Adivasi kids roped in to woo more to school

Adivasi students with crowns, colours and medals at Pangidimadara gudem   

Tribal students, called as STARS wearing colorful crowns and gold medal in necks, took the lead to attract their own community children who were out of school and also bringing new children to schools in many Adivasi gudems of Adilabad district.

It is for the first time, tribal students are trying to bring their community children to bring on the education path as they think that it is the only tool which can change their lives. Tribal teachers are vigorously campaigning in the villages to attract the students into Tribal Ashram schools.

The ongoing Badibata panduga programme is being observed as festival of colors in the tribal villages with senior students wearing crowns and applying different colors to their palms and visiting house to house to attract the children to schools.

This is very visible in some of the Adivasi gudems and Maoist-affected interior Pangidimadara village in Tiryani mandal is best example to this.

Teachers are welcoming the new students offering biscuits and giving them crowns. This kind of festival of colours is a rare and first time experience to many Adivasi children who were coming out of their gudems.

Pangidimadara Sarpanch Tumram Gopal said they were celebrating the Badibata panduga as colours festival as children like colors and expressed happiness over good number of Adivasi children joining the tribal ashram schools this year.

He said even parents are coming forward to send their children to schools and added that most of the Adivasi children used to end up as baby sitters in the past.

The Kolam Vidyarthi Sangham and Adivasi Vidyarthi Sangham are also making serious efforts to bring the Adivasis children and get them admit at Tribal Ashram schools.

Kotnak Bheemrao, teacher at Pagidimadara Tribal Ashram school, said that there was good response to the Badibata program this year unlike in the past as teachers, villagers and headmaster of the schools involved themselves in the programme to improve the enrollment of the students.  

TS tribal schools undergoing change

After social welfare Residential school, it is tribal welfare schools and hostels, which are undergoing change with many reforms in terms of menu, academic calendar year, conducting special classes and conducting summer training to the students in various fields as part of summer samurai program.

The Tribal Welfare schools under ITDA got 80.40 pass percent of SSC this year against 33 last year. There are nearly 40,000 students are studying in tribal welfare ashram schools under ITDA, Utnoor and above 3,000 teachers are working in these schools in the district.

Tribal welfare officials are making serious efforts to improve the educational standards in the Tribal ashram schools and hostels run under ITDA, Utnoor.

However, it is too early to comment about the improvement in educational standards in Tribal ashram schools because with the recent increase in pass percent in SSC. It remains to be seen how these students will perform in intermediate.

The officers of agency education department say they have conducted slip tests, orientation classes and a special focus on Mathematics, Telugu and English subjects in SSC and this resulted in good pass percent when compared to last year.

Efforts are also being made to improve communication and English skills among the students studying in Tribal Ashram schools.

Project officer R.V Karnan said they have changed the previous school academic calendar adding that prepared new academic calendar taking the tribal festivals and Jataras into consideration and hoped that new academic calendar will improve the attendance of the students.

The ITDA also changed the food items in the menu and serving traditional nutritional food to the inmates of the Tribal Ashram schools for some time and also encouraging sports and games among the students studying in tribal schools and hostels.

Students of Tribal Ashram schools and hostels are now being called with the suffix ‘Stars’ as part of an image makeover to the schools and students and infuse confidence among them.

Giri Ustav a riot of fun, colour and laughter

Participating in the three-day Giri Ustav is happiest movement for many Adivasi students who ate pav bhaji, ice cream and pani puri, fruits salad free of cost at Giri Ustav conducted at Komaram Bheem complex in Utnoor by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA).

Festive mood was in the air at Utnoor where district level tribal school sports are also being conducted. Giri Ustav was organized to give new experience to the children and students of the area.        

Giri Ustav, first of its kind event has attracted many tribal students and general children from Tribal Ashram Schools in the district. Money coupons worth Rs 50 was issued to each student of Tribal Ashram Schools to purchase food items at the stalls put up at the Giri Ustav.

The Tribal students also exposed to many new adventure sports and played them free of cost with the coupons issued by the ITDA.

Atram Nithin, of Ghanpur in Danthanpalli studying VI class, said he tasted the pav baji for the first time in his life at a cost of Rs 12.

‘He also enjoyed some adventure sports with the free coupons, said Nithin.  Coupons worth of Rs 50 was issued to each student.

Other than Ashram school children also can buy food items and also play the adventure sports with their own money.       

Adventure spots such as Water walk, Trampoline, Burma Bridge (rope bridge), Rock climbing and sumo fighting balls which were put up at the Giri Ustav were all new experiences to the tribals of the district.

Project officer, ITDA of Utnoor R.V Karnan said ‘the adventure sports will certainly boost the confidence of the students and ‘Giri Ustav’ was intended to create different experience to the Tribal students’.

Festivals affect Adivasi students

Adivasi children participating in Gussadi festival 

Festivals especially Diwali, proved to be a bane for Adivasi children’s education in the district.

It is found in a survey conducted by Council for Social Development (CSD) that Adivasi students are poor in their studies. Majority of Adivasis students studying in 

Tribal Ashram schools are not returning to hostels after coming home to celebrate their festivals. Adivasis celebrate Diwali for one month.    

There are incidents where students had not returned to hostels after coming to home for Pola festival.

However, it is true that active participation of the children in their festivals will certainly help in preserving their unique traditions, customers and carry forward to coming generations.

Educational experts say it is high time for the Adivasis to concentrate more on their studies at school and college level while participating in their festivities once in a while without disrupting their studies as education is the only instrument which can change their lives and give them a better life.  

Kanaka Yadavrao, district president of Adivasi JAC, said student’s attendance has fallen to 20 percent in some Tribal Ashram schools during festival seasons in tribal areas at Asifabad, Utnoor, Narnoor, Sirpur (U), Kerameri, Indravelli and some other places in the district.

He found that students who gone to their homes to celebrate Polala which fell on September 13 had not returned to hostels even after celebrating Dasara and Diwali festivals. It is almost two and half months as most of the Adivasi children interested in participating Gussadis.   

Wardens and teachers of Tribal Ashram schools have started visiting Adivasi gudems to take back students to hostels and convincing their parents to send hostels just after Diwali festival but very few students turned up to hostels.

The dropout rate is high and low pass percentage among the Adivasi students of schools and colleges in the district.

Parents are also not sending their children to schools and hostels during festival season.

Adivasis leaders expressed serious concern over poor attendance in Tribal Ashram schools and appealed to the parents not to retain their children at home.

Adivasi elders appealed to the officials of the ITDA, Utnoor to cut the holidays maximum for other festivals which are not important for the Adivasis but give at least ten days holidays for Diwali festival as it was their biggest festival and they can’t celebrate the Diwali festival especially Gussadis without their children.

Adivasis children actively participate in Gussadis and even some of them become Gussadis and visit villages along with their elders during Diwali.

R. Balaji, social researcher, Council for Social Development (CSD), who conducted survey recently in the Tribal Ashram Schools in the district, said the Adivasis children had no minimum knowledge of reading and writing and among them the standards very poor among the students of Kolams, a primitive tribal group, in the district.

‘Adivasi students are not returning to hostels for months who gone to their homes on holidays and there was lack of supervision on the students by the hostel wardens and poor attendance of the students’, observed Balaji.

Eight teams from CSD are conducting survey in the government school and hostels to assess the conditions there and educational standards in the districts.

There are as many as 113 Tribal Ashram Schools and Tribal Welfare hostels, 6 Gurukulams, 13 KGBVS, 4 mini- gurkulams and 905 Government Primary schools (PS) under Tribal Welfare in the District.      

Rice not so 'fine'

Though the state government claims that fine quality rice is being supplied in the midday meal in schools and government hostels, the ground reality is different.

It is true that for the last two months since the scheme began, students were happy with the fine quality rice. But things have changed just after schools reopened.

The coarse rice instead fine quality is being supplied to the hostels and Ashram schools in interior tribal areas due to lack of supervision by the officials.

The rice becomes sticky when cooked unlike fine quality rice and students are complaining of the strong unpleasant smell. It is found that third grade rice is being supplied to the hostels and schools in the name of fine rice.

There are strong allegations that rice millers colluding with some corrupt officials indulging in the fine quality rice scheme.

However, many government teachers working in the interior areas say that ordinary rice in place of fine quality was only supplied for midday meals and hostels in interior areas like Kotapalli, Vemanpalli and Chennur mandals and also in the Agency mandals in the district.  

Doke Bheemkka, mid-day meal worker, at Jagannathpur village in Kagaznagar mandal said the rice being supplied was not tasty and emanated a foul smell, so they returned the coarse rice to the rice distribution point for exchange when students complained over the rice quality.

Another midday meal worker, Kursinga Thonebai of Gond Jhari in Kerameri mandal, said they were getting ordinary rice and there was no taste and smell that one gets from cooked rice.

S. K Sameer, studying in Class IX at the government school in the Adilabad town, the rice supplied was not as tasty (‘Khana taste Nahihai … Dal Pathla Karke Dere..) and the dal was watery.

Some of the teachers working in the tribal ashram schools in Utnoor say that the rice is becomes sticky after cooking though the rice was of fine quality and it  depends on cooking methods and cooks.

Fine quality rice is being diverted to other destinations from the stock points itself and common rice being supplied in place of fine rice.

On the other hand, the area of paddy cultivation has come down in the major rice producing district Karimnagar and Nizmabad due to prolonged drought conditions in the last four Agriculture seasons and the yield has also come down.

Some of the rice millers of Karimnagar shifted their rice mills to bordering Chattisgarh due to high rate of levy on the rice imposed by the state government.  Some of the rice millers allegedly supplied common rice procured from Maharashtra and Chattisgarh in the name of fine quality rice to the schools and hostels.     

According to official sources, fine quality rice is being supplied to 3,850 government schools where 3, 24, 490 students are studying in the district.

Ashram schools get new corporate look

Tribal Ashram Schools and hostels are going in for a makeover to impart quality education to the children. In a bid o attract the tribal children to the schools and improve literacy among them.

The institutions are being given corporate look with paintings on the walls. The paintings on the wall relate to a wide range of themes like promoting science and research, human evolution, great Indian personalities, Indian constitution and the transition of the society into the computer age. Of late, the makeover was done at the 

Hatti Ashram School in Kerameri mandal.

However, the students still are offered free education unlike in the corporate schools which fleece the parents. Efforts are on to improve the educational standards in Tribal Ashram Schools on par with the social welfare Residential hostels in Telangana state.

Project officer of ITDA, Utnoor R.V. Karnan said ‘we are aiming to provide quality education to the tribal children. The makeover is aimed to attract the more and more students to the schools’.

He said that a cash reward of Rs 30,000 and a memento were announced for the   Hatti Tribal Ashram School running under ITDA, Utnoor to encourage the teaching and non- teaching staff and also students.

Apart from academics, focus is also being laid on extracurricular activities in the Tribal Welfare schools and hostels. The paintings are aimed at creating awareness about the improving technology  in the world, knowing about the freedom fighters, the culture of Telangana, inculcating scientific temper, famous Telangana personalities late Kaloji Narayana Rao, late Prof Jayashankar and Adivasi legendary Komaram Bheem.

Hatti School headmasters Premdas said ‘they were trying to improve the educational standards also in their institutions. Project officer Karnan has motivated us to do things perfectly and different’.

There are as many as 113 Tribal Ashram Schools, Tribal Welfare hostels, 6 Gurukulams, 13 KGBVS, 4 mini- gurkulams and 905 Government Primary schools (PS) under Tribal Welfare in the District. Literacy is major drawback hurdling the development of tribals in the backward district of Adilabad in Telangana state.

Tribal ashrams get a makeover