Lessons in Tribal Languages for Primary School Students

• 28 Sep 2021

Why in News

• Recently, the Jharkhand Department of School Education and Literacy has identified more than 5600 Government-run primary schools for introducing a new model of imparting lessons to students of Class 1 to Class 5 in tribal languages the next academic session onwards.

Key Points

• According to the Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC), only those schools have been selected for this project, where a large number of students have used tribal languages as their first language.
• State Coordinator of Quality Education Abhinav Kumar said that the state has already introduced textbooks in tribal languages ​​(Santhali, Mundari, Kuduk) for such students and the new model of education will ensure effective use of these books. He said that once students understand the basics in the language in which they feel more comfortable, the medium of instruction will gradually be changed to Hindi or English.
• He said that the new model of educating a group of students in tribal languages would help the students develop interest in studies and help them understand their subjects better.
• According to the census 2011, the tribal community constitutes at least 26.3% of Jharkhand's total population of 3.29 crore.
• Under the new model of education, the most commonly used tribal language in a particular area will be used as the medium of instruction in schools in that area. For example, the Santhali language is commonly used in the Santhal Parganas region of Jharkhand, while Mundari is commonly spoken in Kolhan, which includes West Singhbhum and East Singhbhum districts.
• A JEPC spokesperson said that the entire syllabus will be taught in the local language to the students of Class I, so that they can understand the subjects. However in class 2 only 60% of the syllabus will be covered in the local language and the remaining 40% in English or Hindi.