Lockdown will reverse academic learning of remote tribal students

Lockdown will reverse academic learning of remote tribal students


Bhamragarh taluk of Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra is located in the remote, eastern region of Maharashtra, bordering Chhattisgarh. The area is inhabited by people from the Madia Gond tribe. Originally hunting and collecting food and most of these people living in the forest have started farming.

Lockdown will reverse academic learning of remote tribal students
Lockdown will reverse academic learning of remote tribal students
Image Source - indianexpress

The Madia Gond community has its own distinct language and culture. The people of this region had little contact with the outside world until 1980. Livelihood for the villagers of this predominantly forest area is mainly based on seasonal farming, bamboo cutting, tendu-leaf gathering and occasional MNREGA work.

Fact - There are various online school usa


The Residential Ashram Vidyalaya, established in 1976 by the late Baba Amte, is one of the activities of the Lok Fraternity Project (LBP). This residential school, which has 650 students, is funded by the government and its management is private. LBP also runs two day-long schools run by the community, where 200 students are admitted.

Good Education


When this residential school was started in 1976, it was the only school in the entire region for many years. Many doctors, engineers, lawyers, officers, farmers and entrepreneurs came out of Hemlakasa village school. All of them were the first in their own fields in such businesses in their community.

Children from more than a hundred villages live in hostels and attend school. The school provides arts education till class 12. The school has approximately 30 teachers and 20 non-teaching staff. All these remain on campus, so that students can get maximum help and care.

The school emphasizes on academic as well as non-curricular activities. Students here have done very well in state and national level sports competitions. The school has a state-of-the-art computer lab with internet connection and a fully used library, besides all the necessary facilities for the students.

Schools Closed


Despite the increase in the number of COVID-19 patients across the state, Gadchiroli remains a green zone till date with not a single infection reported. Nevertheless, as a precaution, the government ordered the closure of all schools from 15 March, although there is uncertainty about the start date of the new academic session.

When the school closed, the students said they would return in two weeks. As the uncertainty increased, the teachers informed the students by visiting nearby villages and writing letters that they had to come to school only when they were asked to do so.

During the lockdown, teachers refined their understanding of the educational principles they learned in college, prepared reading material for the next semester, prepared classroom rooms, organized textbooks and, where possible, stationary recycling (again Usable) of. The purpose of all this was to remain meaningfully busy.

Lack of Communication


There has been a lot of discussion about life before and after coronovirus. There is an increase in online learning and teaching opportunities. While this enthusiasm and the need for a panacea after COVID-19 has its own reasons, it is mostly based on assumptions already intended or assumed.

As such, a pre-formed romantic belief about the life and culture of tribal and rural people is that their economy and way of life are very sustainable and have the least impact of coronovirus infection.

In fact, it is these people who are most in need of education, information, knowledge about the coming crisis and changes in the circumstances that affect their lives. But unfortunate, this is not happening due to unreliable mobile communication, irregular power supply and lack of roads. Hemalakasa is also no exception in this case.

Online School Education


As per the notification of the State Government, all types of educational institutions were to remain closed. Nevertheless, the government directed the schools to continue the educational programs online and through Doordarshan. We do not believe it will be possible in our region.

How many Dalit, tribal and other vulnerable communities will be able to form groups on the mobile messaging app and benefit from the influx of online learning courses that are prevalent in cities today? I can confidently say that they will be less than 20 in the entire Bhamaragarh taluk.

Around 10,000 children study in schools and various educational institutions in Bhamragadh taluk. Given the current situation, the hope of getting his education is very low. Many of our students, after passing 12th, had left the taluk and were studying in cities like Pune and Aurangabad.

All those who wanted to pursue medical and engineering, and were preparing for other entrance exams (for which the system is already hostile), have returned to their villages. While his urban classmates continue to study and flourish with online tuition and videos, this situation is keeping our students away from studies.

Lack of Educational Resources


While children in cities are using video sharing platforms and cloud-based phone apps to learn about various arts and keep themselves busy through activities, children in Bhamragadh with their parents on the farm and animals Helping the house by taking care of

Some of them collect mahua and tendu leaves from the forest. The biggest problem is that as long as they are trapped in the atmosphere of a remote village, they will not get a single word printed. Such long holidays for our school children are a big push for their year-long studies.

This is not unusual for them, as most of our students are first generation learners. Their homes do not have a conducive environment that strengthens their formal education from school. Neither of them has access to newspapers, magazines, maps, atlases, materials, dictionaries, children's books, etc., to maintain activity and continuity in their education.

Retread with Remaining Courses


They forget many times faster when they spend at home and there is a big gap in school. As a result, due to lack of level of knowledge comparable to children of their age, this will have an impact on their speed and ability to learn.

One could argue that they have no need to study in formal schools. And one can also argue that co-existence with nature has been a tribal lifestyle, they have always had the wisdom of their forest, traditional knowledge, food and nutrition.

During the uncertainty of COVID-19, those most affected are those with the least resources, information and education. This ignorance of how they have faced years and generations of neglect and economic and development-related backlog is increasing their troubles.

We need to remember that after lockdown, in order to reach as many children as they should have learned, they will need additional support and time. Our team has decided to reduce some holidays and focus on teaching through various materials and practical activities.


Lack of Information


The real harm that has been and still remains the cause of tribal people is the lack of reliable and useful information. Unfortunately in this time of coronovirus, the situation has not changed, but has become worse. Very few of them have been able to understand the exact causes of this epidemic, these conditions and how to get out of it.

Although the local administration has been working hard to give basic information, the picture is not clear for many of them. Before I announced the complete lockdown, when I visited the villages, I heard how local priests and exorcists and exorcists were adding to the confusion by explaining the disease.

Isolated from the world, residents of these remote tribal villages are deprived of television channels and newspapers. Lack of proper information tools is their real poverty and always has been.

Under these circumstances, it is often thought that it would not be a bad idea if, out of all the ration they receive from the Public Distribution System (PDS), 2 kg of wheat (which our people here rarely eat, is just animals. For), a newspaper or magazine may be given. After all, each of us needs inspiration for the intellect and the mind, except for two meals a day.

courtesy - villagesquare

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