Keynote addess was delivered by Prof.Nityananda Pradhan, Professor of Education and Head, Department of Extension Education, NERIE, NCERT, Shillong, in the National Seminar held on Jan 19, 2015 at Kiraput, Odisha

1. Issues and Challenges of Education
in Tribal Areas
Prof. Nityananda Pradhan
Head, Department of Extension Education,
NERIE, NCERT, Shillong, Meghalaya
E-mail: npradhan17@rediffmail.com.
Mob: 9402394365/9437235670

2. What are Tribal Areas?
• Generally mean areas having predominance
/concentration of tribal population.
• Areas where provisions of Sixth Schedule are
applicable are known as Tribal Areas.

3. What are Tribal Areas?
• The Constitution of India, under Articles 244(2) and
275(1), refers tribal areas within the States of Assam,
Meghalaya, Tripura & Mizoram, i.e. areas specified in
Parts I, II, IIA & III of the paragraph 20 of the Sixth
Schedule .
• In these areas Autonomous District Councils have
been set up.

4. What are Scheduled Areas?
• Indian Constitution, under Article 244(1) of the Fifth
Schedule, defines the term ‘Scheduled Areas’ as
"such areas as the President may by order declare to
be Scheduled Areas”
• The Scheduled Areas, have been declared in eight
States, viz A.P., Bihar, Gujarat, H.P., Maharashtra,
M.P., Odisha and Rajasthan.
• The president may schedule, reschedule and alter
Scheduled Areas in a state after consultation with
the Governor of that state.

5. What are Scheduled Areas?
• The provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply to the
administration and control of the Scheduled Areas
and Scheduled Tribes in any State other than the
States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram
• The provisions of the Sixth Schedule shall apply to
the administration of the tribal areas in the States of
Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram

6. Who are Scheduled Tribes?
• The term ‘Scheduled Tribes’ was first appeared
in the Constitution of India
• Article 366 (25) refers to scheduled tribes as
those communities who are scheduled in
accordance with Article 342 of the Constitution

7. Who are Scheduled Tribes?
• According to Article 342 of the Constitution, ‘the
Scheduled Tribes are the tribes or tribal
communities or part of or groups within these
tribes and tribal communities which have been
declared as such by the President through a
public notification’
• This Article says that only those communities who
have been declared as such by the President
through an initial public notification or through a
subsequent amending Act of Parliament will be
considered to be Scheduled Tribes

8. Who are Scheduled Tribes?
• Scheduled Tribes are notified for each State or Union
Territory and are valid only within the jurisdiction of
that State or Union Territory and not outside.
• The inclusion of a community as a Scheduled Tribe is
an ongoing process.

9. Who are Scheduled Tribes?
The essential characteristics, for a community
to be identified as Scheduled Tribes are:
i. Indications of primitive traits;
ii.distinctive culture;
iii.Shyness of contact with the community at
large;
iv.Geographical isolation; and
v.Backwardness
(Lokur Committee, 1965)

10. Who are Scheduled Tribes?
• No community has been specified as Scheduled Tribe
in the States of Haryana and Punjab, and Union
Territories of Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry.

11. Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs)
• STs who live in near isolation in inaccessible
habitats; and are characterized by a low rate of
growth of population, pre-agricultural level of
technology and extremely low levels of literacy.
• So far 75 PTGs have been identified.

12. Demographic Profile of ST Population:
Highlights from Census 2011
• Constitute a population of 10.42 crore (8.6% of the
country’s total population)
• Number of individual ethnic groups etc. notified as
Scheduled Tribes is 705
• Scheduled Tribes are notified in 30 States/UTs
• No community has been specified as Scheduled Tribe
in the States of Haryana and Punjab; and Union
Territories of Chandigarh, Delhi and Pudcherry.

13. Demographic Profile of ST Population:
Highlights from Census 2011
• Half of the ST population is concentrated in five
States: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha,
Gujarat, and Rajasthan
• More than two-third of the ST population is
concentrated only in the seven States of the country,
viz. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat,
Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh.
• 17 States and 01 UTs have higher % of ST population
than country’s average (8.6%)

14. Demographic Profile of ST Population:
Highlights from Census 2011
• All the 8 North Eastern States have higher % of ST
population than country’s average (8.6%)
• There are 90 districts where ST population is more
than 50%. Of these, as many as 49 districts are in 8
North Eastern States
• The State of Mizoram and Union Territories of
Lakshadweep have more than 90% ST population:
94.4% and 94.8% respectively

15. Distribution of ST Population
• The tribal situation in the country presents a varied
picture.
• The tribal/scheduled areas in the country are
classified under three broad categories:
• States and Union Territories having a majority
scheduled tribe population (4 states+2 UTs)
• States and Union Territories having substantial tribal
population, but majority tribal population in particular
administrative units, such as block and tahsils.
• States and Union Territories having dispersed tribal
population.

16. Approach to Tribal Development
• Tribal majority States like Arunachal Pradesh,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and U.Ts. of
Lakshadweep and Dadra & Nagar Haveli may not
need a Tribal sub-Plan
• Tribal Sub-plan (TSP) approach was adopted in
second & third category of States and Union
Territories, after delineating areas of tribal
concentration.

17. Education of Scheduled Tribe Children
Issues and concerns
• GER at Primary stage is 137 as against 116 of
their non-tribal counterparts.
• GER at Upper Primary stage is 88.9 as against
85.5;
• GER at Elementary stage is 119.7 as against
104.3
(Statistics for School Education , 2010-2011).

18. Issues and concerns
• Participation of these children is now more or less in
proportion to their share in population at the
elementary school level.
• The dropout rate at primary school level is 35.6% as
against 27% of their non-tribal counterparts.
• The dropout rate at elementary school stage are 55%
as against 40.06 of their non-tribal counterparts.
(Statistics for School Education 2010-2011)

19. Issues and concerns
• The dropout rate of ST boys at primary school level is 37.2%
as against 28.7% of their counterparts of all categories.
• The dropout rate of ST girls at primary school level is 33.9%
as against 25.1% of their counterparts of all categories.
• The dropout rate of ST boys at Upper Primary school level is
54.7% as against 40.3% of their counterparts of all
categories.
• The dropout rate of ST girls at Upper Primary school level is
55.4% as against 41% of their counterparts of all categories.
(Statistics for School Education 2010-2011)

20. Issues and concerns
• Empirical evidence suggests that tribal children
possess the basic cognitive abilities and psychological
dispositions for successful participation in schools.
• Poor performance of tribal students and the below
average situation of primary education in tribal areas
is driven by inter-related factors

21. Internal Issues
Internal issues are intrinsic to the structure of
the education system:
1.Language of instruction
2.Curriculum Content
3.Teacher Training
4.Community participation & ownership
5.Incentives

22. 1. Language of Instruction
• Tribal children of Odisha have reported to face
language related problems during initial years
of schooling (class- I and II).
• Tribal students did not show interest to
pursue formal education in their home
language (s).
(Pradhan and Pattanaik, 2011)

23. Some Initiatives
• Andhra Pradesh has created bilingual dictionaries, and
developed literature in the form of songs, stories, fact
books on environment, festivals, games, etc.
• Odisha, under MLE program, has provided primers to
tribal children, supported by picture dictionary,
teacher’s handbook, conversational charts etc.
• Gujarat has developed dictionaries in Dangi and Bhili
dialects.
• Supplementary TLMs for tribal children has been
developed in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh using
folk tales, songs, proverbs, riddles.

24. 2. Curriculum Content
• Research in child development and pedagogy has
indicated that a young child learns concepts
better if these are embedded in contexts.
• Curriculum should be culturally sensitive and
provide viable options for life.
Multi-grade Multi-level Curriculum
• Approximately 80% of rural schools are multi-
grade
• The Rishi Valley Institute for Educational
Resources (RIVER), Andhra Pradesh has multi-
grade multi-level pedagogy

25. 3. Teacher Training
There is a need for attitudinal training of teachers
• Tribal children are docile.
• Non-tribal children are good in Mathematics.
• Tribal language is not the language of power.
• Tribal language is not spoken or used by others.
• Tribal language is parochial, and not recognized.
• Spoken language is limited to the community.
• Tribal language is inferior to the regional language.
• Tribal girls are slow in comprehension compared to boys.
(Mishra, 2007)

26. Initiatives
• Rupantar in Odisha (Attitudinal training)
• Training on Material Use under SSA
• Multi-lingual & multi-cultural pedagogy
• Multi-grade & multi-level pedagogy (RIVER)
• RIVER provides hands-on training, inter alia,
on the materials use, e.g. teachers manuals,
trainers modules, films, etc.

27. 4. Community Participation and Ownership
• Youth tribal educators and tribal teachers
from the community can act as agents of
change.
• Innovative ways of eliciting participation from
communities have to be devised

28. Key elements for effective community
participation:
• Obtain trust of Local Stakeholders
• Assure Community Participation
• Instill Sense of Accountability and Ownership
among Children and Parents
• Empower Communities to demand for quality
education

29. Select Initiatives of Community Participation
• Bodh tries to ensure community by arranging interaction between
and amongst the stakeholders of education
• Odisha encouraged community participation in sourcing language
materials for tribal primers
• Assam involved community in documentation of local folklore,
history, traditional medicine etc.
• Seva Mandir involves parents by collecting a monthly fee of Rs. 5,
thus increasing their stake in the child’s education
• In Lok Jumbish in Rajasthan, community members took charge of
identifying and enrolling out-of-school children, and of recruiting
local persons to conduct classes

30. 5. Incentives
1. Scholarships
2. Remedial coaching
3. Free school uniform
4. Free textbooks and learning materials
5. Mid-day meals

31. • Introduction of different incentives like free
uniforms, textbooks and boarding and lodging
facilities resulted in higher enrolment of SC and
ST students, including girls
(Sharma,1984; Pradhan & Pattanaik, 2011).
• Not sufficient in themselves to enhance
children’s access to quality education
(Ramachandran et. al., 2007)

32. External Issues
External issues lie outside the education
system, e.g.
1.Gender Bias
2.Access
3.Migration of Parents

33. 1. Gender Bias
• Gender bias places tribal girls at a disadvantage
at all levels of education.
• Tribal girls have a higher tendency to drop-out
and a lower tendency to enroll in school.
• School attendance for tribal girls is below that of
tribal boys.
• In many tribal communities, parents give
minimal importance to girls education due to
economic and social limitations (Pradhan, 2001)

34. 2. Access
1. Physical access to schooling in tribal areas is often
difficult mainly due to:
• Geographic conditions
• Sparse population
• Remoteness of the tribal village
• Migratory patterns of tribals
2. In tribal areas, there is reliance on non-
formal/Alternative education

35. 3. Migration of Parents
• Children of migrant workers are deprived of the basic
child right.
• Seasonal migration has become common in several
tribal areas.
• Migrant populations are mostly from tribal
communities
• Children tend to accompany their parents, drop out
of school and are forced into hard labor at work
sites.

36. Innovative Education support programs:
• Seasonal hostels
• Ashram/residential schools
• Mobile teachers
• Education training for migrant mothers

37. Conclusion
• Education system is currently designed for the
dominant group,
• There needs to create support mechanisms that
supplement the integration of tribal children into
the formal education system:
• Using both tribal and state languages during the
pre-primary and primary levels
• Creating supplementary tribal relevant learning
materials
• Introducing monetary/non-monetary incentives
for teachers in tribal areas

38. Conclusion
• Addressing the health and nutritional
needs of tribal children
• Improving community participation by
training tribal teachers and youth
• Establishing and strengthening transitional
education centres which focus on
mainstreaming tribal children
• Creating seasonal hostels and residential
schools for children of migratory parents