TRIBAL EDUCATION AND EKLAVYA SCHOOLS - GOVERNANCE

News: Teacher shortage at Eklavya Model Residential Schools will be fixed soon: Tribal Affairs Minister 

What's in the news?

●       The administrative overhaul of the National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS), which is expected to solve the massive teacher shortage faced by Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) for tribal students, will be approved “very soon”, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said it.

Key takeaways:

●       The Hindu had reported in September that in the 378 EMRSs functioning at the time, only about 4,000 teachers were employed (contractual, temporary and permanent) as against the 11,340 teachers recommended by the NESTS.   

●       Responding to questions on the delay in recruitment of teachers, Mr. Munda said that the administrative change to completely move teacher recruitment of EMRSs to the Union Government’s control will be completed soon. 

What is EMRS?

●       Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) is a Government of India scheme for Model Residential Schools for Scheduled Tribes across India.

●       The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in the year 1997-98.

●       National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) as an autonomous body under the Ministry has been set up to provide overall support and policy directions to the schools in order to bring uniformity in the administration of the schools.

Objective of the scheme:

●       To impart quality education to ST children in remote areas.

●       It will also enable them to avail themselves of opportunities in high and professional educational courses and get employment in various sectors.

●       The schools focus not only on academic education but on the all-around development of the students.

●       To provide quality upper primary, secondary and senior secondary level education to ST and PVTG students in tribal dominated areas, along with extra-curricular activities, to enable them to access the best opportunities in education and to bring them at par with the general population.

Funding:

●       The government of India provides grants for the construction of schools and recurring expenses to the State Governments under Article 275 (1) of the Constitution.

Targeted approach:

●       Every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons, will have an Eklavya Model Residential School by the year 2022.

●       A total of 740 EMRSs would be sanctioned by 2022 based on provision of suitable land by the States.

Eklavya Model Day Boarding Schools (EMDBS):

●       Wherever the density of the ST population (90% or more), the Government has proposed to set up Eklavya Model Day Boarding School (EMDBS) for providing additional coverage for ST Students.

Features of the school:

●       Admission to these schools will be through selection/competition with suitable provision for preference to children belonging to Primitive Tribal Groups, first-generation students, etc.

●       Sufficient land would be given by the State Government for the school, playgrounds, hostels, residential quarters, etc., free of cost.

●       The number of seats for boys and girls will be equal.

●       In these schools, education will be entirely free.

Significance:

●       The schools will be on par with Navodaya Vidyalayas.

●       It will have special facilities for preserving local art and culture besides providing training in sports and skill development.

Go back to basics:

Tribal Education:

●       According to the 2011 Census, Scheduled Tribes (notified by the Government of India under Article 342 of the Indian Constitution) constitute 8.6% of the total population.

●       There are 705 Scheduled tribes living in different parts of India and are notified in 31 States/UTs (Census 2011).

●       Education was conceived as a means for promoting the overall development of the tribes and also adopted as a strategy for mainstreaming them.

Government Initiatives:

1. Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs):

●       Announced in the Union Budget of 2018-19, they are established under every block with more than 50% Schedule Tribe (ST) population and at least 20,000 tribal persons by the year 2022.

●       These are being set up by grants provided under Article 275(1) of the Constitution.

●       The objective of EMRS is to provide quality middle and high level education to Scheduled Tribe (ST) students in remote areas, and to have access to the best opportunities in education at par with the non ST population.

●       These EMRSs were to be at par with Navodaya Vidyalayas with special facilities for preserving local art and culture besides providing training in sports and skill development.

2. Ashram Schools:

●       Funds are provided to States for setting up residential schools for STs for primary, middle, secondary and senior secondary levels of education.

3. ST Hostels:

●       Central assistance is given to States/UTs/Universities for construction of new hostel buildings and/or extension of existing hostels.

4. Scheme of Strengthening Education among ST Girls in Low Literacy Districts:

●       100% Grant-in-Aid is given to NGO / Voluntary Organizations for running and maintenance of educational complexes for ST girls.

5. Post Matric Scholarship and Pre-Matric Scholarship for ST students studying in classes IX & X:

●       Funds are provided under Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSP), Grants under Article 275 (1) of the Constitution and Scheme for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) for various interventions relating to improvement of education including construction of hostels, schools, construction of boundary walls in schools, construction of playground, toilets and arrangement of drinking water, kitchen garden in schools etc.

6. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs):

●       They are residential schools from class VI to XII for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL).

●       The objective behind establishing KGBVs is to ensure access to quality education to girls from disadvantaged groups by setting up residential schools and to reduce gender gaps at all levels of school education.

7. National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST students:

●       Under the scheme, Fellowships are provided to ST students to take up higher studies after completing Post Graduation, such as M.Phil and Ph.D courses.

8. Support to Tribal Research Institutes (TRI):

●       The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs under the scheme “Support to Tribal Research Institutes (TRI) provides grants to States/UTs to strengthen the Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) for their infrastructural needs, Research & documentation activities and Training & Capacity Building programmes etc. 

Issues in Tribal Education:

1. Medium of language:

●       Language is one of the important constraints of tribal children which prevents them access to education.

2. Accessibility:

●       The physical barriers create a hindrance for the children of a tribal village to attend the school in a neighbouring village.

3. Poor economic conditions:

●       The economic condition of tribal people is so poor that they do not desire to spare their children or their labour power and allow them to attend schools.

4. Parent's attitude:

●       As education does not yield any immediate economic return, the tribal parents prefer to engage their children in remunerative employment which supplements the family income.

5. Teacher absenteeism:

●       In the remote tribal areas, teacher absenteeism is a regular phenomenon and this affects largely the quality of education.

●       The Ministry had found that the responsibilities of the teacher recruitment in the States were leading to a non-uniformity in the quality of teachers, not enough recruitment happening in reserved positions, and a large number of schools recruiting teachers contractually in a bid to save on the salary expenses, which was resulting in large gaps in the salaries of teachers working at the same level.

6. Regulation issues:

●       Proper monitoring is hindered by poor coordination between the Tribal Welfare Department and School Education Department.

●       According to several officials, the structure of the NESTS had made it difficult for it to monitor and enforce its recommendations to the schools as far as teacher recruitment was concerned.

●       The guidelines never demanded that the SESTS must follow NESTS recommendations, which were made to ensure the minimum requirements to maintain a standard education quality and uniformity across schools.

7. Lack of Adequate Infrastructure in Schools:

●       Adequate infrastructure which include gender segregated functional toilets, pucca school buildings, electricity, water, play area, library, sports facilities, and safe and conducive environment for learning are the primary requirements for retaining a child in the school.

NEP 2020 and Tribal Education:

●       The National Education Policy 2020 strongly emphasised to ensure equity and inclusion and has given a national perspective to the education of tribals.

●       NEP 2020 proposed the policy strategy to identify special education Zones (SEZs) to ensure inclusion of marginal communities in quality educational space of India.

●       NEP 2020 puts special emphasis on Indian Knowledge Systems, including tribal knowledge, and indigenous and traditional ways of learning.

●       It provides specific courses in tribal ethno­medicinal practices, forest management, traditional (organic) crop cultivation, natural farming, etc.

●       As per NEP 2020, special attention should be given to employing local teachers or those having familiarity with local languages.

Measures needed:

1. Teacher-student relationships:

●       Teacher-student relationships are a very important factor as healthy relationships will promote meaningful learning in classrooms.

●       It should be the responsibility of the teachers to spread, respect and value the culture, traditions, mannerisms, and languages of the tribal students.

2. Teaching in mother tongue:

●       The students should be taught in their mother tongue and every state must have adequate facilities for the same, as stated in Article 350A of the Indian Constitution.

●       Resolute efforts by states are needed to overcome the language barrier.

●       Examples: The Odisha Government and civil society organizations have made some efforts to educate the Gonds, Bhils, Santals, and other tribal groups in their mother-tongue. The literacy rate among some of these tribes has gradually gone up over the years.

3. Decentralised syllabus:

●       The syllabus of textbooks should be decentralised and the socio-cultural and economic situations of tribal people should be kept in mind while preparing learning material.

4. Exploring folklore:

●       The schools should explore folklore in primary education, which would help tap tribal traditions in arts, crafts, music, songs, fables, etc.

●       Similarly, stories and riddles should be collected, documented, and used by teachers. 

5. Making it inclusive:

●       Incorporation of tribal youth in their culture is vital. In order to ensure their active participation and cooperation in sensitisation programmes on the importance of education, the government should work with the tribal leaders.

6. Literacy campaign:

●       Proper awareness campaign should be organized to create awareness about the importance of education.

●       Extensive literacy campaigns in the tribal-dominated districts may be undertaken on a priority basis to literate the tribal.

7. Attitude of the tribal parents:

●       The attitude of the tribal parents toward education should be improved through proper counselling and guidance.

8. Stipends and various scholarships:

●       Since higher education among the tribes is less, special ST scholarships should be provided to the tribal students perusing higher education, particularly in medical, engineering, and other vocational streams.

9. Residential schools:

●       More residential schools should be established in each state and districts and extended up to PG level in tribal areas.

10. Job opportunities:

●       The more emphasis should be given on career or job-oriented courses so that they get the job and improve their socio-economic conditions. 

WAY FORWARD:

●       Education is necessary to ensure the socio-economic development of tribal societies.

●       Issues like the language of education need to be addressed by designing the entire curriculum and teacher's modules in the regional/local language of the tribal students.

●       The need of the hour is to create adequate employment opportunities and ensure proper implementation of welfare programmes among the tribal people so that they send their children to attend schools instead of Child labour.

●       To handle the shortage of teachers in Eklavya schools, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs highlighted that the only way to deal with the teacher shortage and to ensure uniformity in the teaching standards is to completely reform the administrative structure under which the eklavya schools are functioning at present.