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Language and Schooling of Tribal Children: Issues Related to Medium of InstructionAuthor(s): Geetha B. NambissanSource: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 29, No. 42 (Oct. 15, 1994), pp. 2747-2749+2751-2754Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4401912

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Language a n d Schooling o f T i b a l ChildrenIssuesRelatedto Medium of instruction

Geetha B NambissanAlthough heConstitutionn1956 recognised heneedforprjmaryducation nthemothertongueforinguisticminorities,today education still is being impartedprimarily n the 15 'official' languagesand English. Thedenial of schooling in

the-mother ongueto childrenof tribal communities ssumessignificancein the contextof theirpoor responsetoformaleducationandhigh attritionrates.A growing body of researchon languageandeducationof ethnic minorities n westernsocieties highlightsthe crucial roleplayedbyhomelanguagesin early learning.Thispaperdiscusses some critical issuespertaining to the mediumof instructionat theprimarystage and reviewspolicy andpractice relatingto mothertongueeducation or tribal children in India.IN 1956, the Indian Constitution throughArticle350A recognisedthe need to providefacilities or primary ducation nthe mothertongue to linguistic minorities. However,today, almost four decades later, educationisbeing imparted rimarilyn the15'official'languages that are listed in the EnglishSchedule' of the Constitutionas well as inEnglish. Languagesof communitiessuch asthe Scheduled Tribes do not figure in theSchedule and remain outside the precinctsof the school.2The denial of schooling in the mothertongue to childrenfrom tribalcommunitiesgives cause for concern in view of thegrowing volume of research hat highlightsthe crucial role played by languagesof thehome in processes of early learning. Thepoor response of tribal children to formaleducationand their high rates of attrition,especiallyinthe first ew yearsof schooling,assume significance in this context. Thispaperdiscusses some of the critical issuesthatpertainto the languageused to imparteducationat theprimary tageof schooling.While both policy and practice relatingto'mother ongue'educationof tribalchildrenin India are reviewed, an attempt s madeto incorporate nsights thathave emerged nresearch n languageandeducationof ethnicminorities in western societies.

SCHOOLINGOF TRIBALCHILDRENThe dismal state of primary chooling oftribalchildren s not immediatelyreflectedin the school enrolmentratios hataregivenin official documentsandreports.In 1991,the enrolment ratio of tribal children inprimary chools (Class I-V) was calculatedto be as high as 104.7 (Table 1). While itis commonly acknowledged hat therollsinschool registers are often inflated, themethodology used to calculate enrolmentratios is also faulty. The assumptionmadewhile calculating enrolment ratios, thatchildren n primaryschools are in the 6-11age group, succeeds in glossing overphenomenasuch as late entry, stagnationand drop-out. A significant proportionofchildren n primary chools arewell over 11years of age, making enrolment ratios as

currently alculated,a distorted ndex of thespread of schooling [Nambissanand Batra1989: 58].Censusdataon theactualparticipation fchildren romtribalcommunities n primaryschools presenta more sobering picture.In1981 barely 23.9 per cent of tribalchildrenaged 5-14 years in rural areas actuallyattended chools (Table 1). In states such asBihar, MadhyaPradeshand Rajasthan, hepercentage of tribal children enrolled inschools inruralareaswas24.0 percent, 16.4percent and 18.4 percentrespectively India1981].3What is of special significance in thecontext of the presentdiscussion is that themajority of children who enroll in Class Idrop out within a few years of enteringschool. Official drop-out figures of tribalchildrenbetweenClassesIandV was ashighas 64.50 per cent as compared o 47.90 percent for the general category of students(Table 1). Classwise enrolments at theprimary stage reveal that the sharpestdropinenrolmentof ribal hildren ccursbetweenClassI and11.For nstance,Table2 indicatesthatforevery 100 tribalchildrenenrolled nClass I in ruralschools in 1986, there were59 in Class II, 49 in Class III, 37 in ClassIV and 29 in Class V [NCERT 1986].A closer perusalofdatasuggeststhat hereis probablyalso a large degreeof stagnationand ailure t heprimarytage.Theaggregatepresentation of educational statistics,however, underplays he magnitudeof thephenomenon. Around4 per cent of tribalboys in Class II, 8 percent in Class III, 18per centin Class IVand45 percent of thoseinClassV wereover11yearsofage [NCERT1986: 1020]. It will be recalledthat 6-l 1 isusually taken obetheprimary chool-goingage group.Whileanalysing hepoorresponseof tribalchildrento formal schooling, scholarstendto emphasisethe economic marginalisationof these communities, their illiteratehomeenvironments, inadequate facilities foreducationand, culturally, healien natureofthe school system. While these factors areno doubtimportant o explain the responseof tribal communities to the education of

their children, t becomes essential to focuson school processesas well. This is necessarygiven the magnitude of drop-out (andpossible stagnation) of children within ayear of joining primary school.SCHOOLROCESSESNDQUALITY

OF LEARNINGInformation on the quality of educationis limited largely to the physical facilitiesfor schooling that areavailable to children.Data fromthe All India EducationSurveysreveal that primary schools in rural areashave relatively poor infrastructure.Thereare a large number of schools that W*ve'kutcha' buildings, inadequate number ofclassrooms and lack library facilities and

baqic amenities such as drinking waterarrangementsnd oiletswithin hepremises.Blackboards,chalks anddustersarealso inshortsupply. However,ascompared o ruralareas in general, tribal habitations arerelatively poorly served with facilities forschooling. For instance, while 51.4 percent of rural habitations have primaryschools, this is so in only 45.4 percent oftribal habitations[NCERT 1986: 116-36].Again, while 30 per cent of ruralprimaryschools are 'single teacher schools', theypredominatemore in backward ribalareas[India 1988: 300].The academic attainmentof children inspecificskillsthattheyareexpectedto cquirein primary chool is yet to be systematicallytested. Studies which have been conductedsuggest that the average student has poorreading abilities, does not master contentareas in mathematicsand performs poorlyin science [Kurien 1974; Jalaludin 1991].Passing reference that is made to tribalstudents in some studies emphasises poorlevels of comprehensionandreadingabilityamongchildren[Srivastava1992: 135]. Ofcritical importanceto the learning processis thelanguageof communication n schoolsand the medium through which schoolknowledge is imparted.The child's accessto subject areas in the curriculumdependson a minimal level of proficiency in thelanguage used for instruction within theschool. The data that are available from

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studiesbasedon limitedsamplesof studentsin MunicipalCorporationPrimarySchoolsin Bombay, Baroda and ruralMaharashtraare extremely disturbing. The majority ofchildrenwere observed to be unableto readlettersof the alphabet(Bombay-ClassI) orsimple two letter words (Baroda-ClassII))and scored less than 40 per cent in tests ofachievement in language (Maharashtra-Class V) [Jalaludin 1991: 197-99]. Whilediscussing 'school related factors' thatcanraise earnerachievement,educationistsandresearchers tend to focus largely onimproving techniques of teaching. Theyemphasise the need for a more 'effectivepedagogy' hatis 'childcentred'and activitybased' [Jalaludin 1991: 206]. There is,however, failure to understandthe socio-cultural ontext of languageand themannerin which it defines the educationalexperiences of children, particularly hosewho belong to minority communities.The criticalityof language as the mediumof school education becomes particularlyrelevant in pluricultural, multilingualsocieties.Thesingling outof some languagesas the 'standard'and appropriatemedia ofeducation etsaside herestas 'non-standard'and inappropriate for schooling. Theimplications that follow are pertinent forpedagogy and curriculumtransaction, aswellasfor teacherattitudesandexpectationsthatunderlie hesocial processesofschoolingand influence educational outcomes. AsPattanayak observes, "where multiplelanguagesand cultures co-exist, the notionof one dominantlanguage as the mediumof instruction eaves thousands lliterate intheir mother tongue and fosters lowachievement evel in the dominant anguageitself' [1981:43].In 1961, 87.13 per cent of the Indianpopulation spoke the 'standard', officiallanguages that are included in the EighthSchedule of theConstitution[India 1961].4Over the years, the percentage of thepopulation that speaks non-scheduledlanguageshasdeclined from 12.87percentin 1961 to 3.84 per cent in 1981. Tribalcommunities orm themajorityof linguisticminorities in the country. Though theycompriseessthan8percentofthepopulationtheyspeakaround 00 mother ongues.Thesehave been grouped into 100 languages ofwhich 25 have over 50,000 speakerseach.Languages uch asSantali,Bhili,GondiandKhuruk/Oraon re spoken by over 10 lakhpeople [India 1961]. What are theperspectiveson language use in impartingeducation to tribal children in primaryschools?

LANGUAGEAND LEARNING:CHANGINGPERSPECrIVESN EDUCATION

Perspectives on language and schoolingtend to reflect larger socio-culturalrealitiesin society and in particular he power rela-

tions between 'minority' and 'dominant'groups. For instance, until the mid-60s thelanguagesof immigrant ndminoritygroupsin Britain and the US such as the Blacks,Puerto Ricans and Native Indians wereconsidered linguistically inferior, illogicaland hence notconducive toeducation.Poorachievement in schools by children fromthese communitieswas seen to resultfrom,among other factors, inadequate com-prehension and 'verbaldeficiency' causedby languages spoken within the home andcommunity. Languages of the home ormother tongues other than the 'standard'were actively discouragedin schools andevery effort was made to teach children hedominant language (usually English) as"speedily and efficiently as possible"[Jeffcoate1982:55]. Ofcourse, hedominantlanguage also had a criticalrole to play inthelargerprojectof culturalassimilationofminorities in mainstreamsociety.A rethinkingon language in the contextof education n western societies was set inmotion in the 70s by a number of factors.Significant among these was the work oflinguists who began to scrutinise anguagevarieties that were earlier dismissed as'inferior'. It was argued that there are nolinguisticreasons orclaimingsuperiority fonelanguageordialect over another Cohenand Manion 1983: 209]. For instance,Labov's studyof BlackEnglishVernacular(BEV)indicated hat t was a validlanguagein its own right and perfectly capable ofmeeting the communicative needs of itsspeakers. Edwards, referringto 'dialects'subsumedunderCreole,maintains hat heyare fully developed languages: "They arelogical and regular and it would be quitewrong toconsider hem nany way 'broken'or 'inferior"' quoted n Cohenand Manion1983: 209].While linguistic research sought toestablish the 'valid' nature of minority'tongues', these languages were broughtcentrestage by the ethnic movements n the70s in which language proved to be apowerful symbol of identity and sense ofcommunity.Minoritygroupsdemanded hattheir languages be taught in schools andbegan taking initiatives in setting upsupplementaryschools where communitylanguagesweretaught[Homans1992: 147;FlerasandElliot 1992:147].Inadditionwasthe pragmatic realisation that minoritieswould comprisea significant proportion fthe labourforce by the turn of the centuryand that they were inadequatelyschooled[McCollum and Walker 1992: 178-95].Attention was focused on the 'specificeducationalneeds' of these communities.Itis in this larger context that multiculturaleducationevolved asa majorpreoccupationof policy and research n the 80s in Britain,the US and Canada. The emphasis onpluralism and culturaldiversity made the

incorporation of minority languages inschools a major plank of the multiculturalperspectiveneducation.As willbe discussedlater,the right of minorities to the teachingofmother ongues nschool and he mportantrole that linguistic diversity could play ineducation increasingly was dwelt upon.However, this concern withmother ongueswas mainlyin the context of subjectsto betaught in schools ratherthan as media ofinstruction.In India, government policy andofficialdocumentshadadvocatedas earlyasthe 50sthat primary education be imparted tolinguistic minorities n theirmother ongues.Article350A of the Constitution tates that"it shall be the endeavour of every statetoprovide adequate acilities for instruction nthe mothertongue to childrenbelonging tolinguistic minoritygroups". nthe early 60sthe Dhebar Commission highlighted theimportanceof language in t'he chooling oftribalchildren. "Itis experienced hat tribalchildrenpick up lessons easily when taughtthrough ribaldialects. It is felt that he tribaldialects shouldbe developedandpreserved"[India1962].Withspecific reference otribalcommunities, the Kothari Commission(1966) recommended that the "mediumofinstruction n the firsttwoyearsof the schoolshould be the tribal language". This wasagainechoedbythe1986policyon education(NPE). The revised Programmeof Actionof theNPErecommends hat"children romtribal communities be taught throughthe

TABLE 1: PROFILEOF SCHOOLINGOF CHILDRENTRIBAL,ALLCOMMUNITIES

Children'sSchoolingTribal All Com-munitiesGross choolenrolmentratio(1991-92) Class I-V 104.7 102.7Schoolparticipationrate 1981)5-14years(percent)Total 25.4 44.2Rural 23.9 38.8Schooldrop-outate(1988-89) percent)Class -V 64.5. 47.9Class l-VIII 78.1 65.4Source: Census of India, 1981,Educationfor

All: The IndianScene, 1993.TABLE 2: ENROLMENT N EACH CLASS AS PER CENT

OF ENROLMENT N CLASS I (1986)TribalChildren All Children(Rural) (Rural)

ClassI 100.0 100.0Class Il 58.6 72.4Class III 48.7 65.5ClassIV 36.8 54.7Class V 29.1 49.1Source: FifthAll lndia EducationSurvey,Vol II,based onTables 167, 177.

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mother ongue n theearlier tages nprimaryschool" [India 1992:10]. Relatedrecommendations also have been maderegardingthe preparationof textbooks intribal anguages usingthe mostappropriatescript, regional, Devanagri or Roman),recruitmentof teachers familiar with thespoken tongues of children, and so on.Policy statements have admittedlyaddressed ssues relating o tribal anguagesas media n education.However, thesemustbe analysedwithin the largercontext of theincreasinglymarginalisedposition of tribalcommunities n India.Traditional conomicand social institutions that gave tribalcommunities a distinct way of life havepracticallydisintegrated ollowing extremeexploitation rom raders ndmoneylenders,penetrationof urban industrial structures,and the destruction of their habitat. Theirdiverseandrichcultures,of which anguagesare theessence, areunable to withstand heonslaughtof the market and media whichblatantlyproject he cultural tandards f theurbanelite as the norm. What is 'tribal' ispopularly perceived as 'backward' and'inferior'.Theincreasing endency ortribalpeople to retain the regional language astheirmother ongueis only one indicatoroftheir growing vulnerabilityin the face ofthese largersocial processes.Policy-makers concerned with thedevelopment of tribal communities mustnecessarily be sensitive to the vulnerableposition they occupy in Indian society.Transition, if seen as necessary, must bemade as painless as possible ensuringthatthese communities retain their inalienableright otheirowncultureandwaysof living.Aspectsof their cultureandsocietythat arecritical for raisingthe quality of their livesneed to be consciously. strengthened.Forinstance, f it is felt thatschooling in mothertongues will facilitate the education ofchildren, it is importantthat governmentpolicy adequately intervene in favour oftribalcommunities n this regard.A criticalre-readingof policy documentsreferred oearlier suggests that this has not been thecase.While the importanceof mothertonguesas media of education has often beenemphasised, it is significant that no triballanguage s included n theEighthScheduleandtherebygiven the status of an 'official'language.Officiallanguagesarerecognisedas languages of power - they are used inadministration, he legislature, the courtsandeducation.The fact that ribal anguages,even those with over 10-20 lakh speakers,remainoutside the Schedule is a reflectionof the relative powerlessness of thesecommunities. It must be mentioned thatlanguageand scripthave become symbolsof tribal dentityandrevitalisationof culturein tribal movements, especially in the last50 years, Thoughattentionhas been drawn

to language, this has been mainly in thecontext of a return o the past ratherthanin functional terms [Singh 1985: 284].If statements relating to tribal mothertongues as they appear in the KothariCommission(1966) andthe NPE(1986) arecritically viewed, it appears that they aremere 'add-on'cosmetic elements that tendto devalue ribalanguages atherhanattemptto explore and exploit their pedagogicrelevance. While tribal languages arementioned sappropriate ediaofinstructionat the primary stage of education, theoverridingconcern appearsto be with thetransition o regional languages within twoyears of schooling. The Commissionrecommends hatduring the first two yearswhen tribal languages are being used asmedia of instruction,"the child should begiven oral instructions in the regionallanguageand heir amiliarityandcommandover it should be improved. By the thirdyear, the regional language should be themedium of instruction" 1966:246]. In the1986 policy as well as its revised versionin 1992, theemphasis appears o be on the"transition to regional language byClass III" [India 1992: 10]. In neither ofthe policy documents does there appear obe any concern with mothertongues afterClass II. What is also disturbing is thatpolicy does not attemptto visualise howmothertongues will concretely function asmedia of instruction, particularly whenovershadowedby theregionalor 'standard'language.Theperfunctorymanner n whichmothertongues areexpected to be used inschools and then abruptly dispensed withsuggests that policy-makers are notconvinced of the 'valid' nature of theselanguages.They appear o view themmerelyasfamiliarbridgesbetweenhomeandschoolrather than as effective languages foreducation in their own right.The preparation of teaching/learningmaterials for tribal children is a complextask in view of the largenumberof sp(,kenlanguages and the need to evolve scripts,grammar, s well as appropriate ocabularyto communicateschoolknowledge'.Further,

these languages lack official recognition(whichby itself couldhaveprovided mpetusfor their support and development). Theyhave also received inadequate researchattention. t s thereforedisturbingoobservethe casual manner n which the ProgrammeofAction[1992] recommends hat"standardteaching/learningmaterialwill bere-writtento make them intelligible to the SC/STchildren especially in areas where thestandard anguage and learners'dialect aredifferent"[1992: 6]. There is no attempt otake stock of the existingsituationregardinginstructuralmaterials in tribal languages.Educationpolicy documents also have notdwelt on the magnitude of tasks that areinvolved in the preparationof primersandtextbooksfortribalchildrennoroutlined heconcrete steps that have to be taken in thisdirection.Education hrough non-standard'pokenlanguages appearsto remainmerely at thelevel of official rhetoric. Hence it is notsurprising hat a publicationby theNCERT(which is involved in the preparationoftextbooks in tribal anguages) shouldmakethefollowing observationwhenreferring othe large number of mothertongues in thecountry: "Even otherwise most of thesemothertongues areuncultivateddialects orlanguages of no educational importance.Therefore comparatively very few Indianlanguages,mostof which arewell cultivatedliterary anguages,aretaught n our schoolsand fewer still are used as media of instruc-tion" [Chaturvediand Mohale 1976: 2].

MEDIUMF NSTRUCTIONOR RIBALCHILDRENThe most striking aspect that emergesfrom thescantydataonlanguages nprimaryeducation is the almost total absence oftribal languages in schools. The All IndiaEducationSurvey(1986) lists43 languagesthatare used as media of instructionat theprimary tage.The tribal anguagesof Naga,Mizo, Khasi, Ao, Angami, ManipuriandNicobareearementioned.Surprisingly, ourlanguagesmentionedasmediaof instruction

TABLE 3: PRIMARY SCHOOLS ACCORDING O DIFFERENTLANGUAGES USEDAS MEDIA OF INSTRUCriON 1986

Languages PrimarySchools accordingtoMedia of InstructionRural Urban TotalOfficial languages (listed in Eighth Schedule) 5,48,372 72,025 6,20,397

(96.9)* (92.9) (96.4)Other Indian anguages (not listed in EighthSchedule) 13,936 1,147 15,083(2.5) (1.5) (2.3)English 3,797 4,303 8,100(0.6) (5.6) (1.3)Total 5,66,105 77,475 6,43,580(100) (100) (100)

Note: * Figuresin parenthesisarepercentagesof schools with differentmedia of instruction.Source: Fifth All IndiaEducationSurvey, Vol 1, NCERT, 1986.

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in an earliersurvey conducted in 1979 arenot listed in 1986. Among the 'missing'languages is the tribal language of Santaliwhich in 1981 was spoken by over 40 lakhpeople [India 1981a]. Gondi, Bhili andother major tribal languages also do notfind any mention as school languages[NCERT 1986: 197].At an all-India evel, datareveal that98.3per cent of primary schools were singlemedium schools. In 96.9 per cent of ruralschools, the media of instructionwere the15 languageslisted in the EighthSchedule(Table3).While 0.6 percent of schools haveEnglish as the medium, only 2.5 per centwere using "other Indian languages", acategorv that comprised as many as 24languages [NCERT 1986]! While the firstlanguage introduced in school is usuallyassumed to be the medium of instruction,this s notalways he case. Only 27 languagesare introduced n primaryschools as firstlanguages scompared o 43 thatareobservedto function as media of instruction.In asmanyas 97 percent of rural chools, the firstlanguages introducedat the primary stageare the languages included in the EighthSchedule [NCERT: 1986].The situationpertaining o the languageof instruction and, communication (byteachers) nschoolsgives cause for concern.It is known that of the 1,64,129predominantly tribal habitations in thecountry,45.4 per cent had the facility forprimary chool within them while 87.6 percent had access to schooling within 2 km[NCERT1986:22]. The NCERT figuresonschool languages suggest hat in only anegligible number of these habitations,mainly in north-eastIndia, is the languageof instructionthat which is spoken in thehomes of tribal children.Intermsofpolicy, manystategovernmentshave recognised tribal languages as mediain primary ducation.InBihar,where thereis a sizeable tribalpopulation, Santali, HoandOraonarerecognisedbythegovernmentas languagesfor instructionat the primarystage. However, the Comimissioner forLinguisticMinorities eportshat"inpracticethe stategovernmenthasnot akenanyactionto introduceOraon,Ho,SantaliandMundarias media of instruction n areas where thespeakersof these languages arein sizeablemajority" [1980-81: 39]. As can be seenfromTable4, there are as many as 19,876predominantlytribal habitations in Biharwhereprimary choolingfacilities arebeingmade available to children within a rangeof 2 km. However, the NCERT surveyclearly ndicates hat t s Hindi, he 'standard'regional anguage, hat s mainly beingusedin primary chools in theentire state.WhileUrdu, Bengali andOriya figure nominally,no otherIndian anguagesarebeing used toimpart primary education in Bihar[1986:198].

In Madhya Pradesh, around23 per centof the population s designatedas tribal,andthere as many as 18,913 tribalhabitationswithinwhich primary chooling s available.Though the state government claims thatfive tribal languages are being used asmedia in primary education in Kandua,Jhabua, Raigarh, Bastar and Madala, thisis not reflected in the 1986 Survey data[NCERT 1986]. The same is the case withthe other predominantly ribalareas in thestates of Rajasthan, Orissa and Bengal[India 1980-81].If, for the sake of argument, triballanguages are made the mediaof instructionin areas where these communitiespredominate,would the requirednumberofteachersandtextbooksbe available?Thereis as yet no informationon the number ofteachers who are conversant with triballanguages, houghgovernment suallystatesthat teachers knowing triballanguages areto be posted in tribal areas. School-relateddata ndicate hatonly 6 per centof teacherswho are in primary chools belong to tribalcommunities [NCERT 1986: 91]. The factthat 50 per cent of these teachers areuntrained,and are mainly matriculatesorhave only passedmiddle school, gives risetoscepticismabout hequalityof instructionbeing imparted regardless of languagespoken. Reports of the Commissioner forLinguisticMinoritiesdo makereferences oteachers in tribal areas but this is mainlyconfined to statementssuch as "there s nodifficulty in providing tribal languageteachers"or thatthere arerefresher rainingcentres oracquiring lementaryknowledgeof triballanguages [India 1985-86: 45]. Itappearsunlikelythatprogrammes rebeingdesigned to trainteacherswho are sent totribal areas so that they can communicateeffectively with children. As discussedbelow, teacher training in relation to theschooling of linguistic minorities s crucialin terms of both the pedagogic aspects oflanguageas well asunderlyingattitudesandexpectations of educators.

As regards extbooks in tribal anguages,it has been noted that initiatives are beingundertaken by the Central Institute ofLanguages, Hyderabad ad NCERT, NewDelhi. The number of languages in whichtextbooks and primers actually have beenpublished, heextent to which theyaremadeavailable o schools, and he mannerinwhichthesearebeing utilisedby teachersandpupilsare anybody's guess. Such information snot clear from reports such as that of theCommissioner for Linguistic Minorities.Srivastavahas observed that he "paucityofliterature and textbooks in tribal dialects,will for the time being come in the way ofteaching through the mother tongue"[1992: 135].The foregoing discussion suggests thattribalchildren nIndiaarebyand argebeingimparted primary education in languagesthat are not theirspoken tongues. Further,it alsoappears hatsystematiceffortsareyetto be made opreparehegroundorschoolingin tribal anguages. Whyis it important hattribal children be given education in theirown languagesat least in the early years ofschooling?

WHY EDUCATION N MOTHERTONGUES?Broadly two kinds of perspectives areadvanced to advocate the use of mothertongues or home languages as media ofinstruction n early education as well as toencourage linguistic diversity in schools.The firststems romarecognition hatmothertongues are not merely speech varietiesbu.are languages that provide social andemotional identity to individuals, expressthe essence of theircultures,andgive thema sense of rootedness[Pattanayak 990:ix].Schooling nthe anguageof thechildreflectsrespect for her and an appreciationof herculture. The exclusion of mothertonguesfromschool hence is seen as 'harmful o thechild's self-esteem' [Edwards 1984: 81].According oPattanayakhildrenare herebyreducedto "minorities n their own homes"

TABLE 4: LANGUAGEAND PRIMARY SCHOOLINGOF TRIBAL CHILDREN IN BIHAR AND MADHYA PRADESHBihar MadhyaPradesh

Tribal Population 1981) (per cent) 8.3 22.9No of predominantly ribalhabitations 21,165 44,861Tribal habitationswith access to primaryschooling (1986)Withinhabitations 7,596 18,913Within2 kms 19,876 40,388No of speakersof major ribal anguages in Santali(61.5)* Gondi (10.5)lakhs(1961) Mundari 5.7) Khuruk/Oraon2.7)Khuruk/Oraon 5.6) Bhilali (3.4)Ho (4.4) Bhili (3.5)Primary chools with medium of instruction 1986)Scheduled languages 100 100.0Hindi 97.2 98.38Tribal anguages 0.0 0.0Note: * Numberof speakers n lakhs as perthe 1961 Census are given in parenthesis.Source:Census of India, 1961, Fifth All India Educatiotn urvey,Vol I, 1986, NCERT,New Delhi.

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[1987: 71]. Extended to the realm ofpedagogy, the argument links theacknowledgement and acceptance by theschool of the language and culture of thechildto a positive dentityof self and herebyto effective educational achievement. AsEdwards says, "the rejection of a child'slanguage s unlikely to enhance feelings ofself worth which are important foreducational success" [1984: 83]. Further,this perspective argues that "'theright toeducation in a language that the childunderstands s a basic human right and anessential ngredient f equality n education"[Moodley 1986: 92]. Pattanayak orcefullyobserves that to "control and dictate thelanguages of access" to knowledge is a"positive suppression of human talent. Itdeprives individuals and society of freechoices, curbscreativityand nnovativenessand restricts participation or potentialparticipationn multiple spheres of humaninteraction,hus mposing imitson freedom"[Pattanayak1987: 8].The second line of argument s primarilypedagogic. The most basic is the commonsense principle of moving from the knownto the unknown.It points to the importanceof spoken languages in bridging the oftenyawning gap between home and schoolespecially for minority,in this case tribal,communities.More mportantstheemphasison mother tongues or home languages asassets which can facilitate the process oflearning n children.Forinstance, it is nowacknowledgedthat childrenwho are fluentin spoken languages bringto school highlydeveloped inguisticand social skills as well

as learning strategies which need to becapitalised upon for further learning[Jeffcoate 1984:57]. It is felt that verbaldexterityand inguistic expressionobservedamongchildren romcommunitieswith oraltraditions can contribute to successfullearning.While muchof theresearchon thesubject pertainsto black and west Indianchildrenwhose culturesplace highvalueonverbaldexterity, herichnessof tribal ulturesand particularly heir oral traditionoffersunexplored pedagogic possibilities.Researchon bilingualismoffersa numberof insights hatare relevant orthe educationof tribal children. Studies have shown thatbilingual children have greater cognitiveflexibility, greater social sensitivity andgreater adeptness at creative thinking'[Wiles, 1985:92].Thelearningstrategiesofsuchchildren, or instanceproblemsolving,are found to be highly developed. It isemphasisedhat he"sensemaking trategies"that bilingual (and multilingual) childrenacquire, as well as the social skills theypossess (seen in the ease with which theyshiftacrossandwithin anguages nldifferentcontexts), are strengths that slhould besupportedby the school system [Edwards1984; Miller 1983; Wiles l98^ Mosttribal

communities in India are observed to bebilingual and multilingual, though theyusually have one language for 'in group'communicationSinghandManoharan 993:21]. Outof 623 tribalcommunitiesanalysedby the ambitious People of lndia Project,"80.26 per cent were bilingual, in somecases trilingual and multilingual". Thus,childrenfrom these communitieswho haveacquiredor are acquiring more than onelanguage are also likely to have highlydeveloped linguistic andsocial skills whichneed to be recognised and strengthenedwithin the classroom.Linguisticdiversity s today beginningtobe seen by scholarsas a pedagogicresourcethatcanengender earningwithinclassroomsrather hanactas an mpediment o education[Wiles 1985]. Encouragingchildrento talkusing languages they are most comfortablewithas well as theirown cultural xperiencesis seen to facilitate expression andcommunicationof ideas, and to motivatereadingandwriting.The assumption s thatin such an environment, children will bebetter able to practise linguistic andconceptual skills which can enlarge theirrepertoireand also aid second (dominant)language learning. They will have "accessto as wide as possible a rangeof language... which will allow them to form/hypo-thesise about words and structures.Theymust also have realistic opportunities tocommunicatewith teachersandpeersso asto test the validity of the rule systemnsheyare developing" Edwards1984:85]. Whilethis perspective underlines the pedagogicrelevance of home languages or mothertongues in early learning,it also suggeststhat an early imposition of the dominantlanguage and an abrupt erminationof thehome language in school would bedetrimentalo thedevelopmentof children'slearning abilities.

TEACHINGSTRATEGIES ND CLASSROOMPROCESSESIf tribal mother tongues or spokenlanguagesare o begiventheirrightfulplaceinearlyeducation, t isobviousthat eachingstrategiesandclassroomprocesseswill haveto undergoa sea change from what obtains

atpresent. Ratherthanassuming thatchildrenarepassive learnersand thattheirmindsarein the natureof 'tabularasa', theywill haveto be seen as activeparticipantsn theirownlearning.Scholars who have been involvedwith ethnicminoritychildrenemphasise heimportance of 'collaborative' rather than'didactic' methodsof teachingandlearningin classrooms.Wel snotesthat"therelation-ship between teacher and learnermust ateverystage of developmentbecollaborativean attempt o negotiate sharedmeaningsand understanding" Wells 1985: 39]. Peerreinforced language development in the

natureof "smallgroup learning, structuredand nurturedby teachers" is also seen asan effective pedagogic tool in classrooms.As Wiles says, children make "excellentteachers and helpers" [Wiles 1985: 87].Teachersarecautionedagainstbeing 'overfussy' when childrenuse spoken languages(dialects) as they begin to speak, read andwrite the standard language in school."Miscues" in home languages are not tobe reprimanded as "errors"but are to betreated as instances of children employing"problemsolving strategies"which requirethat they "use all information at theirdisposal to arrive at an unknown word"[Edwards1984:86]. It s felt that heconcernof teachers in the early years of schoolingshould be with the child's ability tocommunicate ideas, to present themlogically andcoherently in writing, and tocomprehend the meaningof what they read[Wiles 1981,1985; Edwards1984].Teachersmay actually obstruct earningby unneces-sary correction, constant interruptionandexaggerating 'lapses' by childrenwhobringtheir mothertongues into the classroom.It must be remembered hat the responseof teachers to the languages of minoritychildren susuallyreflectiveof largersocietalstereotypesregarding hesecommunities. na sense, teacherattitudesto languageformpartof the hiddencurriculumof schoolingthat plays a role in persuading minoritychildrenof theinferiorityof their anguagesand cultures.Teacher attitudes are likely to beparticularly rucial n schools in tribalareasinIndiagiventheuseoftheregional anguageas the medium of instructionas well as theprevailingstereotypesof these communitiesas 'backward'and'uncultured'.SaxenaandMahendroo, while describing theirexperiences in school education n MadhyaPradesh,note that heyhave"constantlywit-nessed children and adultsbeing ridiculed,humiliatedcandeprimandedorspeaking ntheirown languages. Inschools, there s nodearth of episodes where children arcpunished for failing to talk in the standardlanguageorcontinuously apsingback nthemother ongue" 1993:2446). The referenceto spoken languages as 'dehati bhasha',implyingthat heyarenot 'proper anguage'and that their use has a 'bad influence' onthe chlildren reinstances of perceptionsofmothertongues by the school system.Theauthors point to the demeaning andhumiliating experiences of parents andchildren and to the "violence done to thesense of self-respect of people when theirlanguagesareput down in thisway" [1993:2446]. Therearealsolearningoutcomes hatfollow suchaspoor comprehension bilitiesand failure.Language issues hence must form aninteg,ral component of teacher trainingprogrammnes.There is a need to create

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awareness among teachers about thelinguisticvalidityof non-standardanguagesas well as demonstrate their scope andflexibility. Teachers need to recognise thatthe freedom of children to use languageswith which they are most comfortable canfacilitate hegeneralprocess of learningandcontribute ospecitic abilities nreadingandwriting,and that the knowledge of morethanone language includingwhat arecalleddialects) can improve the linguistic andconceptual abilities of children. Thedebilitating ffects thatnegative attitudes olanguage anhaveforchildren romminoritycommunitiesalso requirespecial emphasis.Miller quotes Edwards who insists that"...priority hould be given to sensitisationof teachers to the relationship betweenlanguage attitudes and social stereotypesand o thedanger hat hese maybe translatedinto reality" [Miller 1983: 118].CONCLUSION

Theforegoingdiscussionattemptsofocusattentionon the crucial role thatlanguagesspokenwithinthe home(ormother ongues)can play in facilitating the education ofchildrenbelonging to tribalcommunities nIndia.At present, ribal anguageswithfewexceptionsare absentas media of educationin schools. Education s impartedmainlyinthe dominantregional languages-which areincluded in the Eighth Schedule of theConstitution of India.The home languageof tribalchildren(asof all children)is integralto their sense ofculture, dentity,and self worth.Hence, therejection of the child's language by theschool, whichis atpresent the case, is likelytocause rreparablearm o thechild'sr.aturaldesire to learnas well as to thecommunity'sattitude to schooling. Equally significantare insights from recent research on theschoolingof ethnic minorities hathighlightthe link between home languages and thegeneral language and conceptualdevelopment of children from thesecommunities.Children are seen to bringtoschool highly developed linguistic,conceptual and social skills that can beimportant aids to learning. Linguisticdiversity tself, as well as thevariedculturalexperiences of children, are also beingacknowledgedas pedagogic rcsources thatcan be used by the teacher to facilitate thedevelopmentof skills such as readingandwriting.Researchsuggests thatacceptanceand encouragementof the firstlanguageofthe child is necessary in orderto promoteachievement n the second language.Theseinsights powerfully underline the need toincorporateribalanguagesasmedia hroughwhich education should be imparted tochildren at least in the early stages ofschooling. It follows that the drop-out oftribalchildren from school and their poor

achievement may be due at least in part tothe rejectionby theeducationsystem of thelinguisticandcultural esources hatchildrenbring with them.The emphasison children's inguistic andcultural resources and their role asparticipants n the process of learning mayappearutopian in the light of the realitiesof schooling in tribal areas- the economicand social constraintsthat parent face insending childrento school, inadequ.to andpoor facilities for schooling, and so oni.However, what is important s that the casefor mother tongue education or schoolingin spoken languages has yet to be made,particularly n the context of their criticallink with early learning processes andeffective pedagogy.The languagesof tribalchildrenarestill seen as 'under-developed'and inappropriate for schooling. Thesestereotypes underlie recommendations ineducationpolicy as well as the attitudesandexpectations of teachers which arecommunicated to children as part of thehidden curriculumof schooling. It is herethat interventionscan and must be made.Government must recognise that theconferring of 'official' status on a fewlanguageshasin effect notonly stigmatised'non-official' languages but also imposedcurbson theirdevelopment.Encouragementto tribal mother tongues and spokenlanguagesmsut ormpart f a larger anguagepolicy that strivesto restorethe dignity ofminority languages and provides financialand institutional support for theirdevelopment.Considerableground-work srequired in the sense of building theinfrastructure f these languages such aswriting of scripts, grammar,vocabularies,dictionaries and so on. Concretesteps willalso have to be undertaken o incorporatetribal languages in schools as media ofeducation at the primarystage. Textbooksand resource materialshave to be preparedtakingcare toensure hatchildrencan relateto the content that is presented.Researchefforts are necessary to demonstrate thevalidity of tribal languages (usuallydisparagingly referred to as dialects) aswell as their role in engendering learning.Such research findings must be dis-seminated to teachers, policy-makers andthe larger public. Teacher training whichemphasises not only the relationshipbetween anguage,pedagogyandeducation,but also the detrimentaleffects of negativeattitudes towards tribalchildren and theirmother ongues. will hecrucial. Hereagain,research on school processes that focuseson the hidden curriculum can be used tosensitise the school community.Till what stage should education beimparted n tribal anguages?It is clearthattribal languages must be used initially aslanguages which facilitate education at theprimary tage. The shift to the 'standard'or

regional anguagewillbe necessary nmiddleschool. This is essential not only for theacquisition of furtherknowledge and skillsby tribal children, but also to widen theiraccess to futureoccupationalopportunities.However, what is important is how thetransition s effected from the language ofthe child to that of the standardof school.The sensitivity with which this is effectedwithin the school and the "discoursestrategies"provided to children to enablethem to make the transition n as smooth amanner as possible would be important[Pattanayak 1990: v].For mothertongue education to becomeareality ortribalchildren,concertedeffortsbothwithinandoutside theeducation ystemare necessary. The role of policy-makers,academics, researchers, educators andteachershasalreadybeenhighlighted.Tribalcommunities also will have to be involvedin order to understand the linguistic andcultural resources that children bring toschool and to identify languagesthatshouldinitially be used as medium of instruction.It will also be necessary to elicit the co-operationof speakersof these anguagesandtoencourageparental ndcommunity upportfor education. The demand for 'quality'education in mothertongues must becomepart of larger movements for democraticrights in general and those of children inparticular. t will thenbepossiblefor schoolsto give tribal children back their mothertongues and enrich their experience ofeducation.

Notes[This is a substantially revised version of apaper presented at the National Seminar on'Perspectives on the Eighth Schedule' held atthe Centre for Linguistics and English,Jawaharlal NehruiUniversity in August 1993.]1 The Eighth Schedule of the IndianConstitution pertains to articles 344(i) and351 which inform the languagepolicy of thegovernment. According to the most recentedition ol the Constitution (1991), there are15 languages in the Eighth Schedule. TheScheduled languages are recognised as'official' laiiguages by different states. (In1992,three iiiorelanguages were includedinthe Schedule). However, the data rnerred toin this paperpertainto the 15 languages as

on Septemnber , 1991 [India 1991J. Theselanguages are: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati,Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalrmn,Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi,Tainil, Telugu and Urdu.2 In this paper.all speech varieties are referredto as languages. The term 'dialect' is notusedbecause of its disparagingconnotations.The ternms 'mother tongues', 'spokenlanguages' and 'home language' are usedinterchangeablyto refer to speech varietiesthat are used for coinmunication within thefamily and community. Where tribalcommliunitiesreconcerned,'mother ongues'are distinctly different from the 'standard'regional laniguages,which are usually those

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listed in the Eighth Schedule of the IndianConstitution.3 While the participationof tribal children inprimary choe.iing s poor,thereare variationsbetween statch and regions and particularlybetween boys andgirls. Forinstance, barely14.6 per cent of tribal girls as compared to32.8 percent boys in the 5-14 year age groupin rural areas attend schools [India 1981].As the focus of this paper is on languageand schooling, the issue of gender, thoughextremely crucial, is not discussed.4 The total number of languages spoken inIndia is a matter of debate and dependslargely on definitions and categories used bythe Census. It also dependsonthe perceptionsof people regarding the status of their ownmother tongues. In 1961, as many as 1652mother tongues were listed by the Census.These were grouped by linguists into around180 languages. The 1981 Census only listslanguages with over 10,000 speakers. Onehundredand twelve languagesfind a mentionin the Census. Singh and Manoharan notethat the "policy of the census of not recordingthe languages of populations below 10,000needs to be revised.. because these languagesareintrinsicto the identityof theirspeakers"[1993: 14].

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Publishing House, Delhi.McCollum, Pamela A and Constance L Walker(1992): 'Minorities in America 2000',Education nd UrbanSociety,24(2), February.Miller,Jane(1983): ManyVoices:Bilingualism,Cultu-re ndEducation,RoutledgeandKeganPaul, London.Moodley, A Kogila (1986): 'CanadianMulticultural Education: Promises andPractices' in Banks, J et al (eds), Multi-culturalEducation n WesternSocieties, HoltSaunders,London.Nambissan, Geetha, and Poonam Batra(1989):'Equity and Excellence: Issues in IndianEducation',Social Scientist, 17: 9-10.NCERT(1986):FifthAll-IndiaEducationSurvey,Vols I and 2, New Delhi.Pattanayak,D P (1981): Multi-LingualismandMotherTongueEducation,OxfordUniversityPress, New Delhi.- (1987): MultilingualismandMulticulturalism:Britain and India, Occasional PaperNo 6,

Centre orMulticultural ducation,Universityof London.- (1990): 'Multilingualism in India' inMultilingualMatters,Clevedon,Philadelphia.Saxena,Sadhna,and KamalMehendroo 1993):'PoliticsofLanguage',EconomicandPoliticalWeekly,November 6.Singh, K S (1985): Tribal Society in India,ManoharPuolication,New Delhi.Singh, K S and S Manoharan1993): People ofIndia - National Series, Vol IX, Language

andScripts,AnthropologicalSurveyof India,Oxford UniversityPress, Delhi.Srivastava, L R N (1992): 'Development ofCurriculumorTribalStudents' nBuddhadebChaudhari(ed), Tribal TransformationinIndia, Vol 14 - Educationand LiteracyPro-graniunes,nter-IndiaPublications,ew Delhi.Wells, J (1985): 'Language and Learning- AnInteractionalPerspective' in Wells, Gordon,and John Nichols (eds), Language andLearning:AnInternationalPerspective, TheFalmer Press, London.Wiles, Silvaine (1981): 'LanguageIssues in theMulticulturalClassrooms' in Mercer,N (ed),Languagein School and Community,EdwardArnold, London.- (1985): 'Language ndLearningnMulti-EthnicClassrooms: Strategies for SupportingBilingual Students' in Wells, Gordon andJohnNichols (eds):LanguageandLearning:An Interactional Perspective, The FalmerPre.,, London.

INDUSTRIALEVELOPMENTN INDIAA New PerspectiveEdited by:M. Gangadhara RaoOdeyar D. Heggade & P.S. Yadapadithaya

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