August 09 : International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples / World Tribal Day

The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is observed on August 9 each year to promote and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous population. This event also recognizes the achievements and contributions that indigenous people make to improve world issues such as environmental protection. It was first pronounced by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1994, marking the day of the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, in 1982.

Indigenous Peoples' Right to Education

This year’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is devoted to the right to education.

The right of indigenous peoples to education is protected by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which in Article 14 states that “Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.”

The right of indigenous peoples to education is also protected by a number of other international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for ensuring equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.

In spite of these instruments, the right to education has not been fully realized for most indigenous peoples, and a critical education gap exists between indigenous peoples and the general population.

Where data exist, they show consistent and persistent disparities between the indigenous and the non-indigenous population in terms of educational access, retention and achievement, in all regions of the world.

The education sector not only mirrors the historical abuses, discrimination and marginalization suffered by indigenous peoples, but also reflects their continued struggle for equality and respect for their rights as peoples and as individuals.

Education of Scheduled Tribe & Scheduled Caste Children

The RTE Act 2009 has defined children belonging to disadvantaged group and children belonging to weaker sections as follows

“Disadvantaged groups are defined as those that belong to the “Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, the socially and educationally backward class or such other group having disadvantage owing to social, cultural, economical, geographical, linguistic, gender or such other factor as may be specified by the appropriate Government.”
Sec 2 (d)

Child belonging to weaker section is defined as “child belonging to such parent or guardian whose annual income is lower than the minimum limit specified by the appropriate Government.”

Sec 2 (e)

Education for the Disadvantaged in SSA

One of the prime objectives of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is to achieve the target of Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE). The goal of UEE has been facilitated by the Indian constitution (86th Amendment Act) making free and compulsory elementary education a fundamental right for all children in the age group of 6-14 years. This has given a new direction to the education of certain special groups of children such as Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes. Inclusion of these special categories of children is very important for achieving the objective of UEE. SSA ensures that every child irrespective of any discrimination is provided meaningful and quality education. Keeping this holistic aspect in mind, SSA has adopted a zero rejection policy, which means no child, should be deprived of the right to education and should be taught in an environment which is best suited to his/her needs.

Scheduled Castes Scenario :

• Scheduled Castes constitute 17.13% of the State population (Census 2011)
• There are 95 SC communities
• In our State13 Special Component Plan districts
• Literacy rate of SC is 69.02 (Total), 79.21 (Male) and 58.76(Female) (as per Census 2011)

Tribal Scenario of Odisha :

• Tribals constitute 22.8% of the state population (Census 2011)
• 62 tribes in the State including 13 primitive tribes.
• There are 17 tribal dominated districts and 118 tribal Sub Plan (TSP) Blocks
• There are 173 Educationally Backward Blocks (EBB)
• 22 officially recognized tribal languages
• 8 districts have more than 50% tribal population in their respective total population.
• Literacy rate of ST’s is 52.24 (Total), 63.7 (Male) and 41.2 (Female) (as per Census 2011)

Interventions under SSA for the Development of ST, SC Education 

Education is the only human development indicator that has strong linkages with quality of life, eradication of poverty and economic growth. Special schemes pertaining to school education of SC & ST children currently include:

• Free supply of textbooks at elementary stages of school education.
• Free uniforms to All children in govt. schools.
• Free education at all levels.
• Girls and boys hostels for SC & ST students and lodging facilities in hostels of backward classes including SC & ST.
• Mid-day-Meal Scheme.
• Srujan (Child-Centered Activities)
• Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education Programme.

In spite of considerable quantitative progress, exclusion remains a depressing feature of the educational scenario of SC & ST children.Odisha emphasised ST and SC education as a major focus to address the issues and challenges of disadvantaged groups. The major challenges addressed through ST and SC interventions of the state are:

• Low literacy among ST and SC
• Poor community involvement in the SSA programme particularly in tribal dominated areas
• Lack of culturally responsive schools for tribal children
• Teachers’ inability to address the linguistic and culturally diverse classrooms
• Less contribution of BRCC/ CRCC and DIETS/DRCs towards contextual issues (related to children’s learning especially in linguistic minority areas)
• Difference in ambience of schools of rural and urban areas
• Difference in home environment and school environment
• Poor profile of the children of disadvantaged group
• Lack of Resource Materials in tribal Language
• Migration of Poor & Distressed Community affected by Urbanization and Industrialization
• Absence of culturally appropriate and child friendly atmosphere both inside and outside the classroom
• Lack of facilities in tribal areas to provide a suitable atmosphere for acquiring skills which are need of the present time like computer skills & vocational skills

Considering the diversities among the disadvantaged communities, high illiteracy, and educational inequality and to address the above mentioned issues, SSA Odisha had planned to cover the whole state with specific interventions to ensure equitable quality education for children belonging to the SC and ST communities.

Sl.No	Name of the Activity	Broad Objective
1	Mother-tongue based Multilingual Education	To Bridge the gap between the home and School language faced by the tribal children
2	SRUJAN (Child Centered Activities)	To connect the community knowledge with the school curriculum, both in the context of curricular and other curricular activities.

Major Achievements

• Mother-tongue based MLE programme is benefitting 142132 tribal students belonging to 21 (Santali, Saura, Koya, Kui, Kuvi, Kishan, Oram, Munda, Juanga ,Bonda, Gadaba, Ho, Gondi, Paroja, Kharia, Didayi, Bhinjhal, Bhuiyan, Bhumia, Bhatra and Bhunjia) tribal language groups in 1485 schools spread across 17 tribal dominated districts (Anugul, Bargarh, Balasore, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Koraput, Keonjhar, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nawarangpur, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sundargarh) of the State. These tribal students are imparted primary education in their mother tongue which helps them in better comprehension, increased participation and enhanced levels of learning.
• 2, 86,700 ST, SC and 4376 minority students participated in different SRUJAN activities showcasing their creativity during 2013-14. The programme has helped promoting retention among the students, with a special focus on the disadvantaged communities, by creating a child-friendly atmosphere in the schools. The programme also facilitated a platform for linking community knowledge with schools. Through these activities the children have been provided platform to express their thoughts, creative abilities and build self-confidence.
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Mother-tongue based Multi-lingual Education (MLE) in Odisha - A strategy for ensuring equitable quality education of tribal children
Introduction

In Odisha, children are taught in Odia which is challenging for many of the tribal children whose mother tongue is not Odia. The context of textbooks is also unfamiliar to tribal children, leaving them unable to fully comprehend classroom teaching and activities. This has an effect on retention and learning outcomes. Further, there is inadequate training, pedagogy and material support for teachers to deal with diverse classroom environments. Teachers lack the capacity to effectively deal with multilingual and multicultural classrooms.

First-language-first education

Primary education in a child’s first language or mother tongue is crucial to early learning and considered as most effective startegy for developing strong academic foundations and a base for acquiring proficiency in other languages. In Mother Tongue basedMultilingual Education (MLE) programme, the schooling begins in mother tongue and transits to additional languages gradually. The use of mother tongue as medium of imparting education in early grades enable children to develop a strong education foundation through beginning in the language the learners know best, building on the knowledge and experience they bring to the classroom, and enhance confidence and self-esteem

The MLE programme also drew its mandate from the constitutional commitments and International treaties on the protection of linguistic and cultural rights of the people. Following are the Constitutional provisions that directs for ensuring education to linguistic minority children in their mother tongue

• Article 21 A – A fundamental right ensuring Free & Compulsory Elementary Education of equitable quality for all children up to 14 years of age.
• Article 29 enunciates the fundamental right of any section of citizens residing anywhere in India to conserve its distinct language , script or culture.
• Article 30 seeks to protect the rights of all minorities -based on religion or language-to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
• Art.46 – State to promote the Educational Need of the Weaker sections of the society (SC & ST)
• Art.350-A ‘provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage of education of children belonging to minority groups.

Right to Education Act 2009

Recognizing the important role played by the language used in classrooms in influencing the quality and equity issues, the RCFCE Act, 2009 has rightly emphasized the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction as far as practicable under Section 29 (2).

Broad Objectives of MLE

• To Ensure equity and quality education to tribal children
• To improve tribal students’ reading, writing skills and learning through use of mother tongue in early grades
• To introduce state and national language at early stages to mainstream the tribal children in state-wide education system
• To develop respect among tribal children for their language and culture

Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education Programme in Odisha
A) Key decisions:

• MT based MLE programme as a model for equitable quality education for the tribal children of the State in 2007-08 following the recommendation of the State Tribal Advisory Committee headed by Hon’ble Chief Minister.
• Santhali, Munda, Koya, Kuvi, Kishan, Oram, Soura, Kui, Bonda and Juang are the 10 tribal languages selected for adoption as medium of instruction at the Primary level in the first phase during 2007-08
• Further, this has been extended to 11 more tribal languages such as Gadaba, Ho, Gondi, Paroja, Kharia, Didayi, Bhinjhal, Bhuiyan, Bhumia, Bhatra and Bhunjia during 2012-13.
• Strategy to facilitate transition from 100% tribal language in class-I to 100% Odia by class-VI over a period of five years to be developed
• OPEPA was entrusted with the responsibility of initiating and developing the programme

B) Key steps undertaken: 

• Constitution of State Resource Group for the development of Orthography, literature, transition plan, instruction manual and curriculum for selected tribal languages
• The MLE programme was designed to cover the primary education of children from class I to class V. The language transition plan was developed to initiate learning in the mother tongue (L1) of the child and gradually introduce the second language (L2) Odia, and third language (L3) English.
• • Selection of schools with more than 90% students from a particular tribal language as per DISE data (Phased manner schools were selected)
  • Teacher deployment on the basis of language proficiency and engagement of Tribal language Instructors from the community for the selected schools
  • Capacity building programme for the teachers to address the attitudinal aspects of MLE programme through training module “Rupantar”
  • Material Development Workshop for development of graded curriculum materials
  • Capacity building workshop for teachers in transaction of MLE processes in the classroom
  • Forums to facilitate community participation for the strengthening of the MLE programme - “Srujan” to strengthen organic linkages between communities and schools
  • Placement of Tribal Coordinators at district level to provide support and supervision at the field level along with BRCC and CRCC.
  • A State-level Policy prepared and approved by the Government during 2014-15 for facilitating and accelerating the Mother-Tongue based Multilingual Education for all tribal children
  • For the first time in the State in 2013 advertisement for recruitment of Language Teachers (Shiksha Sahayak) has been published.
  C) Current Status:
  
  • MLE programme is operational in 1485 schools in 21 tribal languages in 17 tribal dominated districts namely, Anugul, Bargarh, Balasore, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Koraput, Keonjhar, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nawarangpur, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sundargarh.
  • Curriculum framework and textbooks for the MLE programme developed is based on the NCF 2005 and SCF-2007 during 2006-13.
  • The transaction materials and text books are in the tribal language but the script used is Odia. For Santhali language materials, the Ol-Chiki script has been used. These materials have strong integration of cultural context.
  • The Pre-Primary Curriculum Material “Nua-Arunima” – a teachers’ handbook has been adapted in 10 tribal languages for facilitating Mother Tongue Based Pre-primary Education
  • Srujan, an ongoing series of child-centred learning activities along with the community; community members have strong participation in creating a joyful learning atmosphere in the schools and promoting the creative talents of the children.
  • An attitudinal training module, class-wise training manuals, 3-day training module for educational administrators and 10-day induction teacher training module developed and utilized.
  • Advertisement for recruitment of 3500 Language Teachers (Siksha Sahayaks) has been published out of which 3400 S.S have been engaged to address the issue of tribal language teachers for MLE prgramme.
  • A State-level Policy prepared and approved by the Government during 2014-15 for facilitating and accelerating the Mother-Tongue based Multilingual Education for all tribal children.

  
  

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