Adivasis constitute nearly 9 percent of India’s population. Their under-achievements in education is an issue of concern especially for decision makers in government, both at state and central government levels. According to the 2011 census there is almost a 14 percentage point gap between the literacy rates of Adivasis and other communities in India. Although there is an improvement in their enrollment in schools, the dropout rate continues to be very high. 

 

Between grades one to nine approximately 70% of these children leave the school which is 20% higher than the national average for the whole population. Nearly 50 percent of children from this social group drop out while transitioning from primary to secondary grades (based on the educational status recorded in the census in 2011). Nearly 80 percent of them stop education when they are in grade 10 i.e only 20 percent appear for the high-school examination.

 

There are also other challenges like there was a time when there were not enough schools closer to Adivasi hamlets. However that situation has changed over time. There are other constraints which persist. The fact that Adivasis in many parts of the country speak a language different from the one that is used as the medium of instruction in school is one important challenge. However in Maharashtra, the language is not a serious constraint as in other locations since there is a significant overlap between the language of Adivasi people and that of the mainstream population. There may still be a need to follow a bi-lingual instruction here.

 

In addition, these children may not get enough support at home for their studies since most of them are first-generation learners. Secondly, there are not many school teachers from Adivasi communities in certain Indian states. All these difficulties need to be reckoned while thinking about the ways to provide an appropriate and quality `schooling’ for Adivasi children. The challenge of providing quality education to Adivasi children exists in Palghar, a district of Maharashtra, India. 

 

The Zilla Parishad school conducts classes for the Adivasi children till Standard VII. To continue their education they need to travel long distances and hence most of these children drop out of education. Given this situation, we, the Kai. (Late) Balu Dohale Shikshan Mandal has accepted this work. Since 2001 classes from class VIII to class X are being conducted in Vikramgad taluka of Palghar district. We also plan to hold 11th and 12th classes and are in the process of setting up the necessary infrastructure for this purpose. In the early days, when this initiative was started for tribal children, classes were organized for children in temporary shelters due to lack of funds. However, with the financial help of some local benefactors, a residential school for tribals was set up in 2017. The school currently has about 151 children and out of them 114 children (65 girls and 49 boys) are living in hostels.

 

The late Balu Dohale Shikshan Mandal is a non-governmental organization that caters to the food, clothing, books, stationery and medical needs of 114 tribal children living in hostels. Until now, we have been providing residential school expenses with donations from our benefactors and some philanthropists. We get only 20% subsidy from the government for the salaries of teachers and non-teaching staff.

 

However the Corona pandemic has created problems for the residential school as the money coming from well-wishers has completely stopped. A minimum of Rs 600,000 is required to reopen the school and continue the operation for the next four months.

 

You can help to overcome the difficulties faced by these innocent children. Please support us to continue our work so that the educational dreams of these poor tribal children in Palghar district of Maharashtra do not come to an abrupt end.

 

Late Balu Dohale Shikshan Mandal is a voluntary organization in Palghar district of Maharashtra which has been working for the education of tribal children since 2001. This residential school has been running since 2017. Most of the children in this school are from hilly areas of Vikramgad taluka and are from rural poor communities.