Educational equity for tribals

Ensuring quality education in tribal areas of India seems to be a continuous challenge. According to the MHRD’s tentative figures, the dropout rate among ST students at the secondary level as of 2018 was 24.03 per cent, higher than the 18.64 per cent among SC students. The GER in Class 11 and 12 for 2015-16 was 59.4 per cent for ST students, compared to 71.4 per cent for SC students. Though Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes share a common and special identity as victims of social discrimination, geographical and cultural factors seem to variedly influence their relative advancement in the field of education.

The network of schools and colleges has been substantially expanded in most tribal areas across the nation over the years. In 2018-19, Samagra Shiksha was launched, subsuming the three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes—Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), and Teacher Education—envisaging ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary, to senior secondary levels, with a view to ensuring universal access and retention. However, the benefits of these schemes do not easily percolate down to tribal populations due to various factors such as inaccessible terrain, seclusion from mainstream society, cultural specificities, and stringent forest laws that restrict free movement of people and the creation of infrastructure in designated forests. The inadequate representation of tribals in public and private sector jobs and professions, as reflected in ‘backlog vacancies,’ indicates that much is left to be desired in the educational advancement of tribal populations.

Education for tribal children from upper primary to secondary levels is mainly provided through residential schools in forest areas and post-metric hostels in non-forest areas. The Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) programme is designed to provide quality education to ST students (Classes 6 to 12) in remote areas, while Ashram Schools under the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) are established for both girls and boys in LWE pockets. These Centrally Sponsored institutions are operated and maintained by state governments. There are around 900 Ashram Schools and about 200 EMRS across the country. A report by the TATA Trust states that most Ashram Schools do not comply with basic standards, resulting in apathy from school management and teachers toward students’ welfare. The Hemanand Biswal Committee Report of 2014 revealed that 793 children died between 2001 and 2013 due to snake bites and minor diseases.

Ambitious schemes of education are eclipsed by issues like frugal finances, lack of infrastructure for capacity building, lethargy in delivery mechanisms etc. Additionally, poverty and uncertainty of livelihoods strongly demotivate tribals from sending their children to school. However, when we juxtapose the state of education of tribal populations of Northeastern states like Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Tripura where sixth schedule of the constitution operates, with that of the tribals in the rest of India, we see significant and encouraging achievements in the former. On the contrary, though tribes in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal together account for 82 per cent of the total ST population in India and are covered under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, their human development indicators, especially in education, remain far from satisfactory. This is notable even though more than 50 per cent of them live in Lok Sabha constituencies where they form the majority.

The largest number of tribals inhabit India’s mainland, stretching from western India (Bhils), through central India (Gonds), to Jharkhand and Bengal (Mundas, Oraons, and Santhals). Some vulnerable tribal populations in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and West Bengal, where the Fifth Schedule does not operate, continue to lag in educational development.

Ensuring quality education for tribal children requires an area-specific approach that accommodates cultural and linguistic differences and involves active participation from stakeholders. This is because unlike SCs, the target groups are heterogeneous in sociocultural values, livelihoods, and demographic characteristics, broadly segmented into three categories:

a) those living in inaccessible terrains with traditional ways of life unaffected by mainstream society,

b) those living in forest areas and villages adjacent to the mainland but lacking educational facilities, and

c) those residing in non-tribal-dominated areas and attempting to assimilate into mainstream society.

The last category mostly benefits from affirmative action, while the first and second groups are too educationally disadvantaged to compete. Modern infrastructure, qualified teachers, and a streamlined administrative machinery may improve GER rates and lower dropout rates. However, as a precursor, we must first address issues of poverty, healthcare, housing, and livelihoods that have driven tribals into misery and hopelessness for years.

Forest laws primarily treat forests as sources of revenue and conservation areas for wildlife, with little concern for the tribals who depend solely on them. Forest and environmental laws have turned forests, home to a majority of the tribal population, into a curse rather than a blessing. National parks and sanctuaries are declared in forest areas without properly settling the rights of the tribals inhabiting them. In some states, forest lands are even transferred to the corporate sector in the name of development, often forcing tribals out of their natural habitats. While the right-conferring provisions in these laws exist only as guidelines without legal force, the restrictive provisions are enforceable by law.

Although the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), 1996 (73rd Amendment), recognises the traditional rights of tribals over “community resources” like land, water, and forest products, many states have yet to grant the necessary powers to tribal Gram Sabhas and PRIs.

Education cannot be treated in isolation from the socioeconomic aspects of human society. Initiatives like midday meals, distribution of free uniforms, books, and cycles are commendable but insufficient. What is needed is a game-changing, holistic approach—a comprehensive model that ensures the participation of stakeholders in decision-making, control over funds, and the management of institutions. Firstly, the stringent forest laws must be reviewed to make them more tribal-friendly and to create an ecosystem of social endosmosis between forest dwellers and mainstream society. This will facilitate learning opportunities and general awareness among tribals, a benefit that SC populations received due to their proximity to mainstream society. Increased rail and road connectivity in forest areas will also allow for the free flow of human resources and knowledge. The much-repeated catchphrase “protection of tribals” has, in practice, led to their “glorified confinement” and societal disintegration. Secondly, enforcing the Sixth Schedule in certain notified areas will pave the way for educational advancement among tribals, as it has in Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, and Meghalaya, by empowering locals with self-rule to protect their economic and cultural interests. Thirdly, in states where the Fifth Schedule is currently in operation, strengthening institutions under the PESA Act, at least in the education sector, could significantly improve the current scenario. After all, to quote Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world.”

The writer is a former Addl. Chief Secretary of Chhattisgarh. Views expressed are personal