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Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Tribal Affairs
09 DEC 2019 2:22PM by PIB Delhi
Primary Education of Tribal Children

Section 29 (2) (f) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 states that “medium of instruction shall, as far as practicable, be in child’s mother tongue”. The National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005 emphasizes the importance of imparting primary education in the mother tongue of the child. Since education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, States have the liberty to decide the medium of instruction in schools. The NCF clearly states that the Three-Language Formula is an attempt to address the challenges and opportunities of the linguistic situation in India. As per the “Three Language Formula” the first language to be studied must be the mother tongue or the regional language.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs extends support to State Governments / UTs for mother tongue-based education and development of bilingual Primers for enhancement of learning achievement level amongst the Scheduled Tribe Students. So far 82 language primers have been developed by various State Governments as detailed below:

State

Primers Details

Language / tribe covered

Tripura

14 Primers

Kokborak, halam, Mog, Garo, Kuki, Mizo

Odisha

5 Primers

Juang, Kisan, Koya, Oram, Saora

Maharashtra

11 Primers

Gondi, Halbi, Kokni, Kolami, Korku, Madiya, Mavchi, Pardhi, Pawari, Thakri

Madhya Pradesh

15 Primers

Halbi, Kudhukh, Bhili, Gondi, Korku,

Kerala

6 Primers

Kattunaikan, Paniyan

Chhattisgarh

5 Primers

Kukudu, Praja, Halbi, Bharia

Jharkhand

5 Primers

Kukudu, Khadia, Khorat

Telangana

5 Primers

Gondi, Koya, Kolami, Kondh, Banjara

West Bengal

16 Primers

Olchiki, Kuduk

 

As reflected in U-DISE: Flash Statistics 2016-17, details of the student enrolment and student retention ratiosof boys and girls by social category at Primary and Secondary level school are as under:

Enrolment

Social Category

Primary

Secondary

Boys

Girls

Total

Boys

Girls

Total

General

16168128

14426317

30594445

5565226

5017546

10582772

SC

12530869

11782642

24313511

3759773

3454067

7213840

ST

6762313

6318480

13080793

1683257

1593313

3276570

OBC

28783449

27035694

55819143

9372215

8378457

17750672

 

Dropout

Social Category

Primary

Secondary

Boys

Girls

Total

Boys

Girls

Total

General

4.48

4.96

4.71

15.14

16.27

15.68

SC

8.30

7.86

8.09

23.06

21.99

22.55

ST

8.57

8.51

8.54

27.41

26.51

26.97

OBC

6.10

5.79

5.95

20.28

19.77

20.04

 

Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been issuing advisories to engage local teachers to overcome shortages and to enhance the teacher student responsiveness and employment opportunities. Further, funds are also provided to the State Governments for the purpose under various schemes of the Ministry based on the proposal received from them.

This information was given by Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Smt. Renuka Singh Saruta in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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NB/SK/jk/Tribal Affairs-LS-3/09-12-2019