abuse of students, strong mechanisms should be put in place to protect the students from abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence.
Involvement of community in educational interventions through the Panchayati Raj Institutions needs to be institutionalized. Information on various schemes and benefits to beneficiaries should be provided to the Gram Sabhas and Gram Panchayats, which would create transparency and increase awareness about their entitlements.
There is a need for regular social audits to monitor the functioning of schools. To this end, a monitoring committee at the block level for primary and middle schools and district level for high and higher secondary schools should be set up.
The scope of education needs to be expanded for the purpose of scholarships and should include tribal painting, art, craft, song, music and dance, etc. While the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is now supporting scholarships for students belonging to Scheduled Tribes, the UGC and the MoTA should support scholarships for tribal studies for non-tribal students also. A single window scholarship portal targeting the Scheduled Tribe students should be established to provide information on different scholarship schemes.
Regional Resource Centres in States with significant tribal populations should be established to provide training, academic and other technical support for development of pedagogic tools and education materials catering to multilingual situation.
It is suggested that owing to poor condition of the State Tribal Research Institutes, there is the need to improve the same in terms of infrastructure, quality of staff, research output and direction for policy. It is also recommended that a Central Tribal Research Institute, as has been planned by the Central Government, be launched.
It is recommended that a Tribal Chair be established by the UGC in Universities in every State comprising Fifth Schedule Areas.

Alternate Answer

LIKE all other sectors of socio-economic life, educationally the tribal people are at different levels of development but, on the whole, formal education has made very little impact on tribal groups. In the light of the past efforts it is not shocking because prior to 1950, the Government of India had no direct programme for the education of the tribals. With the adoption of the Constitution, the promotion of education of Scheduled Tribes has become a special responsibility of the Central as well as of the State Governments.

THE growth of formal education among the tribal populations of the country may be gauged from the facts yielded by the census data. The census figures of 1931 disclosed that only 0.7 percent of the tribal people were literate. This percentage rose to 32.60 percent in 1991 against 52.2 percent for the entire country. The literacy rate among the tribal female is obviously much lower. So, the total picture of spread of education among the tribals is not very encouraging, barring a few tribes of north-eastern region like the Khasi, the Garo, etc., who tremendously benefited from the vast network of Christian missionary institutions.

SINCE education is probably the most effective instrument for ensuring equality of opportunity, the tribal people are lagging far behind their more fortunate fellow countrymen due to lack of education. Let
analyse the reasons for this state of affairs.

Social Factors

MORE allocation of funds and opening of schools do not go far in providing education to the tribal people. Social factors play very important role in this respect. Formal education has not been necessary for the members of tribal societies to discharge their social obligations. Hence they should be prepared to accept education and it should be presented to them in such a way to cut the barriers of superstition and prejudice.

BARRING the tribal communities of north -eastern region, it is still a widespread feeling among the tribals that education makes their boys defiant and indolent and alienates them from the rest of their society,
while the girls turn modern or go astray. Since some of their educated boys felt alienated and cut off their links with their families and villages after getting education and good employment, some of the tribal groups vehemently oppose the spread of education in their midst. Besides of their superstitions and myths also play their part. Some tribal groups believe that their gods ,shall be angry if they send their children sent to schools run by their outsiders.

Economic Factors

SOME economic factors, too, are responsible for lack of interest shown by the tribal people in getting education. Since most of the tribal people are living in abject poverty under subsistence economy, it is not easy for most of them , to send their children to schools thus losing two healthy hands in their struggle for survival.

Varrier Elwin (1963) very appropriately sums up the situation in the following way “For a tribal family, to send , its grown up girl or boy to school, is essentially a matter of economics; and entails dislocation in the traditional pattern of division of labour , many parents cannot just afford to send their children to school”.

L.R.N. SRIVASTAVA (1968), on the basis of his survey of educational situation among the tribals, also supports this view by saying that poor economic condition of the tribal societies is a great hindrance to
successful education. Almost all the tribes-whether food gatherers, hunters , fishermen, shifting cultivators, or settled agriculturists lack enough food to maintain the family for the whole year. Education,
therefore, is a luxury to them which they can hardly afford. Each school going child in a tribal family is an economic unit and contributes to the family income. If the child is taken away from his normal economic work to attend school, the family is deprived of the little income which he brings. Instead, the parents have to feed the child out of their earnings which further reduces the economic stability of the family. According to the present system of education any economic benefit a tribal child can bring to his family will be only after ten or fifteen years of schooling. The parents have neither the patience nor the foresight to wait for such a long period. They can, however, be convinced easily if the education for them can be made productive right from the very beginning.

Lack of Interest in Formal Education

SHARMA (1976) has rightly pointed out that the “urban middle class oriented educational system has got superimposed on the entire nation both in terms of its structure and content”. In many states tribal children are taught through the same books which form the curriculum of non-tribal children of the urban and rural areas of the rest of the State. Obviously, the content of such books rarely appeals the tribal children who come from different cultural backgrounds. Stories of scientific and technological progress, founders of modern India, history and geography of the country, etc., of course, form necessary part of any curriculum but the situation demands that their education should start with the teaching of demography, history and ecology of their own region, their neighbourhood and the State. National consciousness should not be imposed from above or outside, but they should be made aware of it in a systematic manner.

L.R.N. Srivastava (1968) puts the problem in a more lucid way by saying that “the tribal child who lives in an isolated and far off place untouched by the currents of modern civilization can hardly assimilate any information about history and geography of the country, about the industrial and technical development, uninteresting and out-dated stories and about the important personalities unknown and unheard of in tribal areas. He has to be given a complete information about his neighbouring communities, his village life, social organization, belief and practices, and then pass on to the national scene where we can introduce him to India which is his country. Then only he can be able to grasp what is happening in his
village, in his state’, in his country, and if possible, in other countries of the world”

THIS is a well known fact that education in India has spread in a haphazard way without taking care of future needs. Tribal education also could not escape this anomaly and became instant failure due to apathy, indifference and lack of interest of the tribal people ill formal education. S.N. Rath(1981) has put forward the following scheme which is not only recommendatory in nature but also analyses the malady with clarity.

(1) Under the traditional tribal set-up a child enters adulthood with confidence. He knows his environment thoroughly, knows how to construct his own house, cultivate his field, weave his cloth; in short he acquires all the skills to lead a reasonably comfortable life within the limitations of his culture. The simple skill of reading and writing acquired in an overformal school is no match for this. We cannot afford to push him back to his environment naked. Therefore, a balance should be struck somewhere to evolve a system of curricula where the tribal school, in addition to being a part of the national scheme, should have a supplementary curriculum adopted to the specific local conditions.

(2) The supplementary curriculum should be biased towards crafts and should inculcate a sense of dignity of labour, qualities of cooperation and social discipline. CERTAIN tribal activities like agriculture, dancing, hunting, tribal games and archery must be allowed to find fullest expression in the extra-curricular activities of the school, thus providing some continuity of the traditional values and forms of organization.

(3). A scheme is to be worked out through which the school children shall be able to link up the school and the teacher with then parents and the tribal activities. The school has to act as a centre of dispersal of simple technical know-how beyond the skills of reading and writing and become an effective agent of social change. This student-teacher-parent continuum should be able to generate a congenial atmosphere, so that the broad purpose of education, which is to enable an average citizen to comprehend the social, political, economic and other processes and forces around him, is fully served.
(4). Needless to say this utopian scheme largely depends upon suitably trained and dedicated teachers.

Suitable Teachers

LACK of suitable teachers is one of the major reasons for the slow growth of education in tribal areas. Most of the teachers employed for imparting education to the tribal children show little appreciation of the tribal way of life and value system. They approach the tribal people with a sense of superiority and treat them as ‘savage and ‘uncivilized and hence fail to establish proper rapport with their students. The Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Commission’s Report, has analysed this situation in the proper perspective. It says that a teacher in the tribal areas must have a thorough knowledge of tribal life and culture. He must speak the tribal language. Only so can he be in a position to act as a friend, philosopher and guide to the tribal people. Actually the gulf between teacher and taught can be best reduced by appointing teachers from the tribal community itself or a separate cadre of teachers for tribal areas, with some inducements, should be created to serve the educational needs of the tribal society.

Lack of Facilities

ONE of the major problem in tribal education is that of language. Most of the tribal languages and dialects are in the most rudimentary stage and there is hardly any written literature. Hence, the problem of medium of instruction has been a great irritant. Most of the states impart education to tribal and non-tribal children alike through the medium of the regional language, thus making education uninteresting to many of the tribal people. It also hurts tribal sentiments for his language. Hence, some way out has to be found to make education meaningful and productive for the tribal people.

NATURE of habitat of the tribals is also responsible for slow growth of education. Most of the tribal villages are scattered. This entails long travels to attend schools. Unless the school is situated very close to their villages and its site approved by the local people the result shall not be encouraging.

SCHOOL building, in some cases, also plays an important role in the growth of education among the tribal folk. Due to mismanagement, bungling and sometimes financial constraints, the building is seldom suitable to run an educational institution. S.N. Rath (1981) has given a very graphic description of the situation by saying that dilapidated, often roofless structures standing as lone sentinels in the midst of a featureless sport away from the village are often pointed out as schools.

ANOTHER factor related with the problem is the number of teachers. Most primary schools in tribal areas are Single teacher-managed whose presence in the school is more an exception than a rule”. Overburdening may be one of the possible factors for this state of affairs. It will be unjust to expect a teacher to follow a non-stop six hourly schedule of teaching as a matter of daily routine.

THE enthusiasm of tribal people in the education of their children also depends considerably on the timing of school hours in different seasons. The school timings should not clash with their important socio-economic activities and events. People running schools for the tribals have often killed their interest in education by their unimaginative planning. Local conditions and requirements of the peopled should get top priority in any scheme for running these schools and a balance has to be maintained between the needs of the family and the needs of education.

Stagnation and Wastage

TO MANY observers of the situation, the problem of education in tribal areas is the problem of wastage. It is not that wastage and stagnation are peculiar to the tribal communities alone but the extent of wastage is much larger in their case. The problem of absenteeism is a serious one in tribal areas. One sees a large number of students on rolls but the actual attendance is really low, and the number of students passing out at the final examinations is even lower. The real problem is to create such economic conditions as could be conducive to the students developing sufficient interest in their studies.