For millions of children ‘schools’ are a dream in India; especially children who hail from the disadvantaged sects of the societal setup. When we propagate the ideology of Learning with dignity we perceive to weave a world that not only bestows a child with her right to education but also provides her the dignity to flourish within her local cultural climate so that she doesn’t feel alienated within the learning process. In India the geographical disparities breeds’ miniscule cultures within itself and that at times that becomes a subject of anxiety as, the rule of majority retards the healthy development of the minority groups .History has been a witness to break-down of states and formation of new states due to linguistic dissonances of the people. Similarly in the under-developed state of Odisha a chunk of population holds tribal identity locally recognized as “Adivasis”.These section of people invariably possess a common ancestry and culture of their own. Statistics marks that, out of 74.6 million children of tribal origin inIndia about 8.1 million reside within inaccessible forest pockets of Odisha. Thereby making it crucial for the government to bring-out ways to provide these young minds a chance to flourish and reach out to their maximum potential.
Census report confirms the existence of about 62 groups of indigenous people inhabiting Odisha major ones being Kondhs, Saura, Santhals, Gond, Munda and Juang.
What I want to understand doesn’t a child from that underprivileged section; have a right to be able to transit from the unknown to the known? Doesn’t that child deserve an understanding about the world around her? Doesn’t that child need a better tomorrow? If the answer to all these questions is affirmative then acknowledging a mother-tongue based early childhood learning is the need of the hour. Forced merger of children from tribal communities into the mainstream is not the solution to counter the impending illiteracy and the vicious cycle of malice in the Indian Society. That hasn’t been the answer over last 65 years and shall never be the answer. Time is here to advocate the needs of these deprived sections not through just reservations at various levels but giving them a platform that makes their foundation strong so that they are at par with the other citizens of the nation rather than being positively discriminated at all levels.
Studies carried out on early childhood care and education stands, to validate the fact that minority communities believe in retention and transmission of their cultural and linguistic heritage to the young members of their communities. Therefore, initiative to begin education in ones mother tongue will act as a positive rein forcer for the community members and they shall be a party to the whole process of early child learning. Fluency and literacy in mother tongue shall also lead to a stronger cognitive foundation for the child’s development simultaneously. This can ultimately counter the early school leaving and low academic achievements of the minority tribal groups. It shall also pave way for inter-cultural understanding and interpretation of inter-group value based systems. On the other hand, if the child is thrusted with an alien language initially he would often have a realization that his mother-tongue is undervalued and therefore will develop a low self-esteem that shall affect learning.
If Odisha has to blossom then it needs to address the issue of strong educational foundation for its entire people. And that shall be evident when optimum meta-linguistic accommodation is done in the educational process. Therefore I believe in upholding the whole campaign of Learning with dignity and spearhead a mother-tongue based early childhood learning process that is so strong that it has a life long effect on an individual’s life.
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Entangled Lives 