SCHEDULED TRIBES AND SCHOOL EDUCATION: ANALYSIS OF A HOUSEHOLD SURVEY IN MAYURBHANJ DISTRICT OF ODISHA

Abstract

This paper examines the educational status of children from the Munda, Kolha, and Santal tribals with survey data from three blocks of Mayurbhanj district, which has the highest concentration of tribal population in Odisha. The result shows that the dropout rate is higher in the age group of 15-16 years (secondary level), as compared to 6-14 years (primary level). Among the three communities, Kolha children are more likely to discontinue their schooling at the primary level than Munda and Santal children, whereas the dropout rate of children from the three communities is almost the same at the secondary level. The completion rate of children is higher for Munda and Kolha than Santal children at the secondary level. The educational attainments of children are affected by several factors. The paper also briefly discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the access of tribal children to schooling owing to the digital divide and what the National Policy of Education, 2020 (NEP, 2020) could imply for tribal children. The NEP 2020 neither acknowledges the problems wrought by the unprecedented pandemic and other longstanding issues related to tribal education nor suggests any creative roadmap to address these issues. The paper explores the need for the state to evolve a tribe specific policy for primary and secondary education in view of structural problems that impede advances in schooling outcomes in scheduled areas in the country