Methods of education that create enthusiasm for learning and reduce the school dropout rate: A success story – West Bengal

Challenges The issues in tribal education are the conflict between the state’s policy of assimilating minorities into the mainstream culture and the tribal people’s reluctance to abandon and insistence on maintaining their identity. Rural tribal children face a severe dilemma when they are forced to reject their own culture and accept the schools’ middle-class values. … Read more

Nagpuri harvest songs and instrumental music – Maharashtra

The men of the Nagpuri community and Southern cultures perform the Mardani Jhumur dance after the harvest. The musical accompaniments include the Shenai, Dhol, Kara, Nakara, Jhanj and Kartal. Like the Paika Dance, the Mardana Jhumur Dance is also a semi martial art form. The dance movements and the accompanying music are martial in character … Read more

Promoting social enterprises based on value addition of local, natural resources, especially bamboo, the “green gold”: A Wayanad-based NGO Uravu – Kerala

URAVU is a non-government organization working with people, governments and businesses to implement programs for sustainable employment and income generation in rural areas. Uravu is a non-profit trust, established in 1996, registered under the Indian Trusts Act. Uravu promotes social enterprises based on value addition of local, natural resources, especially bamboo, the “green gold”. Uravu implements integrated, … Read more

Guda: A film by KJ Baby in the tribal language of the Kattunaikkars – Kerala

`Guda’ ready for screening The shooting of the `Guda’, perhaps the first film in the tribal language of the `Kattunaikkars’, has been completed and the film is all set for screening by the middle of December. K.J. Baby, the director and scriptwriter of `Guda’, said that the film would screened before an invited audience, most … Read more

Tip | “A need deeply felt by Adivasis”: Respect for native languages and knowledge systems linked to the land and forest

In Rayagada in Odisha, Kondh parents distinguish between dangar patha (mountain learning) and kagaj patha (paper learning). Asked which they prefer, many parents answer ‘both’. This expresses a need deeply felt by Adivasis: literacy, with fluency in the regional language or English, is important; but so is respect for native languages and knowledge systems linked … Read more