The study examined and compared various demographic and human developmental indicators, especially education and its allied aspects such as literacy, enrolment, promotion, repetition, retention, dropout and transition rates of tribal children at various school education stages. And to assess these indicators, data have been collected from secondary sources. Census reports of India, Jammu and Kashmir and Ganderbal, 2001 and 2011 have been reviewed to obtain the data related to demography and literacy. The information related to various educational indicators has been collected from Unified District Information System for Education 2017–2018. Thus, the present study is a desk research. The data have been expressed in tabular and graphical forms. The study concluded that the tribals figure significantly below the overall population on educational parameters such as literacy, enrolment, gross enrolment ratio, promotion, retention, dropout and transition rates. Moreover, variations and gaps have been found among trials of India, Jammu and Kashmir and Ganderbal district. Gender disparities/gaps, prominent among females, raise question marks on the efficiency and management of the educational system as well as affirmative action and intervention policies of the government in mitigating disparities based either on gender, social category or location.
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