Central Recruitment for Tribal Schools

Context

A well-known tribal rights’ activist Brinda has been urging the government to go back to the special way of staffing tribal school teachers, which states that the main emphasis should be on the locals, namely, being a part of the education system. This approach focuses on the recruitment and selection of teachers and staff from the tribal setting to encourage ownership to schooling among the tribal youths today. 

About Brinda

• Brinda has been an activist concerning the rights and education of tribes and is familiar with tribes across India. 
• She has actively contributed in the realisation of education with focus on diversity and culture. 

Description

• The older process of getting tutors and employees was by hiring people from the tribal society usually by consultation of the council or other legislative body. 
• Consequently, made significant strides in ensuring that educated people in this area had adequate competency regarding the local cultures, languages, and customs. 

Details

• Cultural relevance: Community based teachers can therefore develop curricula which teaches the culture, language and history of the tribes. 
• Language: Education in local language enhances the quality of learning and decreases the cases of dropping out among the students. 
• Community engagement: One of the main benefits of local recruitment is that the persons selected tend to take more pride in their job, hence more responsibility to do a good job. 
• Empowerment: Young people in tribes can easily relate to their teachers, enabling them to pursue education and careers.

Advantages

• Elements of cultural sensitivity and relevance to the needs of the learners have been enhanced. 
• Increased credibility of the community 
• More responsibilities and devotion from the teachers 
• Increased learning is specified as better results with increased student engagement and minimized cases of dropping out from schools. 

Adverse Impact on Tribal Students

• Ms. Karat expressed concern that the new recruits, even if they are able to learn the local language within the promised two-year timeframe, would still force the tribal students to adjust to an alien language, with grave consequences for their learning. 
• She also cited anecdotal evidence suggesting that non-local teachers and staff often have high rates of absenteeism and seek transfers to places closer to their homes and families, further disrupting the education of tribal students. 

Undermining the Federal Character of the Constitution

• Ms. Karat argued that the centralized recruitment process is “an assault on the federal character of the constitution” by undermining the role of state authorities in staffing these tribal residential schools. 
• She emphasized that the previous system of letting state authorities recruit teachers for these schools was more effective in ensuring that the staff and faculty were familiar with the local language and cultural context. 

Challenges

• Maintaining and improving standards of education enrollment at the same time focusing on expanding market share within the community. 
• Minimising favouritism in selecting individuals for the job openings 
• Expanding on this intervention strategy to cover more of the schools and extended tribes 

Conclusion 

• It is hoped that this study would demonstrate that a return to conventional recruitment strategies for tribal schools would offer more diverse and efficient learning. 
• Thus, the action taken by Brinda emphasises that only close attention to community needs and the cultural context ensures effective learning. 
• In that way, proper education to the students from tribal backgrounds can be provided through the best of the blend of conventional methodology along with the advancement of modern training and support.

Source: The Hindu

UPSC Prelims Practice Question

Q. Consider the following statement regarding Eklavya Model Residential Schools:

1. It was started in the year 1997-98 to impart quality education to SC and ST children.
2. Non-ST students can be admitted to up to 10% of the total seats.

Choose the correct statement:

a) 1 only

b) 2 only

c) Both 1 and 2

d) Neither 1 nor 2

Ans: “b”

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