TRIBAL EDUCATION
Dr. Indrani Soumyesh Bhaduri
Dr. Indrani Soumyesh Bhaduri
How is education of the tribes different from Non-tribal education?
To answer this we need to explore into the background of this concept. Traditionally the tribes as a group have been relegated to the wilderness from the path of progress. The reason for this can be attributed to:
- The reluctance of the tribes to join the mainstream and also their tendency to stick to their tradition. (Perhaps this is to maintain their cultural identity; however, the merits & demerits of this are not being deliberated).
- The so-called developed people (read urban India) have only exploited the forests and the tribes for their own economic gain and have failed to plough back a portion of this gain back to the forest or the tribes.
Consequently, the so-called march of progress or the feel-good factor of prosperity has given the tribes a total bypass. This phenomenon is not unique to India. We see similarities amongst the American Indians, Australian Aborigines, Non-European South-Africans, etc. What however defies logic is that unlike the other places, the divide in India is between the members of the same race or the place of origin. In the cases of American Indian or Australian aborigines or the coloured Africans, the dominant populations are the Caucasians with their overt or covert policies & practice of discrimination and apartheid. Unfortunately in our country, it is the members of the same race that is vertically divided into tribal and non-tribal. For the sake of arguement, there are certain people who will put forward the concept of Aryans and Non-Aryans. There is a basic flaw in this argument:
- Aryans to begin with were also tribes.
- Most of our compatriots are the product of mixed blood of the Aryans, the Dravidians and the Mongoloid, with the percentage of Aryan contribution being probably the least.
Most of our compatriots suffer from the mistaken notion of being of Aryan descent because: Aryans were fair, tall and slightly (handsome) and our belief that the indigenous Indians in pre Aryan era were wild and uncivilized. They were the 'Asuras'. Generations, on the steady diet of constured fables and mythologies have confirmed this into our collective sub-consciousness.
This however, as most of you, my esteemed readers will agree, is very far from the truth.
The effect of this mind-set is the fissuring of the Indian population into the tribes and the non-tribes.
- The reluctance of the tribes to join the mainstream and also their tendency to stick to their tradition. (Perhaps this is to maintain their cultural identity; however, the merits & demerits of this are not being deliberated).
- The so-called developed people (read urban India) have only exploited the forests and the tribes for their own economic gain and have failed to plough back a portion of this gain back to the forest or the tribes.
Consequently, the so-called march of progress or the feel-good factor of prosperity has given the tribes a total bypass. This phenomenon is not unique to India. We see similarities amongst the American Indians, Australian Aborigines, Non-European South-Africans, etc. What however defies logic is that unlike the other places, the divide in India is between the members of the same race or the place of origin. In the cases of American Indian or Australian aborigines or the coloured Africans, the dominant populations are the Caucasians with their overt or covert policies & practice of discrimination and apartheid. Unfortunately in our country, it is the members of the same race that is vertically divided into tribal and non-tribal. For the sake of arguement, there are certain people who will put forward the concept of Aryans and Non-Aryans. There is a basic flaw in this argument:
- Aryans to begin with were also tribes.
- Most of our compatriots are the product of mixed blood of the Aryans, the Dravidians and the Mongoloid, with the percentage of Aryan contribution being probably the least.
Most of our compatriots suffer from the mistaken notion of being of Aryan descent because: Aryans were fair, tall and slightly (handsome) and our belief that the indigenous Indians in pre Aryan era were wild and uncivilized. They were the 'Asuras'. Generations, on the steady diet of constured fables and mythologies have confirmed this into our collective sub-consciousness.
This however, as most of you, my esteemed readers will agree, is very far from the truth.
The effect of this mind-set is the fissuring of the Indian population into the tribes and the non-tribes.
Unfortunately, this is not the only fracture in the population. In fact, it is splintered into various groups aligning to religious, regional, castes, language, urban-rural, north-south etc. It boils down to the divide between the 'haves and the have-nots'.
The tribe as a group is a misnomer. They are actually a collection of a number of groups as diverse as the 'Bhils' of M.P., the 'Gonds' of Central India, the 'Aos' of Nagaland, the 'Santhals', the 'Bodos', the various Nilgiri tribes, the Aborigines of Andamans - so on and so forth. Therefore, it is neither wise nor practical to place them under one umbrella and aim a universal programme of welfare. The unique characteristics of each tribe based on geographical, social and material needs have to be delineated before planning any governmental policy, including that of their education.
The author had the opportunity to interact with a large number of teachers who are working in the tribal areas. The findings of this interaction are interesting as well as relevant and certainly demand to be reflected upon.
- The quest for knowledge among the students from the tribal background is as potent as amongst any other student.
- The gain from the existing form of education, as palpable by the students in terms of material progress is not sufficient hence resulting in disenchantment and dropout.
- The pedagogy or even the facilities offered to these students is not different and certainly not tailor-made.
- In many an occasion the teacher is not from the native tribe and suffers from an attitude of superiority, which certainly influences the teaching - learning experience negatively.
- In most if not all cases the methodology of rote is practiced to impart knowledge. This is in spite of the fact that such methods have been discarded in the world over for decades.
Further probing reveals that due to lack of adequate resources the teachers are not motivated enough to experiment and implement newer and innovative methodology. The basic idea is to impart the three 'R's and make the tribal members 'literate' i.e. able to scrawl a signature instead of 'LTT (Left thumb impression). The usage of tribal way of life in imparting education has rarely been attempted. This again brings up two important questions:-
-Is there a requirement to attempt the above suggested method ?
- Is there any form of education indigenous to these 'tribal people' ?
Firstly – Yes, it is required and that is the only way it will be relevant. The main idea of education is to enable the child to face the vagaries of life. Any education, which fails to address this requirement, is designed to fail. The peculiarities of tribal way of life have to be taken into consideration while designing the content and methodology. To site an example cricket as a sport is not as much relevant to a tribal as say archery!!!
Secondly - Let us shed our notion that the tribes are not educated. Perhaps they are better equipped than most of us to deal with the 'craft of living'. Yes, they are certainly not educated in the contents of education that is being peddled by the present day school curriculum, which at the first place may be totally irrelevant to the tribes. However, the very fact that these tribes have survived successfully for generations in challenging circumstances is proof enough of their having the know-how to meet the challenges. Also the fact that this know-how has been successfully handed over to their successive generations, points at the existence of an education mechanism in place. There is a system of 'Ghotul' amongst the tribes of Central India where each village provides a community building for the children and the adolescents of the village to live and learn together. Older children pass on the learning to the younger ones in the ways of life, without interference from the adults. Vocation, leisure, life-style, values, social customs
and even sex-education are passed on to successive generations in this manner. This system of education predates most of the modern day educational system (perhaps even the oldest gurukul !!!) and has passed the test of time most remarkably, at least as far as the tribe is concern.
The tribes are also a great reservoir of indigenous knowledge, which is so enormous, and such diverse that it is a shame not to tap it for the utilization and common good of the whole humanity. Today when everyone speaks of sustainable growth, the expertise in management of natural resources, this indigenous knowledge, particularly the forest management, is worth learning. The use of the bounty of nature within acceptable limits and re-ploughing a portion back to nature is necessary. Mindless exploitation is never practiced. The modern urbane man can certainly learn about these wise ecological practices from his tribal counterpart.
Traditional medicine is another area of expertise, which has a scope of mutual benefit. Unfortunately, not enough research input is being invested in this area except by a selected few.
Community governance is another aspect in which the tribes have considerable mastery. Most actually practice communal materialism i.e. possession of the natural resources as well as decision about utilization of the same is taken in cognition of the whole community. Such a democratic procedure has been in practice for time immemorial. These can and should be studied and adapted by the so-called developed groups.
Each and every tribal group has the potential to be the teachers in various aspect of life .The process of education can and should be a two way process. Present system suffers from this intellectual immaturity and lacks the sense of symbiotism. The tendency of the outside community to consider the tribes different, unfortunate, backward and hence inferior has to be shed. The feeling of charity associated to any effort directed towards the tribes has to be discarded. The tribes on the other hand view the present educational system as alien and of little or no practical significance, which necessitate a review of the content, curriculum and methodology. A culture specific pedagogy is the need of the hour. Failing this would only contribute to further alienation, marginalization and deepening of the existing chasm instead of assimilation, amalgamation and empowerment. The recipe for success is based on:
- Respecting the tribal identity,
- Accepting the need of cultural resilience,
- Modifying pedagogy as per the need of the respective tribes,
- Exposing the tribes to modern day scientific practices and methodology in agriculture, animal husbandry, health & hygiene, forest management etc,
- Study and learn the age old practices of lifestyle management, traditional medicine, ecology community governance etc,
- Development of a symbiotic relationship based on trust and respect and
The tribe as a group is a misnomer. They are actually a collection of a number of groups as diverse as the 'Bhils' of M.P., the 'Gonds' of Central India, the 'Aos' of Nagaland, the 'Santhals', the 'Bodos', the various Nilgiri tribes, the Aborigines of Andamans - so on and so forth. Therefore, it is neither wise nor practical to place them under one umbrella and aim a universal programme of welfare. The unique characteristics of each tribe based on geographical, social and material needs have to be delineated before planning any governmental policy, including that of their education.
The author had the opportunity to interact with a large number of teachers who are working in the tribal areas. The findings of this interaction are interesting as well as relevant and certainly demand to be reflected upon.
- The quest for knowledge among the students from the tribal background is as potent as amongst any other student.
- The gain from the existing form of education, as palpable by the students in terms of material progress is not sufficient hence resulting in disenchantment and dropout.
- The pedagogy or even the facilities offered to these students is not different and certainly not tailor-made.
- In many an occasion the teacher is not from the native tribe and suffers from an attitude of superiority, which certainly influences the teaching - learning experience negatively.
- In most if not all cases the methodology of rote is practiced to impart knowledge. This is in spite of the fact that such methods have been discarded in the world over for decades.
Further probing reveals that due to lack of adequate resources the teachers are not motivated enough to experiment and implement newer and innovative methodology. The basic idea is to impart the three 'R's and make the tribal members 'literate' i.e. able to scrawl a signature instead of 'LTT (Left thumb impression). The usage of tribal way of life in imparting education has rarely been attempted. This again brings up two important questions:-
-Is there a requirement to attempt the above suggested method ?
- Is there any form of education indigenous to these 'tribal people' ?
Firstly – Yes, it is required and that is the only way it will be relevant. The main idea of education is to enable the child to face the vagaries of life. Any education, which fails to address this requirement, is designed to fail. The peculiarities of tribal way of life have to be taken into consideration while designing the content and methodology. To site an example cricket as a sport is not as much relevant to a tribal as say archery!!!
Secondly - Let us shed our notion that the tribes are not educated. Perhaps they are better equipped than most of us to deal with the 'craft of living'. Yes, they are certainly not educated in the contents of education that is being peddled by the present day school curriculum, which at the first place may be totally irrelevant to the tribes. However, the very fact that these tribes have survived successfully for generations in challenging circumstances is proof enough of their having the know-how to meet the challenges. Also the fact that this know-how has been successfully handed over to their successive generations, points at the existence of an education mechanism in place. There is a system of 'Ghotul' amongst the tribes of Central India where each village provides a community building for the children and the adolescents of the village to live and learn together. Older children pass on the learning to the younger ones in the ways of life, without interference from the adults. Vocation, leisure, life-style, values, social customs
and even sex-education are passed on to successive generations in this manner. This system of education predates most of the modern day educational system (perhaps even the oldest gurukul !!!) and has passed the test of time most remarkably, at least as far as the tribe is concern.
The tribes are also a great reservoir of indigenous knowledge, which is so enormous, and such diverse that it is a shame not to tap it for the utilization and common good of the whole humanity. Today when everyone speaks of sustainable growth, the expertise in management of natural resources, this indigenous knowledge, particularly the forest management, is worth learning. The use of the bounty of nature within acceptable limits and re-ploughing a portion back to nature is necessary. Mindless exploitation is never practiced. The modern urbane man can certainly learn about these wise ecological practices from his tribal counterpart.
Traditional medicine is another area of expertise, which has a scope of mutual benefit. Unfortunately, not enough research input is being invested in this area except by a selected few.
Community governance is another aspect in which the tribes have considerable mastery. Most actually practice communal materialism i.e. possession of the natural resources as well as decision about utilization of the same is taken in cognition of the whole community. Such a democratic procedure has been in practice for time immemorial. These can and should be studied and adapted by the so-called developed groups.
Each and every tribal group has the potential to be the teachers in various aspect of life .The process of education can and should be a two way process. Present system suffers from this intellectual immaturity and lacks the sense of symbiotism. The tendency of the outside community to consider the tribes different, unfortunate, backward and hence inferior has to be shed. The feeling of charity associated to any effort directed towards the tribes has to be discarded. The tribes on the other hand view the present educational system as alien and of little or no practical significance, which necessitate a review of the content, curriculum and methodology. A culture specific pedagogy is the need of the hour. Failing this would only contribute to further alienation, marginalization and deepening of the existing chasm instead of assimilation, amalgamation and empowerment. The recipe for success is based on:
- Respecting the tribal identity,
- Accepting the need of cultural resilience,
- Modifying pedagogy as per the need of the respective tribes,
- Exposing the tribes to modern day scientific practices and methodology in agriculture, animal husbandry, health & hygiene, forest management etc,
- Study and learn the age old practices of lifestyle management, traditional medicine, ecology community governance etc,
- Development of a symbiotic relationship based on trust and respect and
Finally, the realization that the tribes are a part of us, as much as we are nothing but a tribe............
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