Tribal Cultural Heritage in India
Showcasing new initiatives in education
1. Ekalavya (Eklavya, Eklabya): the name of a legendary archer prodigy “who, being a Nishada [Sanskrit Niṣāda, “tribal, hunter, mountaineer, degraded person, outcast”], had to give his thumb as a fee to the brahmin guru thus terminating his skill as an archer.” – Romila Thapar (Emeritus Professor of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University) in “The epic of the Bharatas” (India Seminar 2010)
http://www.india-seminar.com/2010/608/608_romila_thapar.htm
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?page_id=26432
2. “Ekalavya Residential School Scheme”: a network of boarding schools where tribal children are to be educated in accordance with rules and syllabi provided by the government; such schools are being designated as “Eklavya Model Residential School (EMR)” with the objective of empowering students “to be change agent, beginning in their school, in their homes, in their village and finally in a large context.”
https://tribal.gov.in/DivisionsFiles/sg/EMRSguidlines.pdf
3. In some regions there are similar “Residential Schools” and “Ashram Schools” for tribal children, as in Tripura where they are managed by a society called “Tripura Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TTWREIS)”
https://twd.tripura.gov.in/tripura-tribal-welfare-residential-educational-institutions-society
4. Factory schools “exist to turn tribal and indigenous children – who have their own language and culture – into compliant workers-of-the-future. The world’s largest Factory School stated that it turns ‘Tax consumers into tax payers, liabilities into assets’.” – Survival International
https://survivalinternational.org/factoryschools
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=34514
For in-depth information on a specific community, select the “Sitemap – Names of tribal communities” in the “Search” menu.