 In Orissa there are 62 Scheduled tribels, and out of this 13 communities, namely the Lodha, Kharia, Mankirdia, Juang, Pauri Bhuiyan, Bonda, Dongria Kondha, Kutia Kondha, Lanjia Saora, Saora, Didayi, Birhor and Chukia Bhunjia have been identified as primitive. There are also some advanced tribal communities in the state, such as the Santhal, Ho, Munda, Bhumij, Kondha,, Bhuiyan, Bathudi, Oraon, Kisan and Gond.
The total tribal population of the Orissa states is 7,032,214 as per the 1991 census, and out of this only 361,708 live in urban areas and the resides in rural areas. All the 62 schedule tribel communities of the Orissa state are classifiable into three categories, namely (i) Indo-Aryan (ii) Austro-Asiatic (Mundari) and (iii) Dravidian. The speeches of tribal communities of the
Indo-Aryan category are the variant dialects of the regional language; whereas each of the tribal communities of the other two categories has its distinctive speech. The Tibeto-Burmese language family is absent in Orissa.
The provision of universal elementary education has all along been conceived as an integral part of the national system of education in India. The prevailing model of education, a legacy of nineteenth century elitism, being with a single point entry, sequential and full time process of institutional instructions provided by professional and full time teachers in the school and colloeges.
In order to eliminate the upper class bias various alternative paradigms had been suggested from time to time to universalize primary education for all children in the age group of 6 to 10. But no serious thought has been paid to any of them. For effective integration of the masses with the classes the Education Commission (1964-66) recommended adoption of “neighborhood school” concept at the primary and later at the secondary stage. It also contemplated of multiple entry system and of non-formal education through part-time courses and self-study. The implementation of this system is still lackadaisical.
The constitution came into operation in 1950. Article 45 of the Constitution Orissa states that the state shall endeavour to provide for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years. This has no doubt been given a tribal .But there is a lot more to be done. Primary education continues to be prominent among the neglected sectors. It continues over the years in a humdrum routing manner. Alongwith the growth of literacy rate in the country the number of illiterates is also constantly rising. India is said to be entering the 21st Century with the maximum number of illiterates in the world.
Literacy is an essential feature of human dignity and self image ,a window to the world of knowledge around and a prelude to modernization. Literacy has been defined in the census enumeration as the liability to read and write a letter with understanding denoting formal schooling at least upto to the primary level. But this test is seldom applied to persons claiming literate status. Literacy is also often equated with the ability to sign one’s name. However, literacy bestows glory and self-esteem on a person.
There is a wide difference between the national literacy rate and the literacy rate of the Scheduled tribes of the country. As per the 1991 census the percentage of literacy among the scheduled tribe population was 22.31 as against the national literacy rate of 52.21. The percentage of tribal women was dismal. Another difference was also noticed in respect of the literacy rate of urban and rural tribal women.
When one examines the State level percentage of literacy of Orissa with that of the Scheduled Tribes in the state a similar difference emerges. According to 1991 census the percentage of literacy of the scheduled Tribes was 22.31 as against the State literacy of 49.o9. The literacy rate of Schedule Tribe men was 34.94 as against 63.09 for men in the State Likewise, the percentage of literacy of tribal women was 10.21 as against 34.68 for women of the State. However, these are effective literacy rates and refer to the population which is in the age group of seven years and above.
Low level of literacy and educational backwardness among the tribal communities are due to (i) acute indigene of the tribal people,(ii)want of positive motivation for education (iii) lack of adequate educational infrastructure in their neighborhood and (iv) deficient communication system.
Over the years, the number educational institutions have increased in tribal areas, but these are still inadequate, because the number of student seeking enrolment in schools is constantly increasing. The present position of educational institutions provided by the Welfare Department of the State Government to facilitate education of tribal student is as follows:
| |
| Sevashrams (Primary Schools) |
: |
1032 |
| Residential Sevashrams (Primary Schools) |
: |
106 |
| Ashram School (Middle Schools) |
: |
101 |
| For Boys |
: |
73 |
| For Girls |
: |
28 |
| Higher Secondary Schools |
: |
174 |
| For Boys |
: |
130 |
| For Girls |
: |
44 |
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 The total number of Sevashrams/ Primary Schools is 138, which means that for every 6000 tribal population there is one such school in the state of Orissa. But since tribal habitats are dispersed their should be at least one such school for every 5000 population, and thus there should be 1400 Sevashrams/ Primary Schools.
From one study it has been found out that about 50.47 percent of tribal children in the age group of 6 to 14 years do not enroll in any school (Nayak, 1980:46).T he incidence of non enrolment among the tribal girls is comparatively higher than among the boys in the same age group. The percentage of non-enrolment among the tribal girls is 63.01 percent.
A similar trend has been observed in respect of dropouts of tribal children. About 71.79 percent of the total enrolled tribal children in the age group of 6 to14 years discontinue their studies before the successful completion of their respective grades/classes. Beside, there is seasonal absenteeism or non-attendance by the student in the same age group. Attendance in the schools is low during the period from December to April than the period from august to November. During the former period must of the tribal rituals and festivals are observed which impel some of the students to stay back at home, and during the later period there is general scarcity of food at home. Therefore, efforts should be made to ensure reasonable attendance of those students who enroll for study.
 There are some remote tribal pockets in the districts of Nawapara, Kalahandi, Nowarngpur ,Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Phulbani, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj, which continue to remain unaffected by the general literacy program of the country. It is therefore necessary to make special approach for those problem areas and groups .By designing special schemes it is possible to help the primitive/sub marginal group to attain a reasonable level of economic and educational development. In order to achive this micro- level planning is essential as the problems of one group/micro-region varies from another. Education among the tribal communities should be given highest priority for the simple reason that it holds the key to socio-economic development.
There is bewilderment in tribal development because the Government Administrative Machinery is an impersonal omnibus. Administration always lays stress on the fulfillment of financial and physical targets. In other words development is measured in terms of money spent .Development signifies both quantitative and qualitative achievement. For realization of this objective, development prioritization, strategies and implementation modalities should be tailored to the special problems, situations and felt needs of the tribal beneficiaries. There are certain constraints in the educational process of tribal children and these must be obviated. What is true of Orissa is also true for rest of the country.
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