Santali Education in Orisisa Final Expert Committee Report2

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Expert Committee Report on Use of Ol -Chiki

script in Mayurbhanj District of Orissa

Submitted to

Department of School and Mass Education Government of Orissa

12/11/2005

Dr Mahendra K Mishra

2

Expert Committee Report

On Use of Ol -Chiki script in Mayurbhanj District of Orissa

Members of the Expert Committee

Prof. Debi Prasanna Pattanayak, Chairman Prof. Khageswar Mahapatra, Linguist and Ex Director, ATDC, member

Dr. Mahendra Kumar Mishra, State Tribal Education Coordinator, OPEPA,

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Preface

Tribal languages are endangered species. So are the tribal communities. The dominant groups in the west want to see them melt and fuse their identities

and be identified with the dominant culture. In India we expect them to join the

mainstream. Both the theories result in the discrimination of tribal culture.

Tribal education is discriminatory. Whether it is value education, Education

for All or qualitative education, the tribal is always bypassed. Instead of talking about multilingualism for all, our educationists talk about mother tongue verses

state official language verses English education. Their preference seems to be

assimilation rather than maintainance, subversion (sink) rather than immersion (swim).

The argument for English takes the cake. The question of the tribal is, if

your children prefer English to mother tongue, why do you ask us to study either our own or your mother tongue? There is no answer to this question. If the

research result all over the world is that mother tongue is the best medium for

early childhood education, then it should be valid for both majority and minority/minor language speakers.

The mother tongue for the early childhood education is not only “ a prerequisite for ethnic groups to maintain themselves but also a prerequisite for cultural diversity.”UN Document on genocide says that” forcibly transferring

children of the group to another group genocide.” Those who deny the mother tongue are engaged in linguistic genocide.

In Orissa we don’t have the means of training one English teacher for

primary school. How can those who do not know the subject teach it? There are

about 7000 single teacher schools in the state. How can the teachers teach

English in addition to what they are teaching?

No body would deny English to our children. But by teaching bad English by untrained teachers from standard I, the foundation of education are bound to

be weakened.

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Learning languages as one needed is not a load. One is to learn

languages if one aspires to move from one state to another with in the country. Similarly one has to learn different languages if one desires to seek fortune in different parts of the world.

Script is the dress of a language. No matter what script a language is

written, the language remains unaltered. Sanskrit survived as it was written in

all scripts of the country. Telugu Kannada is written Telugu script. Assemese, Bengali, Bodo, Manipuri are written in one script each with minor modification.

Once a language is written in an existing script, it should be christened as the script of the new language For example one should not say that Kannada is written in the Telugu script. The script is called Telugu script in AP and Kannada

Script in Karnataka. No matter in whichever script Santali is written, it should be called Santali Script.

The IPA has been created to write all languages of the world of using the

single grid. Biswa Nagari has been created to provide another grid to all

languages of the world. The adequacy of a script depends on proper linguistic

analysis of phonetic and phonemic structure of a language and their proper accommodation. It is hoped that the statement will clarify some confusions about the language and script.

DR M.K. Mishra Prof K. Mahapatra Prof D.P. Pattanayak,

Member Convener Member Chairman

Ex pert Committee Expert Committee Expert Committee

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Contents

Preface Chapter I

• Brief History of the Expert Committee • Activities of the Expert Committee: Brief Account

Chapter II • Tribal Situation In Orissa in general

• Mayurbhanj district in Santal context

• Educational Scenario of Mayurbhanj district from Tribal lens

Chapter III

• Issues and Context of language as medium of instruction and script as the vehicle of language

Chapter IV

• Impression from the Field Visit

• Observation Chapter V

• Summary Table of the Status of Tribal Education in

Orissa • Recommendation of the Expert Committee

Annexure:

Annexure- I : Impact Study on Introduction of Ol Chiki Script on

30 Schools

of Orissa Annexure-II : Proceedings of the Meeting Held on 14/9/2000 on

Tribal language Primers prepared by DPEP

Annexure-III : Report on the study of tribal languages at school level

in tribal Bihar

Annexure IV: District wise Schools with ST population

Annexure V : Field Visit of the Language Expert Committee commissioned b y the Dept. of School and mass Education

Department, Govt. of Orissa.

6

CHAPTER- I

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EXPERT COMMITTEE:

epartment of School and Mass Education vide Notification o

No.24575 dt. 29/10/2002 constituted a Expert Committee on inclusion of Santali language/Ol Chiki script in Orissa initially for

six months. The questions to be examined and solved by the committee were as

follows;

a) At present in order to facilitate acquisition of knowledge in alphabets in

tribal areas , bilingual primers are being offered in Class I in six tribal

dialects. These primers are written in both Oriya and tribal language and Oriya script. The usefulness of these primers should be evaluated and a

view should be taken on whether these primers should be continued , or

reduced , or expanded in terms of number of dialects and years in schools.

b) Is the Oriya alphabet adequate to represent the tribal languages in these primers?

c) Has the present practice of using Oriya script hindered the growth of

education in terms of enrollment and dropouts? d) Is Ol Chiki or any other script (other than Oriya) used by the tribal

communities of Orissa, and if so, to what extent?

e) Whether people belonging to various communities who have learnt to use Oriya script are of opinion that they would have been better off if

they had studied in any local script?

f) Whether inclusion of any additional language in primary level or in

secondary level will be against the language policy of the Government of India and the three-language formula?

g) Is it possible to identify such schools where tribal language can be taught

in higher level in exclusion of Oriya? h) Whether exclusion of Oriya and inclusion of tribal language in schools will

serve the long term economic interest of the tribal and whether it will

lead to alienation of certain communities from the main stream of the society.

i) Whether inclusion of additional languages and scripts will increase the

burden of school bag?

D

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ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE: BRIEF HISTORY:

1. It was mentioned in the aforesaid notification that Board of Secondary Education, Orissa would provide secretarial support and the non-

official members would receive TA/DA as applicable to Class I officers

of the State from the BSE, Orissa

2. The matter of support by the BSE, Orissa for the functioning of the

Committee was placed before the Executive Committee of BSE, Orissa

in its meeting dt.5/11/02 and the Secretary, BSE was requested to ascertain from Govt. the exact nature of work the Committee was

expected to undertake so as to assess the expenditure to be

incurred towards TA/DA.

3. Again the Executive Committee in its meeting dt.19/12/02 and 20/12/2002 decided that Govt. be moved reconsider and revise their order because of the constraint that the Board was already

burdened with the assignment of implementation of new scheme of studies.

4. Accordingly Govt. were moved vide Board’s letter No.843/ Dt.29/1/2003 Govt. vides their letter No. 10570 /SME Dt.23/4/2003

impressed upon the BSE, Orissa to carry out the Govt. orders. This

letter was received on 5/5/2003 and by that time the term of the

language Expert Committee for six month was already over.

5. The Executive Committee in its meeting Dt.3/6/2003 decided that

secretarial support be provided and payment of TA/DA be made but Govt. be requested to reimburse the expenditure towards TA/DA to be

made by the BSE, Orissa.

6. Thereafter steps were taken to convene the meeting of the Language

Expert Committee on the inclusion of Santal language and Ol Chiki

script in primary schools and taking in to account the convenience of

the members, particularly the Chairman who was out of the State for some time, the first meeting was convened to be held on 11/8/2003.

7. The first meeting of the committee was held on 11/8/2003 in which the committee decided that the Govt. be moved to extend the term of

the Committee. Accordingly the Govt. were moved vide letter No.

8

20/8/2003 by the member Secretary.

8. The second meeting of the Committee was held on 23/8/2003 and by that time the Govt. had been moved to extend the term of the

Committee. In the second meeting the Committee recast its earlier proposal to visit schools in different districts and recommended that Govt. be moved to allow sitting allowance to all members.

9. The above said proposal / recommendations of the Committee were

placed before the Executive committee on 29/8/2003.

10. As per the decision of the Executive Committee in its meeting

dt.29/8/2003, the Govt. were moved on 24/9/2003 to request

OPEPA to make arrangements for visiting the districts and bear the

expenses to be made for the purpose and to issue appropriate order regarding payment of sitting allowance and to make available

required funds for the purpose.

11. The third meeting of the Committee was held on 29/9/03 in which

the Chairman was requested to write to Govt. requesting their

appropriate steps in the matter of visit of schools in different districts

by the Committee.

12. The fourth meeting of the Committee was held on 17/12/2003 in

which it took note of the communication made to the govt. regarding extension of the term of the Committee, visit to different districts by

the Committee and allowing sitting allowance to the members including further letter issued in this connection by the Member Secretary on 6/11/2003 and by the Secretary, BSE, Orissa on

17/11/2003 and decided that no further meeting of the Committee will be held unless Govt. orders extending the term of the

Committee is issued. Accordingly the Govt. were moved by the

member Secretary of the Committee. Accordingly the Member Secretary moved the Govt. and the Chairman also moved Govt. on

18/2/2004.

13. However, the consensus of the Committee on this issues indicated in the Govt.notification has found place in the proceedings of the meetings dt.29/9/20039Third meeting) and dt..17/12/2003(fourth

meeting) of the Committee (on item 3(f) in the proceedings of the third meeting and on item 3(b), 3(c),3(d),3(g), 3(h), and 3(i) in the

proceedings of the meeting.

14. The Govt. has been pleased to extend the term of the Committee up

to 31/8/2005 vide their Notification NO 16054/SME/Date

17/9/2004.

15. Meanwhile the member Secretary of this Committee was transferred

to the Directorate of Secondary Education Orissa, and the coordination

of the Committee was assigned to the State Tribal Coordinator, OPEPA. Accordingly on 1.11.2004 the fifth meeting of the Committee

was held in OPEPA and the field visit schedule was finalized.

9

The Committee decided to examine the issues in two ways.

i. To examine the issue from language – pedagogic view ii. Field visit to have real experience on what is really happening in tribal

area schools of Orissa.

In the first instance it was decided by the Committee to visit Mayurbhanj

since the Santal issue on use of Ol Chiki script is necessary for the presentation before Hon’ble Chief Minister, Orissa.

Therefore, pending with the field visit to south Orissa, the first visit was

conducted during 20/12/2004 to 25 12/2004 and the observation of the Committee in details is presented in this volume.

CHAPTER- II

TRIBAL SITUATION IN ORISSA

There are sixty-two scheduled Tribes in the State with 13 primitive

tribes. Out of 314 Blocks 118 Blocks are with more than 50% tribal population

and have been identified as Tribal Sub-plan Blocks. Most f them are concentrated in south Orissa, western Orissa and north Orissa with their

linguistic diversities and distinct cultural landscape.

In the context of primary education in Orissa, tribal have a substantial

distribution in the schools.

The number of schools with percentage of tribal children and number of schools in Orissa is given in descending order

Table I

SCHOOLS WITH PERCENTAGE OF TRIBAL CHILDREN IN ORISSA

Sl

No.

Schools with

percentage of

tribal children

No of

schools

Language

situation

1 100% 3197 Mono lingual

2 99%-90% 2534 Monolingual

10

3 89%-80% 2190 Monolingual-

bilingual

4 79%-70% 2032 Bilingual

5 69%-60% 1979 Multilingual

6 59%-50 2087 Multilingual

7 <50% 34074 Multilingual

Source: DISE Data: OPEPA 2003-04

Schools with 100% to 50 % tribal children in the State is 14019.

District wise schools with ST population is annexted .( Annexure – IV)

TTaabbllee IIII

EENNRROOLLLLMMEENNTT OOFF SSTT CCHHIILLDDRREENN IINN OORRIISSSSAA

CCaatteeggoorriieess BBooyyss GGiirrllss TToottaall

PPrriimmaarryy ((66--

1111)) 664455444466 554488221122

1111,,9933,,665588

UUppppeerr

PPrriimmaarryy((1111--

1144))

9988448888

6655330033

11,,7788223399

TToottaall9966--1144)) 774433993344 661133551155 1133,,7711,,889977

Source DISE:2003-04 : OPEPA

Table III

CLASS WISE NUMBER OF ST CHILDREN IN THE STATE

Class

Boys

Girls

Total

Class- I 187323 172957 360280 Class-II 139915 123647 263562

Class -III 124902 106904 231806 Class- IV 105652 81546 187198 Class -V 87654 63158 150812

Class- VI 52544 34270 86811 Clalss-

VII 45947 30033 75980

Total 743937 612515 1356449

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School

Type

Boys

Girls

Total Primary

(I-V) 645446 548212 1,193,658 (VI-VII) 98488 64303 162791 Total 743934 612515 1,356,449

Source : DISE : 2003-2004 : OPEPA

The above table indicates that the tribal children in Class I to Class

III total 748000 tribal children have been en rolled . Their home language is

different from the school language. Language is of course a major factor that

affects the teaching learning process of tribal children . It is also found from the research that tribal children have low achievement ratio in comparison to

the other children. But other factors are also responsible in respect of low

achievement.

The table indicates that substantial children in the schools have been

provided access. But tribal children have not been ensured access to their

home language for which they face learning difficulties. At the same time teachers in these schools also face teaching difficulties .

In addition to the language issue, issues like lack of teacher training, lack of bilingual materials, lack of support to the teachers serving in tribal

areas, and lack of a pro-tribal attitude are some of the reasons that affects the education of tribal children in the State.

MAYURBHANJ DISTRICT AT A GLANCE FROM TRIBAL LENS:

There are 26 Blocks in the district and total 2271 970 people in the district out of which total ST population is 1067826( ST male:544591 and ST female:

523235).

The dominant Schedule Tribes in the district are the Santals, Munda, Khadia,Gond, Mundari, Kol and Bhumij where as the minority primitive tribes are Lodha and Mankdia.

Total ST children in the district is as follows:

DISTRIBUTION OF ST CHILDREN IN MAYURBHANJ DISTRICT:

Age group : :0-3:Age 3-5 age group

6-11 11-14

Boys 23302 19065 42675 21497

Girls 22388 18318 34916 16217

Total 45610 27383 77591 37714

DISE : 2003-2004 OPEPA

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The school type in Mayurbhanj with percentage of 100% to 50% tribal

children is mentioned below:

No of Schools with 100 % ST children: 524

No of schools with 99 % to 90 % ST Children 532

No of schools with 89% to 80% ST children: 373

No of schools with 79% to 70 % St children: 281

No of Schools with 69 % to 60 % ST children:262

No of schools with 59 % to 50 % ST Children: 252

Schools below 50% ST children: 1141

Besides there are more than 500 EGS centers having substantial tribal population which there is a need to address the classroom with tribal

children.

The above figures indicate the status of tribal children in the district. The need for ensuring access to the tribal children is addressed through SSA

and EGS centers. Besides there are Ashram Schools in which tribal boys and

girls are enrolled. But the issue of home and school language is not yet addressed by the educational institutions.

DIETS/ BRCs/CRCs are functional in the district. But these institutions

hardly have any capacity to address the learning needs of tribal children in the

context of bridging the gap of home language and school language for universal achievement.

CCHHAAPPTTEERR-- IIIIII

TO INTRODUCE :

Tribal situation is different in Orissa, in comparison to the other States of

the country, because of the largest number of speech communities. Besides Santals, some of the major tribes having their own languages are Kondh, Saora,

Munda, Kol, Ho, Oraom, Koya, Kishan and Paraja; and primitive tribes are

Bonda, Juang, Mankdia and Lodha. Present movements for recognition of their

newly invented or revealed scripts to assert their separate identities must be taken into consideration for averting major catastrophes in future.

Mayurbhanj poses the biggest problem as 55 out of 62 tribal communities are represented there. Santals constitute the largest speech community. What is

13

much more important is the fact that they are found in large numbers in

contiguous areas of West Bengal and Jharkhand.

They are also in Upper Assam and Tripura. The present Ol-Chiki

movement is not only to unite the Santals of different states where Santali is written in Bengali and Nagari scripts. The hidden agenda is to carve a separate state This is the political dimension of the issue.

Mother tongue in primary education is the right of the tribal communities.

Non-recognition of this right has given rise to many movements. This is not only

a phenomena in Orissa., but of the whole country. The sooner we evolve a language policy, the better off we will be.

It is not possible to develop all the languages to a comparable level. It is

the duty of the State to recognize their identities and assume the responsibilities of teaching them the dominant state language. Bilingual primary education is the

only strategy that will meet all such demands half way and diffuse the

adversarial posture.

All movements are neither law and order issues nor are they naxalite

movements. Some times State violence pushes the young and the old into the laps of violence. Therefore bilingual primary education must be attempted to

begin with in some of the major tribal languages. A standing Committee may be

created to monitor and ensure the implementation of programme as decided by the Government from time to time.

THE ISSUES:

Language and scripts are two subjects about which every person has an

opinion. A governor of the North East, who had written two books in a language

of the region, says “he is convinced that the language has no grammar.” Many people believe that unwritten languages are dialects. The Institute of Tribal

study of the State Government is called the Academy of Tribal Dialects and

Culture.” The underlying assumption is that tribals have no languages. They

communicate in dialects. Another assumption is that all tribals have one culture. Dr Manmath Kundu in his “ Impact Study on Introduction of Ol Chiki

Script in 30 Schools of Orissa” says “ When two languages are very different in selection of meaningful sound segments (phonemes) there arises need for two

different scripts for faithful representation of their respective sounds. In this

sense separate script is an advantage”. Nothing is more far from truth. The assumption underlying the International Phonetic Association (IPA) script chart is

that it is possible to transcribe all languages of the world using a single grid.

Roman script is used to write languages in Africa, Latin America and parts of

India and Orissa.Chinese script is the bridge among mutually unintelligible languages/dialects counted under Chinese. A single script is read differently by

speakers of different dialects and hold them together.. In India, Sanskrit is

written in all the scripts of India. Konkani and Santali are written in five scripts each. Sindhi is written in Nagari and Perso-rabic, Hindi, Marathi and Sanskrit

sharing one script, Nagari. Bengali, Assemese share one script each with minor

14

modifications. So are Telugu and Kannada. Therefore need for two scripts for

two different languages is not a necessity.

Having separate script is no advantage. At one point of time, as the Director of Central Institute of Indian languages wrote a letter to all States. I told them that the unwritten languages should be written using the script of the

dominant State languages.

There were two reasons. One is the maintenance of languages. Quarrel

over scripts comes on the way of language development as it happened in case of Sindhi. The second reason is the participation of the minor and minority

language speakers in the socio- economic reconstruction of the State at the

earliest. While maintaining their MT, the sooner they learn the State official

language, the better off they are. By adopting a bilingual method at the primary level, it was possible to maintain the mother tongue/home language while

achieving competence to study through the medium of dominant state language

at the post primary stage.

Govt. of India has an industrial policy, a science policy and some sort of

education policy, but do not have a language policy. The NPE 1986 and its

amended version 1992 refer us back to 1968, the three-language formula. The formula primarily deals with English, Hindi and the dominant State language. It

is a consensus arrived at the meeting of the State Chief Ministers. It has no

reference to the mother tongue, no reference to classical languages and no reference to proximate languages. It has been far away from foreign languages.

A line is in order as regards bilingual schooling:

Bilingual schooling has many interpretations. Two languages studied as subjects or two languages studied as medium are called bilingual schools. Even

where one language is taught as medium and another as subject, such schools

are called bilingual schools. But the bilingual schooling expounded here has different connotation.

Bilingual schooling aims at bridging the gap between the home language

and school language. The child comes to the school with the capabilities of speaking and understanding the home language, which is the mother tongue of the child. Reading and writing have to be built up on this foundation. Therefore,

in the 1st year 80 percent of the available school time has to be devoted for writing and reading of the home language. And 20 per cent of the school time

has to be devoted to speaking and understanding of the school language. In the

final year of the primary education the time is to be reversed, 20 per cent for the home language and 80 per cent for the school language. In between it is

40- 60 and 50- 50. It has been demonstrated that it enhances motivation,

ensures greater retention, and reduces dropouts.

Dr DP Patnaik, giving his personal statement says, I left Orissa when I

was [pretty young. We lived in Shantiniketan for eleven years, in Poona for six

years and in Karnataka for twenty-eight years. My children studied the regional languages of the areas we lived. One day my son asked me, how many

languages should we learn? I told him, it depends on what you want to be and

15

where you want to go. For example, if you want to go to France you must study

French. If you want to go to Germany, China, Japan or Soviet Union you will

have to learn Germany, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. If you seek your fortune with in the country, then you have to learn the major language of the

region. I am really not bothered about the number. But as a parent I am concerned about the fact that having studied the language of the region, whether you get the opportunity to compete with the native speakers of that

region on equal basis. After I took over as the Director of CIIL I was asked similar questions, I repeated the answer given to my son.”

Indian scripts other than Roman and Perso-Arabic have emanated from a single source, Brahmi. All Indian languages belong to six families, Indo Aryan,

Dravidian, Munda, Sino- Tibetan, Nahali, and Andaman and - Nicobarese. But all

scripts other than the two referred to above belong to a single family. Therefore,

with out understanding the inherent togetherness of the existing scripts, any invented, revealed or discovered scripts made in violation of the underlying unity

are bound to create problems rather than solving them.

Languages change faster than scripts. The Oriya language has changed,

but all changes are not captured in writing. For example, short and long

distinction in Oriya is lost. The three sibilants are lost barring only one, the

dental. The Bargya and Abargya ‘j’distinction is lost leaving behind j and y. Similarly, the ‘b’ written twice have changed into ‘b’ and ‘wa’ The vocalic T, short

and long are lost. Actually it has developed three ways,’ ru’ in Orissa,’ ri’ in

Bengal and ‘ar’ in Bundelkhand area.

Although the change is in pronunciation, the old sounds are retained in spelling. The argument in favour of retaining them in spelling is that they keep historical meanings apart. It will create problems in reading old manuscripts.

Same is the condition of English. George Bernard Shaw left all his

property for reform in English spelling and pronunciation. But English lives with

its anomalies and new problems are being added. This is true of all the languages of the world. There was a time when scholars spoke of the English

language. Now the same scholars speak of the Englishes of the world. All the

varieties are written with in one and the same script. Santali is found in Tripura,

Bihar, Santal Pragana, Bhagalpur, Manbhum, hazaribagh, Singhbhum,Mayurbhanj and Balasore in Orissa,Birbhum, Bankura, Midnapur in West Bengal and Assam. Its dialects are Kamari-Santali, Kurmali, Lohari -

Santali, Mahili, Manjhi, Paharia.(The languages of India and Nepal, SIL, Decan College , Puna, 1966). The subject of standardization has been discussed since

1903. The Roman script for Santali has undergone many changes. To what

extent the new script captures variations is yet to be ascertained.

A new script has been invented by Pt. Raghunath Murmu, who named it

Ol Chiki. As some people have begun to speak about Ol Chiki language , it is

important to know that Ol Chiki is a script and not a language. A script is like the dress of a person. No matter whether one wears a suit, pyzama kurta or

dhoti Punjabi.(S)he remains the same person. Similarly no matter in which

script the language is written, it remains the same language. About the Ol Chiki script Dr Kundu has to say the following:

16

“ Ol Chiki, the script for Santali language was invented by Pt

Raghunath Murmu of Mayurbhanj district of Orissa. Himself a Santali , he was a great scholar of Santali language and culture

and a creative writer in Santali. Although the script developed by him came to limelight only when it was displayed in the Mayurbhanj State Exhibition. Pt. Murmu worked on the script long

before, when he was a teacher in a school at Badamtaliya near Rairangpur. He made letter after letter, made a hand press to type

them out and when completed all the letter, arranged them in to

groups. He tried them out on his Santali students and made changes where necessary. Sri Pratap Chandra Bhanj Deo, the then

maharaja of Mayurbhanj( a princely state then) was impressed by

pundit Murmu’s sincere efforts and said that he has no objection

to the tribals of his state using the script. Later with the help of the Kherwar Jarpa Samiti of Jamsedpur pandit Murmu got the

type for the script made at the Swadeshi Type Foundry,

Calcutta. The Samiti for the first time published a journal named Sagen Sakam (green leaf) using Ol Chiki script. After word printing

press were set up in Orissa and West Bengal to publish books in

Santali using the script. At present the Santals all over India have

started using the script. The Govt. of West Bengal has given official recognition to the script and started teaching Santali students

through Santali using the script in primary schools. Other tribals

whose languages are similar to Santali have also expressed their willingness to use the script. Tribals on their own have started

schools to teach themselves the script.” ( Annexure I: Impact Study on Introduction of Ol Chiki Script in

30 schools of Orissa: 2001)

First of all it is not true that “At present the Santals all over India have started

using the scripts” A very miniscule section of Santals have opted for Ol-Chiki in Orissa.The roadside urban and suburban centers do not want Ol Chiki .They

prefer Oriya and Bengali. In Bihar Santali is written in Nagari. The Govt. of

Orissa (Dept. of Education) vide their resolution No.XIXEM 15/91-7710 dt.

25/2/91 decided to introduce the teaching of Santali language in Ol Chiki script on an experimental basis, as an additional language at the primary stage” in 30 primary schools of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh district. AS follow ups

to this resolution teachers were selected, Ol Chiki primers were prepared and teaching of Santali language in Ol Chiki scrip[t was introduced in 30 schools(

20 in Mayurbhanj, 5 in Keonjhar and 5 in Sundargarh district) from May 1992.

The experiment failed. The report of the Committee set up by the Govt. of Orissa came to the conclusion that the parents “ are found to believe in

competition and tuition. They are more in favour of learning Oriya and

English. Learning their own language and script is secondary for them(P.13)” It

is most unfortunate that emphasis on the new script takes parents away from their own language.

The Andhra situation illustrate this forcefully. The New Indian Express in its issue of 7/1/2005 states as follows: Best education often comes through

mother tongue. Over 240 tribal children studying in 80 tribal schools in Andhra

17

Pradesh more than justifying the truth.” For the first time in the country, these

tribal children are bearing the rudiments of their own language which means

connection, pride and of course the past.xxxx

“ The scheme did not materialize overnight. It took eight teams – each consists of a linguist, an educationist, an anthropologist, a tribal teacher, and local NGOs representative to design the syllabus. NO less than nine different

tribal languages are spoken by different ethnic groups in the State.xxx

“ Hence we selected words from their languages to teach them. Only the

script is in Telugu.xxx”

“ xxx at a recent meeting in New Delhi secretary of Union Tribal welfare

Dept directed other states to follow the AP model. The new curriculum could

be extended to 4000 schools next year.”

The Indian Education scene is full of over statement and ignorance. The

CIIL provided leadership in bilingual education for tribal. It prepared phonetic Readers, Grammars, Glossaries, Instrumental materials in tribal languages in

the North East, in Rajasthan,,Orissa, Maharastra, Goa, Daman Diu,Andaman

Islands. It supported the Andhra Programme in Tribal Oriya (Poderu) . It is a

matter of joy that the Andhra programme has received the attention of the Central Government. What is of importance is the fact that tribal languages

are taught in Telugu script.

Another important activity in Orissa DPEP was intervention in tribal

education which has drawn the rapt attention of the Govt of India and World Bank. DPEP Orissa, with the help of linguists and tribal area teachers have implemented a comprehensive long term tribal intervention encompassing

teacher training( Attitudinal Aspect- which is first of its kind in India), tapping traditional tribal leaders jati Mahasabha, engaging educated tribal youths for

retention drive and forging school community relation, and finally preparation of

full-fledged teaching learning materials in tribal and oriya language for seven tribal communities.( Saora, Koya, Juang, Kuvi,Kui, Bonda and Munda).

The exercise took two years in capacity building followed by a series of

activities like, training of teachers , orientation of tribal writers, field trailing and finalization of primers with the teachers hand book and picture dictionaries.

In 2001 DPEP distributed these textbook among 63000 ST children in the

schools with more than 70% tribal children. Even the Secretary, SME and

Secretary ST/SC development Department jointly took decision and Dept of School and Mass Education issued orders to use tribal primers in the schools

with bilingual situation

(Annexure-II: Proceedings of the meeting held on Tribal language Primers prepared by DPEP: 14/9/2000)

In that case, Orissa is one of the advanced state which prepared context specific, child centered primer in tribal languages and distributed among the 63

000 children. In comparison to Andhra Pradesh, Orissa has done a lot in the

18

field of tribal education. But unfortunately, the State govt. did not patronize the

efforts of using tribal primers in tribal areas schools. It is not known how the

tribal primers in Kondhmal and Malkangiri were used with out imparting training to the teachers. Even the effectiveness of using the primers in DPEP

districts were also not taken up to sustain the activities. The success stories of DPEP in tribal intervention could have been more meaningful in implementing tribal activities in DPEP-II and SSA districts. But this was not

replicated.

However the focus of using these six primers were in tribal- and oriya

language and the scripts are Oriya. Community support in using tribal primers in Saora, Juang and Kuvi community was encouraging since the DPEP

community mobilization programme was effective and VECs were actively

participating in the schools where tribal primers were used by the teachers.

This was also helping the tribal to revitalize their cultural values and language with dignity.

‘In the year 1990, The ATDC had undertaken a study of the use of Ol Chiki in schools under the able guidance of Prof. Khageswar Mahapatra, the

then Director of ATDC. This has been published by the ATDC. Not a single

person pleaded for Ol Chiki. They demanded education in Tribal language

medium. They demanded teachers from tribal communities to teach in tribal language as medium of instruction. These are legitimate demands. The Govt.

must give special attention.(Adivasi Unnayan: Astama Yojanara Anuchinta:

Adivasi Pratinidhinka saha Sakshat Alochanar Bibarani, January 27, 1990)

Further, Prof Mahapatra organized a Seminar of the representatives of the major tribal groups of Mayurbhanj on 17th September,1989. The participants deliberated on the issue of language medium in primary schools. The

proceedings was published and submitted to the Government and circulated. At the end following recommendations were made to government of Orissa

in the department of H and TW and Education and Youth Service.

“ The recommendation made were:

1. Primary School teachers conversant in Santali language should be posted

in the schools having more than 50% Santali students. 2. Facilities for learning three languages i.e. Oriya, English and Hindi

should be provided

3. Use of Santali dialect and Ol- Chiki script should be encouraged in

nonformal and adult education ecenters

4. Introduction of multiple languages and scripts in the field of general

education should be avoided.

The recommendations were examined in the Education and Youth Service

Department. Government have taken the following decisions:

19

1. The proposal for introduction of Ol Chiki script in the primary schools

imparting general education was to be dropped.

2. Textbooks in language subjects are to be prepared in Santali and other

major tribal dialects using Oriya scripts.

3. An intensive training programme for primary schools teachers working

in Tribal sub plan areas is to be organized with funding from H and TW Department

4. The books for non formal and Adult Education should be prepared in Santali and other tribal dialects using Ol – Chiki and other developed

tribal scripts.”

Again Prof. Mahapatra studied through field visit in west Bengal and

Biharin 1990( June – July) to gather views with regard to introduction of Ol

Chiki script in school education. This report submitted to the government as appended.

( Annexure- III,Report on the study of tribal languages at school

level in Tribal Bihar)

These efforts were made by the ATDC was not followed up by the

concerned departments with along term vision. The result was gap between the community and schools. Teachers were not trained up. O textbook were developed. There was a lack of long term plan for the tribal.

The situation has compounded because of lack of follow up action.

Preparation of primers is the beginning, not the end of TLM. Preparation of supplementary reading materials for children, more particularly for the tribal

children, must receive priority attention. The Orissa Sahitya Academy and

money separately may be earmarked to publish tribal language literature

through them. The SCERT and SSA must pull their resources together and set up a TLM unit with twin focus of research and innovation.

Pundit Raghunath Murmu is not the only person to have prepared a script for Santali. Well known freedom fighter Prafulla Pattanaik(01/01/1917-

14/01/2003) in cooperation with some others had initiated / prepared a

modified Nagari script for Santali. Bhagalpur University had given recognition to it at the post Graduate stage.”(Chetana Varta, 2.6 January 2004 Special

No.Pp.15)

Before Pt. Raghunath Murmu invented his Ol Chiki script many of his publications were printed in Oriya script. His dramas were enacted and well

liked by the audience. There was no complaint about the adequacy of the script.

His main interest was to bring together the Santal living in different states by providing them a single communicative language. The main aim appears to be to

20

bringing about a single Santal state by incorporating districts from the

neighboring states. At least this is the claim by some of the later leaders.

The Saora case is different. A Saora delegation arrived Delhi to discuss

their script. They were directed to come to Mysore. When asked what their problem was, they said they wanted the Govt. of India to recognize their script. I was genuinely completely surprised. I said, I have written Oriya in the Roman

script for the Americans to learn Oriya. I have written Oriya in Nagari script for other Indian language users to learn it. I helped to write Oriya in Telugu script

for the Tribal Oriya speakers of Araku Valley. I never needed any body’s

permission to write my language in any script I like. The Tamils did not need any body’s permission to create the Grantha script for writing the Sanskrit

language. They had no answer.”

The same question may be asked to the Santali speakers. The Govt. is committed to maintain the language and not necessarily to be printed in Ol

Chiki script . If an important popular book is to be printed in Ol Chiki script to

reach out to a larger population , the government may consider giving a publication grant.

CHAPTER- IV

IMPRESSION FROM THE FIELD VISIT Schools visited by the Expert Committee in Mayurbhanj district during

20/12/2004 to 25/12/2004 is mentioned detailed in Annexure – V.

The field trip undertaken by the Committee was highly instructive. One of

the first things that struck us is the manipulation of statistics. In a school attendance was between 80-87 except the day of our visit when it was 37. It

appears that the schools are expected to prepare the record at 11.A.M..

We were told that most schools fill up their registers around 4 P.M. This explains the figures of out of school children given by DPEP being 2.5

lakhs, UNICEF 15 lakhs, Orissa Human Development Report 21 lakhs and

Vision 2020 being 36 lakh.

21

In many of the schools teachers spoke of the Ol Chiki language. Almost

everywhere we corrected them saying that Ol Chiki is the script and Santali is

the language. We got the impression that their training is defective. They are told precious little about the tribal language and culture. They are unaware

about the middle class values imposed through their text books.

For example, the study room, neither the single room tenement given to

Mankdias as part of rehabilitation or in the average village house of the Santals there is a study room. Even the married son of a Mankadia shares the

single room tenement of the family. Another lesson speaks of the gift Anuradha

gave to her friend on her birthday. Those children who don’t know their date of birth celebration of their birth day is a joke. The children ask what is a gift?

Why does Anuradha give a gift to her friend?

The students cannot read Oriya fluently even in the fifth standard. From the first to the fourth standard the students recognize letters falteringly. They

read words letter by letter. They have no notion of intonation and reading a

sentence. The teachers help them in examination. In one school the answer to a question was near equal in all the answer books. Either the children got them

by heart or were helped by the teachers.

The teacher, in many cases has little knowledge of multigrade and interdisciplinary teaching, although they are engaged in such activity. They, in

many cases are unaware of the total number of students, the number of ST

students and the number of girls. Some said that they cannot speak of numbers with out consulting registers. They don’t know the breakdown of SC

and STs. All that they know is that a certain percentage is ST. There is no wonder that in a school it is prohibited to use their home languages from 10 AM to 4PM.

From the field Visit it is clear that

1. No decision is taken about the use of Santali as subject or medium

2. Experimentally Santali language with Ol Chiki script was introduced in 30

schools. According to the Kundu Report the experiment has failed.

3. No decision is taken about linking the home language with the school

language. As a result the ASECA schools teaching Santali with Ol Chiki

script has gained in popularity.

4. In VI and VII standard the ST children do not read , write and understand

Oriya fluently. The dropout at the elementary level can only be understood in this context.

5. This is true of English. The students complain that it is not possible to

build a strong infrastructure on a loose foundation.

6. Literacy should be conducted through mother tongue, Santali for Santal ,

and respective mother tongues for different tribal language speaking group.

22

7. A biliteracy programme should be developed so that literacy in both home

language and school language could be imparted. This would couple well

with bilingual primary education at the primary level.

8. Education of middle class values is imposed on the tribal, thus becoming irrelevant to the tribal life and living.

9. The Santals remaining in different states write their languages in different scripts. These facilities linking the home language with the dominant state

language. It helps them participate in the development and reconstruction

of the State at the earliest.

10. The discussion with ASECA Rairangpur representatives was revealing. They

have a single point agenda-Santali should be taught through Ol Chiki .

They made two points.

a. Santali pronunciation can only be captured through Ol Chiki script.

b. Communication among Santals living in different states is only

possible through a single script. It was pointed out to them that

Sanskrit survived because it was written in various scripts of the

country. All the scripts captured Sanskrit pronunciation. More over Telugu and Kannada, Bengali and Assemese, Sanskrit, Marathi and

Konkani scripts are written in their respective regions. N body says

Telugu is written in Kannada script. There is no reason why a modified Oriya script cannot be called the Santali script in Orissa.

11. The Santals remaining in different states write their language in regional

scripts as it facilitates linking with their state official language. It helps

them participate in the development and reconstruction of the state.

12. More over, because of the three language formula any child who comes

through the school system learns three languages and three scripts. Therefore creating a single script for interstate communication is no longer

necessary.

13. When members of the Committee told them that our concern was the future of children, they said that we would open colleges and universities. In fact we met students who have taken BA. MA from such institutions run

by ASECA.They have studied only Santali in Ol Chiki script and no other subjects. Their degrees are unlikely equated with degrees in any

university.

14. It was pointed out to them that every university has an equivalence

committee. No body would accept their BA equivalent to the degrees they

offer. Such a situation had arisen in the case of Daakshin Bharat Hindi

Prachar Sabha. They rectified their syllabuses. Unless ASECA stops giving fake degrees they would have created a generation of disadvantaged

children / students who would have no other way but being instruments in

the politics of language and handmaidens of violence.

23

15. We met some intellectuals in Baripada. One of them said that since one

generation is to be educated in the new script to teach the next and

new books are to be written the Santals will be 50 years behind the time.

16. Assuming that the new script is adopted the literacy rate will go down

immediately. This is another validation of the statement that the Santal will

go back wards by 50 years, if a new script is introduced at this stage.

17. In Oriya adequate books in different disciplines are yet to be written. To

write such books in Santali and that again in Ol Chiki script will further retard their educational progress.

18. There is very little monitoring . In spite of the fact that there SI of

schools, BRCs/ CRCs, the monitoring system does not function well. This need to be rectified.

One thing is clear. Whether it is infrastructure inadequacy, teacher

absenteeism, early puberty or poverty, the girl’s dropout is one of the major

causes of the girls becoming vulnerable. The growing trafficking in women and

children is one of the consequences of dropping schools.

We may examine the current scenario of Mayurbhanj district which

could give some ideas to think about the functioning of tribal areas school with the huge amount of tribal children with non tribal teachers.

OBSERVATION

Observation in the field is that

• In Class I and Class II number of ST children is high. In case of 90 % to

100 schools with ST children it is a matter of serious concern in the context of teaching and learning the children.

• It is not understood how the teachers in schools with 100% ST children

are imparting teaching with a language, which is not intelligible to the children. In a child centered education system, it is the language of the child, which determines the cognitive aspects during her primary stage.

• Teaching in a language other than the mother tongue of the children is

certainly against the mental ability of the tribal children. Due to this

compulsion, tribal children are unable to comprehend the content and language of the text books in earlier stage and subsequently it affect the

learning process so much so that the children are not able to grasp the

content and text book language even in Class V.

• It was found that even the teachers belonging to the tribal community

and having sufficient knowledge on local tribal language, don’t use the

mother tongue of the children with a make-belief that mother tongue should not be spoken in the classroom.

24

• The attitude and belief of the teachers mars the use of MT in classroom.

Even the teachers don’t understand the process of teaching in Class I .

• 80 % of the class time should be spared in orality between the children and the teachers in Class I in the school language and 20 % written work

should be taken up. But it was found that only written work is initiated for reading and writing of the mother tongue the very beginning of Class I that to in Oriya, and therefore the comprehension of the tribal children

in language is very low even up to Class V.

• Writing with out purpose and meaning with out a context is boring and

monotonous for the children and they fail to get pleasure out of writing.

When the Committee met the members of ASECA it was discussed that

language is important in view of cognition, but script is a symbol, which bear the language. The Santali leaders are of opinion that, if the Ol Chiki script is not

used for Santali language, the pronunciation of some words would be difficult,

and also if it is written in Oriya script, the meaning of the language will be changed due to the limitations of Oriya language in representing some of the

Santali words.

The Committee is of opinion that any language can be written in any script and there is no bar. Pronunciation of some words in a language does not hamper

the basic character of a language, or else English would not have been the

language of world, and by now, due to bad pronunciation, it would have lost its chastity. Instead by adopting many new words from many culture, English

become the richest language for its assimilative quality.

Santali language in that case is a full-fledged language with its Ol Chiki

letters to represent its own morphology and semantics. But the question of using Santali language in a State education system becomes difficult due to

several reasons. This issue was discussed in the State Level Seminar on Use of

Santali language in Mayurbhanj District, which was held on 9/1/2001, in which Hon’ble Chief Minister Sri Naveen Patnaik had inaugurated the Seminar.

Many eminent educationists, linguists, and Santal leaders had a dialogue on

use of Santali language in Primary schools of Mayurbhanj. The consensus was that if Santali language is used in the schools, the following points should be considered at first for future of education of children.

25

CHAPTER- V

SUMMARY TABLE OF THE STATUS OF TRIBAL EDUCATION IN THE STATE IN GENERAL AND MAYURBHANJ DISTRICT IN PARTICULAR

Aspect of Tribal Education

State Initiative Mayurbhanj Implication

State Initiative In the absence of a state policy, the State

has taken initiatives from time to time.

Santali Primer and Teacher Handbook

is prepared by OPEPA in Oriya script in 2001. But

since the demand was to introduce

Santali l primer in

Ol Chiki script by the Santal

community to the

Govt. of Orissa,

pending state decision ,It is not

introduced.

Santal, Munda Kol, Ho, are the

major tribes, Kurmi is a cultivator

community having their Kurmali

language close to

Bengali and Oriya. Munda tribe has

also own script.

However their

demand is not the script but to use

mother tongue in primary schools.

Choice of Medium of

Instruction (political, sociocultural,

and pedagogical

criteria) by the

State

As per the NPE (1986) and PoA (1992) State

has initiated using mother tongue in primary schools through

introducing six tribal primers in Saora,

Bonda, Kui, Kuvi, Juang

and Koya, covering about 100,000 ST

children during 2004.

Educated tribal

advocate for Oriya as LoI and English as Second language. Tribal

Organisation like ASECA having an agenda on

revitalizing tribal

identity demand for language. State project

is only promoting Tribal

Education. This has to

be sustained by the SCERT/DIETs through

Tribal Education Units.

LoI is Oriya English is Second

language. Hindi is Third Language.

Teachers do not use Mother tongue

of the tribal

children in the school or classroom

even some of them

know it.

In Orissa only tribes with major

spoken language, which have no exposure or

assimilation to the state language,

may be adopted for

MT education in classrooms. Tribes

already have

adopted Oriya, as

LoI have to be provided with supplementary

readers on their folktales and songs

from their cultural

expressions.

26

Creation of coordinating,

monitoring, and

evaluating agencies to

oversee

implementation

of LoI policy

Research Institutions do not mention any

implementation

agencies or any guidelines for state

agencies to follow the

effectiveness of using

of language as LoI even in the schools where

Saora, Juang and Kuvi

Primers were used.

DIET, Baripada has conducted some

action research on

tribal education, which is not

sufficient. The

North Orissa

University, TRI, Orissa may be

engaged in

research on different aspects of

tribal education in Mayurbhanj

Govt. NGO, efforts may be initiated to

take up research,

its sharing, use and implication among

the field

functionaries.

Sociolinguistic

environment

Orissa is linguistically

diverse in which 62 tribes along with many

minority language groups, having different school types with three

categories, those are monolingual, bilingual

and multilingual schools

. State language is

used in the schools, and even though

there are scope of using MT in schools with 100 %

ST children in the District no such

efforts is initiated

in the schools.

Santali, Munda, Ho,

Kol, etc are the languages used by

50 % people of the district. It is to note that when the

adults are bilingual in the marketplace,

children are

monolingual in home.

Attitudes toward

languages

Normal attitude of non- tribal teachers and

academicians towards

tribal language is not

favourable. Since the language in school is

dominant over the MT

speaker in the schools, the cultural hegemony is

clearly visible.

The mother tongue is not valued as a

LoI. Santali has

acquired some

prestige because of its revitalization by

the ASECA and also

by getting recognition in the

Eighth schedules in the constitution of India. However,

Santali is only

group to demand

using MT in classroom with its

own script.

Teachers attitude towards use of MT

in classroom need

to be discussed,

and changed. Even the question of

scripts may also is

a question of introduction with

serious concern in view of its use, sustainability, and

implications.

Psycholinguistic aspects

(cognitive

learning)

Cultural primers were prepared on the basis of

draft NCF 2000 with the

foundation of experience of the child reflected in

the primers. Some good results were

At the district level, there is no

evidence of using

MT even if 30 experimental

schools were opened in

Teachers in these 30 schools were

transferred to other

schools. Some went on training and did

not return to the same schools. Some

27

found the Saora, Kuvi teachers and Juang

teachers who used tribal

primers initially resulting in mixed

community reaction.

Comprehension was

ensured with tribal primers. But the local

educational

administrators did not support the efforts, with

a disbelief of considering it a time bound project.

1992.This effort was initiated with

out a strong vision

and with out along term plan for the

same.

non-tribal teachers were posted there

and they were unable

to teach in Ol Chiki script.

Language development

(books and materials written in

mother tongue)

There exists a wide range of written

materials in seven languages (Saora, Kui, Kuvi, Juang, Koya,

Bonda and Santal and Munda) followed by

teacher Handbook,

picture dictionary, conversational chart,

self-learning materials,

and language training

module for teachers etc. ATDC and some NGOs

in the State have

prepared the materials besides OPEPA.

Fewer than half of the indigenous

languages are usable as medium of instructions;

those that are used are used mainly for

school literacy

materials and bibles; only Kikuyu

has a significant

body of written

literature

Santali, Saora, Koya, Kui, Kuvi,

Juang and Bonda, and Munda language have

been used for primer, and they

have a rich folklore

to use them for reading materials.

Curriculum development.

No specific context specific curriculum is

available

The State follow the national Curriculum

Framework and the local specific needs of the children of culturally and

linguistically diversities

are not addressed in it.

Curriculum for Santal, Munda

children in primary classes has not been developed.

Even in the State

followed

curriculum, the need of tribal

children is not

reflected.

Curricula are mainly based on

the State as a whole in which the conceptual and

cultural experience

of the tribal

children is not reflected.

Text books and

language

materials

Textbooks are

available in Oriya

language only and the teachers have the make

belief of using the text for examination is the

Most of the

textbooks are

written with a middle class value

system with out reflecting the

No local primers

are promoted.

Though it is prepared the

ASECA is demanding to use

28

only objective. It does not reflect the cultural

aspirations of about 14

lakhs tribal children in primary and upper

primary stage.

Therefore tribal primers are ignored since these

does not comes under

evaluation.

cultural context of tribal children. No

culture specific or

area specific topics are reflected in the

text books in which

the children could

find their experience as

though there are

70000 tribal children in the

District

the Santali primer in O l- Chiki script

for which the

Santali primer in Oriya script is not

printed.

Teacher

training

In Orissa

In DPEP Districts

Teachers are trained on

Attitudinal training which includes some

basic questions of tribal education. But the training of

teachers on how to use primers is yet to be

taken up although the

tribal primers are distributed to the

60000-100,000tribal

children every year.

Teachers undergo

pedagogical

training, which cover the core

areas of curriculum and classroom transaction process

and theories of learning.

But the process of

understanding the language of the

child, importance of

MT, addressing

bilingual classroom, attitude of teachers

on tribal children

etc. are not addressed in TT.

At the beginning of

implementation,

teachers had been trained in the old

LoI; now teachers are trained in the new LoI, but most

teachers' college texts are still in the

old LoI

Piloting of the

new LoI in Saora, Kuvi and Juang.

In September 2000,

Dept. of SME and SC/ST decided to introduce LoI in the schools with

having 100% tribal

children. But due to

poor implementation in the field it was not

monitored properly. So

the knowledge was confined to the

teachers- writers of primers only.

The District SSA or

the DIETs except participating in the writing of primers

made no initial

efforts. The DIET

had the possibility to survey the

schools with gap in

home language and school language

and to create public opinion.

On Pilot basis

Santali language and Ol Chiki script was introduced in

30 schools, but

failed due to proper

planning.

29

Pedagogical methods

Pedagogical methods are not clearly stated for

tribal area schools to

use LoI, except the efforts of DPEP. It was

not sustained due to

discontinued efforts,

and no special efforts were given to it.

District level education officials,

BRCs, CRCs are

ignorant on MT education, and

addressing bilingual

classroom.

There is a serious gap between the

realities of

teacher’s comprehension on

bilingual

classroom. Current

pedagogical practice does not

address the

context specific issues, assuming

that tribal children will be mainstreamed so

they also need to study in RL.

Monitoring and evaluation

• Monitoring and evaluation have not been taken up

in the field. State level support was

there but at the

district and Block level, the

seriousness of

tribal education

was not felt and therefore it was

not nurtured in

tribal areas schools.

• No evaluation

was ever taken

up on use of tribal primers in

the districts

where it was introduced.

Inspectors/ BRC/CRCs have hardly thought of

addressing the need of tribal

children. They are

mechanical in their teacher

training and TLM

preparation in RL,

ignoring the basic need of tribal

children.

Action research is taken up by the

DIETs, but

evaluation of

comprehension of tribal children in RL

is not taken up.

Tribal children have less comprehension in

the subjects taught in RL. Their

cognitive aspect is

undermined in the core content and

RL, which is not

intelligible to them.

So the question of achievement is a

far-reaching goal in

tribal areas schools.

Community Response:

Tribal community has mixed opinion on using

MT of the tribal children

in the schools. Some of them demand

MT in classrooms where as some educated tribal advocate for use of

Oriya as LoI in schools.

Santal is the only tribal group in the

State to demand

Santali as MT in primary classes as

the language of the children. But some parents

are not in favour of Ol Chiki script

There is a mixed

When educated Santals advocate

for Ol Chiki script,

illiterate Santals want their children

to be taught in Oriya language and script.

30

reaction about Ol Chiki.

Recommendations:

After careful consideration the Expert committee recommends the following

points to be considered at the Government level.

• Santal language should be used as medium of instruction at the primary

level, but attempt must be made to bridge the distance between mother tongue (MT) Santali and regional language/ school language (RL)- Oriya

• Text books for Santali in both the scripts (Oriya, Ol Chiki) may be prepared for school children

• Use of Ol Chiki script to study Santali language be made optional

• Adequate standard text book, reference books, lexicons, glossaries and such other teaching aids may be produced and used in the schools

• Teachers for teaching Santali to be properly trained to teach Santali

language, script and literature.

• Teachers for Santali and other tribal languages should be properly

trained. Since Santali is the majority language of the State, their training

for teaching script, language and literature ahs assumed importance.

• Separate training programme for in-service teachers should began here

and now. Attention must be given for the training of pre service teachers

on the basis of demands of the tribal community/ Santali.

• Recruitment of teachers for teaching Santali in primary classes should have language competence as required qualification. They, at the end of training should be able to teach in Santali language, script and literature

in the schools

• Sufficient teaching learning materials and literature may be produced in tribal languages like big book, tales and legends for school children to

create a positive cultural outlook in the schools. Community language

resources can be documented and reproduced for school children.

• OPEPA/SSA should revitalize the tribal education activities, which have been initiated during 1997. Preparation of tribal-Oriya TLM, teacher training, Capacity building of DIETs, BRCs, CRCs, Monitoring and

Evaluation may be initiated immediately to meet the need of the State. This may be empowered exclusive to cater to the need of tribal children

keeping its special focus.

31

• Tribal organizations should be promoted for generating a positive

response from the community to introduce tribal language as medium of

instruction at primary stage.

• Community should know why and how tribal language could be helpful to the tribal children for transition from mother tongue to regional languages.

• Tribal organizations, Sahitya Academy and such other state level

organizations may be funded to promote tribal language and culture at

the district level to ensure local involvement,

• State Government is seriously concerned for Minority languages. The

Expert Committee feel that the functioning of the Committee may be

sustained to advise the government on minority language issues from time to time. The committee recommends that the tenure of Expert

Committee may be extended for at least three years to monitor and

provide technical support to tribal education in the State.


Member Convener Member Chairman

Ex pert Committee Expert Committee Expert Committee

32

Annexure- I : Impact Study on Introduction of Ol Chiki Script on

30 Schools of Orissa

Annexure- II: Proceedings of the Meeting Held on 14/9/2000 on Tribal language Primers prepared by DPEP

Annexure- III: Report on the study of tribal languages at school level

in tribal Bihar

Annexure- IV: District wise Schools with ST population

Annexure- V: Field Visit of the Language Expert Committee commissioned b y

the Dept. of School and mass Education Department, Govt.

of

Orissa

33

Annexure IV DISTRICTWISE SCHOOLS WITH ST POPULATION

Name of the District

100 equal

99-90

89-80

79-70 69-60 59-50

below 50 Total

Mayurbhanj 524 532 373 281 262 252 1141 3365

Sundargarh 281 349 267 245 222 176 466 2006

Koraput 327 212 150 175 158 163 766 1951

Keonjhar 156 221 207 189 171 197 1185 2326

Rayagada 395 235 161 117 126 99 537 1670

Kondhmal 182 165 203 188 162 140 525 1565

Nabarangpur 54 152 176 160 137 123 498 1300

Gajapati 493 97 64 41 34 42 399 1170

Malkangiri 319 156 72 64 29 32 349 1021

Sambalpur 52 79 82 97 105 110 516 1041

Kalahandi 22 35 84 86 95 142 1458 1922

Nuapada 30 42 56 44 61 71 577 881

Anugul 23 21 32 32 41 44 1182 1375

Bargarh 17 10 22 30 41 78 1605 1803

Ganjam 110 28 22 18 14 21 3040 3253

Jharsuguda 20 26 42 44 57 62 392 643

Bolangir 18 23 36 77 93 117 1775 2139

Balesore 35 31 17 11 31 22 2152 2299

nayagarh 25 11 11 10 8 18 934 1017

Dhenkanal 32 27 25 29 27 47 1216 1403

Cuttack 23 14 12 17 7 17 2156 2246

jajpur 15 15 23 14 17 29 1716 1829

Khurdha 16 7 4 6 13 8 1508 1562

Deogarh 14 27 25 26 37 45 309 483

Boud 6 6 10 14 19 11 632 698

Sonepur 8 9 6 7 8 16 920 974

Bhadrak 0 2 2 2 1 1 1434 1442

Jagatsinghpur 0 0 3 3 2 1 1354 1363

Kendrapada 0 2 3 4 1 3 1676 1689

Puri 0 0 0 1 0 0 1661 1662

Total 3197

253

4 2190

203

2 1979 2087 34079

4809

8

Schools with 100% ST

children 3197

(Monolingual

Situation)

Schools with 99-90% ST children 2534

Nearly monolingual situation

Schools with 89-80%ST children 2190

(Bilingual situation

Schools with 79-70% ST

Children 2032

Bilingual

situation


Children 1979

Bilingual

situation


children 2087

Bilingual

situation

Schools below 5-% ST

children

3407

9

Multilingual

situation

34

Schools wit

100% to 59%

ST

59% ST

children

1401

9

Need linguistic

intervention

Annexure- V

Field Visit of the Language Expert Committee commissioned by the Dept.

of

School and mass Education Department,

Date of Visit: 20/12/2005 to 24/12 /2005

District Visited: Balesore, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar

Team: Prof. DP Pattnayak, Chairman, and Language Committee

Prof. Khageswar Mahapatra, Ex Director, ATDC

Dr Mahendra Kumar Mishra, EX-State Tribal Coordinator, OPEPA

Objective of the Visit:

• To assess the status of ST children in primary schools in the context of

using mother tongue in classes • To assess the gap of home language and school language

• To know the competence of teachers on teaching in bilingual classes

• To identify the teaching learning process in bilingual classroom

• To know the community interest and involvement in school process as well as their perception in using Ol Chiki in classroom

• To assess the understanding of the field functionaries in addressing tribal

education in the context of high ST populated schools/ Blocks.

35

Details of schools visited:

Date. Name of

the District

Name of the

Block

Name of the

School

Total

Children

ST

children

Language

spoken

20/12/05

Balesore Nilagiri Jadida CRC ,Podasula(I-

VII)5 teachers

194 86 Kol, Santal, Bhumij,

Bathudi

Nilagiri Jagannathpur (I-V) 3

teachers

112 21 Munda

Nilagiri Bhalukasuni (I-

V)3 teachers

123 58 Ho

21/12

/05

Mayurbh

anj

Bangriposi DhadangiriPS

(2 teachers)

45 42 Santali ,

Bhumij

Simileswari

Nodal UPS(I-Vii)3 trs, 3

vacant

368 61 Santali ,

Munda

Bisoi KadambdaUPS

5 trs

122 110 Santali,

Munda, Ho

Bisoi Nodal CRC 578 236 Santal

Raiarangpur Jodia Nodal UPs 198 99 Santal

Rairangpur Discussion with ASE

CA

On use of

Ol Chiki

Dandbose 235 204 Santal

Gambharia

nodal UPS

145 117 Santal

Tentelia PS 142 142 Santal Munda

Bahalda Gidhighat UPS CRCmeeting

40 teac

hers

14 santal teachers

TaranaUPs

12 teachers

466 348 Santal,

Munda, Kol

23/12

/2005

Keonjhar Sadar Block Rajabandh UPS 189 142 Santal

Patna Rengal BedaPS 62 51 Santal, Kol

24/12

/2005

Patbila Ups

4 trs.

203 180 Bathudi,

santal

Kendumundi Mankdia DA.

22 18 mankdia

Kendumundi PS 120 84 Santal, Kol

36

Back to Bhubaneswar


Member Convener Member Chairman Ex pert Committee Expert Committee Expert Committee

Santali Education in Orisisa Final Expert Committee Report2

Documents

Transcript of Santali Education in Orisisa Final Expert Committee Report2