Tribal Children in Odisha and their right to Education in the Home Language

Abstract

Focused on the socio-economic background of tribal students in the 142 ashram schools of Koraput district in Odisha, this article explores the educational environment and quality of education for tribal children in India. As their educational performance is largely unsatisfactory, the primary causes behind low educational achievements are explored. It is found that the educational processes largely disregard the socio-cultural characteristics and linguistic skills that tribal students bring to the classroom. Specifically, tribal children experience serious language difficulties during the initial years of schooling. The practice of using the dominant state language, Odia, as the sole/dominant medium of instruction in all ashram schools, rather than the children’s mother tongue, appears to leave young learners illiterate in their mother tongue and also fosters low achievement levels in the dominant language.