Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s decade-long experiment in multi-lingual education got a major boost with appointment of 577 tribal language teachers (MLE) in SSD schools run by the ST&SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Department. Odisha has 21 tribal languages and 74 dialects.
The commitment towards the multilingual education or MLE-based learning ecosystem received rousing welcome after regularisation of 64 posts on July 26 in 2021. In fact, the process was initiated in 2008 by appointing 100 MLE teachers on contractual basis. Subsequently, the guidelines for engagement of tribal language teachers was prepared under the leadership of the Chief Secretary on August 31, 2023 to comply with the provisions of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RCFCE) Act-2009 and National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasizes and accord highest priority on mother tongue-based education for better learning outcome of the children in elementary grade.
The department has created 200 posts of MLE teachers out of its 5,530 regular posts of teachers in the 1,736 SSD schools across Odisha. Nearly 4.34 lakh students are studying in these schools out of which 90 percent belong to tribal communities. Likewise in another instance 27 regular MLE teachers for Gondi language in Nabarangpur district alone under the SSD schools was sanctioned on February 13, 2024 for the students of elementary classes/grades. Again on February 16th, creation of 250 regular posts was added to the list making the MLE teachers to 577.
From the 250 posts created for the MLE teachers on the priority 73 posts of the tribal language teachers were allotted to different languages in different district like Kui-1 (Kandhamal), Koya-2 (Malkangiri), Santhali-32 (Mayurbhanj), Munda/Mundari-1, Saura-9 and Kuvi-23 (Rayagada), Kissan-1 (Sambalpur), Munda/Mundari-1, Oraon-3 in Sundargarh district.
Meanwhile, the Academy of Tribal Language and Culture (ATLC) has published several books in tribal languages, but the “dialectory variations” among a particular community staying in different geographic areas of a district have cropped in and as suggested by linguists and anthropologists, a detailed linguistic survey of the tribals (including the PVTGs) has become imminent across the State to ensure an effective MLE-based learning ecosystem. With the MIL-based (Modern Indian Languages) based teaching process since 1954 during the post-Independent era, the influence of regional languages, have thus partially eroded the ethos of the MLE pedagogy and a time has come to be more sensitive towards the mother-tongue based learning process to make the tribal kids at ease in their schools.
WHAT TO BE DONE?
Educationists, linguists and anthropologists associated with tribal socio-cultural and economic development in Odisha are of the opinion that a detailed language survey apart, there should be an opportunity to include the local educated tribal youth in the education system through SSD schools. Employment clauses could also be relaxed for them and they could be given opportunities to have CT/B.Ed/OTET while working in-service and they could be going through rigorous summer/winter refresher courses as part of the NEP guidelines for the particular tribal languages/dialects.
While the MLE teachers are primarily meant to work as a bridge between the tribal students and the teaching process and make the students feel that they are not lost mid-way, in majority of the cases they end up having multi-tasking teachers and not exclusively for tribal language teaching. The headmasters concerned, in many cases are not patronising the MLE teachers on insisting the tribal language teaching and they should also be oriented a lot to change the ongoing system.
WAY FORWARD:
“The tribal language teaching system is mainly restricted to the lower classes, i.e. Class I to III. But to make the tribal students comfortable with their studies the MLE process must continue up to Class VIII and in some developed languages like Santhali the language could be used for the entire education up to Higher Secondary or even Graduation level, so that the MLE education ecosystem will achieve its goal and target in a real sense,” opined an expert, who has spent his entire career in tribal studies in Odisha.
Availability of books for higher classes and courses with the help from experts from various fields in tribal languages is also to be looked into as the students need to have quality text and reference books in their languages so that they can feel comfortable, proud, happy and fulfilling while pursue their studies in their own languages. It will, certainly change the educational landscape in the entire state and especially for spreading education among the tribal youths.
There is a long way to go for ensuring MLE education for the students of all tribal groups in Odisha, but the Department has definitely done an outstanding work in appointing more and more tribal language teachers and enriching their experience with refresher courses so that they would be experts in “multiple tribal languages” and for better understanding of the tribal kids, and thus, enabling them to bridge the gaps in educational communication process.
Roopa Roshan Sahoo, Commissioner-cum-Secretary ST&SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Department