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Expert Committee Report on Use of Ol -Chiki
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Submitted to
Department of School and Mass Education
Government of Orissa
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12/11/2005

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Dr Mahendra K Mishra

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 Expert Committee Report
On
Use of Ol -Chiki script in Mayurbhanj District of Orissa

Members of the Expert Committee

Prof. Debi Prasanna Pattanayak, Chairman

Prof. Khageswar Mahapatra, Linguist and Ex Director, ATDC, member
Dr. Mahendra Kumar Mishra, State Tribal Education Coordinator,
OPEPA,

2
 Preface

Tribal languages are endangered species. So are the tribal communities.

The dominant groups in the west want to see them melt and fuse their identities
and be identified with the dominant culture. In India we expect them to join the
mainstream. Both the theories result in the discrimination of tribal culture.

Tribal education is discriminatory. Whether it is value education, Education

for All or qualitative education, the tribal is always bypassed. Instead of talking
about multilingualism for all, our educationists talk about mother tongue verses
state official language verses English education. Their preference seems to be
assimilation rather than maintainance, subversion (sink) rather than immersion
(swim).

The argument for English takes the cake. The question of the tribal is, if
your children prefer English to mother tongue, why do you ask us to study either
our own or your mother tongue? There is no answer to this question. If the
research result all over the world is that mother tongue is the best medium for
early childhood education, then it should be valid for both majority and
minority/minor language speakers.

The mother tongue for the early childhood education is not only “ a
prerequisite for ethnic groups to maintain themselves but also a prerequisite for
cultural diversity.”UN Document on genocide says that” forcibly transferring
children of the group to another group genocide.” Those who deny the mother
tongue are engaged in linguistic genocide.

In Orissa we don’t have the means of training one English teacher for
primary school. How can those who do not know the subject teach it? There are
about 7000 single teacher schools in the state. How can the teachers teach
English in addition to what they are teaching?

No body would deny English to our children. But by teaching bad English
by untrained teachers from standard I, the foundation of education are bound to
be weakened.

3
 Learning languages as one needed is not a load. One is to learn
languages if one aspires to move from one state to another with in the country.
Similarly one has to learn different languages if one desires to seek fortune in
different parts of the world.

Script is the dress of a language. No matter what script a language is

written, the language remains unaltered. Sanskrit survived as it was written in
all scripts of the country. Telugu Kannada is written Telugu script. Assemese,
Bengali, Bodo, Manipuri are written in one script each with minor modification.
Once a language is written in an existing script, it should be christened as the
script of the new language For example one should not say that Kannada is
written in the Telugu script. The script is called Telugu script in AP and Kannada
Script in Karnataka. No matter in whichever script Santali is written, it should be
called Santali Script.

The IPA has been created to write all languages of the world of using the
single grid. Biswa Nagari has been created to provide another grid to all
languages of the world. The adequacy of a script depends on proper linguistic
analysis of phonetic and phonemic structure of a language and their proper
accommodation. It is hoped that the statement will clarify some confusions
about the language and script.

DR M.K. Mishra Prof K. Mahapatra Prof D.P. Pattanayak,

Member Convener Member Chairman

Ex pert Committee Expert Committee Expert Committee

4
 Contents

Preface

Chapter I
• Brief History of the Expert Committee
• Activities of the Expert Committee: Brief Account

Chapter II
• Tribal Situation In Orissa in general

• Mayurbhanj district in Santal context

• Educational Scenario of Mayurbhanj district from
Tribal lens
Chapter III
• Issues and Context of language as medium of
instruction and script as the vehicle of language
Chapter IV
• Impression from the Field Visit
• Observation
Chapter V
• Summary Table of the Status of Tribal Education in
Orissa
• Recommendation of the Expert Committee

Annexure:

Annexure- I : Impact Study on Introduction of Ol Chiki Script on

30 Schools
of Orissa
Annexure-II : Proceedings of the Meeting Held on 14/9/2000 on
Tribal language Primers prepared by DPEP
Annexure-III : Report on the study of tribal languages at school level
in tribal
Bihar
Annexure IV: District wise Schools with ST population
Annexure V : Field Visit of the Language Expert Committee
commissioned b y the Dept. of School and mass Education
Department, Govt. of Orissa.

5
 CHAPTER- I

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EXPERT COMMITTEE:

D
epartment of School and Mass Education vide Notification o
No.24575 dt. 29/10/2002 constituted a Expert Committee on
inclusion of Santali language/Ol Chiki script in Orissa initially for
six months. The questions to be examined and solved by the committee were as
follows;

a) At present in order to facilitate acquisition of knowledge in alphabets in

tribal areas , bilingual primers are being offered in Class I in six tribal
dialects. These primers are written in both Oriya and tribal language and
Oriya script. The usefulness of these primers should be evaluated and a
view should be taken on whether these primers should be continued , or
reduced , or expanded in terms of number of dialects and years in
schools.
b) Is the Oriya alphabet adequate to represent the tribal languages in these
primers?
c) Has the present practice of using Oriya script hindered the growth of
education in terms of enrollment and dropouts?
d) Is Ol Chiki or any other script (other than Oriya) used by the tribal
communities of Orissa, and if so, to what extent?
e) Whether people belonging to various communities who have learnt to
use Oriya script are of opinion that they would have been better off if
they had studied in any local script?
f) Whether inclusion of any additional language in primary level or in
secondary level will be against the language policy of the Government of
India and the three-language formula?
g) Is it possible to identify such schools where tribal language can be taught
in higher level in exclusion of Oriya?
h) Whether exclusion of Oriya and inclusion of tribal language in schools will
serve the long term economic interest of the tribal and whether it will
lead to alienation of certain communities from the main stream of the
society.
i) Whether inclusion of additional languages and scripts will increase the
burden of school bag?

6
ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE: BRIEF HISTORY:

1. It was mentioned in the aforesaid notification that Board of Secondary

Education, Orissa would provide secretarial support and the non-
official members would receive TA/DA as applicable to Class I officers
of the State from the BSE, Orissa

2. The matter of support by the BSE, Orissa for the functioning of the
Committee was placed before the Executive Committee of BSE, Orissa
in its meeting dt.5/11/02 and the Secretary, BSE was requested to
ascertain from Govt. the exact nature of work the Committee was
expected to undertake so as to assess the expenditure to be
incurred towards TA/DA.

3. Again the Executive Committee in its meeting dt.19/12/02 and

20/12/2002 decided that Govt. be moved reconsider and revise their
order because of the constraint that the Board was already
burdened with the assignment of implementation of new scheme of
studies.

4. Accordingly Govt. were moved vide Board’s letter No.843/

Dt.29/1/2003 Govt. vides their letter No. 10570 /SME Dt.23/4/2003
impressed upon the BSE, Orissa to carry out the Govt. orders. This
letter was received on 5/5/2003 and by that time the term of the
language Expert Committee for six month was already over.

5. The Executive Committee in its meeting Dt.3/6/2003 decided that

secretarial support be provided and payment of TA/DA be made but
Govt. be requested to reimburse the expenditure towards TA/DA to be
made by the BSE, Orissa.

6. Thereafter steps were taken to convene the meeting of the Language

Expert Committee on the inclusion of Santal language and Ol Chiki
script in primary schools and taking in to account the convenience of
the members, particularly the Chairman who was out of the State for
some time, the first meeting was convened to be held on 11/8/2003.

7. The first meeting of the committee was held on 11/8/2003 in which

the committee decided that the Govt. be moved to extend the term of
the Committee. Accordingly the Govt. were moved vide letter No.

7
 20/8/2003 by the member Secretary.

8. The second meeting of the Committee was held on 23/8/2003 and by

that time the Govt. had been moved to extend the term of the
Committee. In the second meeting the Committee recast its earlier
proposal to visit schools in different districts and recommended that
Govt. be moved to allow sitting allowance to all members.

9. The above said proposal / recommendations of the Committee were

placed before the Executive committee on 29/8/2003.

10. As per the decision of the Executive Committee in its meeting

dt.29/8/2003, the Govt. were moved on 24/9/2003 to request
OPEPA to make arrangements for visiting the districts and bear the
expenses to be made for the purpose and to issue appropriate
order regarding payment of sitting allowance and to make available
required funds for the purpose.

11. The third meeting of the Committee was held on 29/9/03 in which
the Chairman was requested to write to Govt. requesting their
appropriate steps in the matter of visit of schools in different districts
by the Committee.

12. The fourth meeting of the Committee was held on 17/12/2003 in

which it took note of the communication made to the govt. regarding
extension of the term of the Committee, visit to different districts by
the Committee and allowing sitting allowance to the members
including further letter issued in this connection by the Member
Secretary on 6/11/2003 and by the Secretary, BSE, Orissa on
17/11/2003 and decided that no further meeting of the Committee
will be held unless Govt. orders extending the term of the
Committee is issued. Accordingly the Govt. were moved by the
member Secretary of the Committee. Accordingly the Member
Secretary moved the Govt. and the Chairman also moved Govt. on
18/2/2004.

13. However, the consensus of the Committee on this issues indicated in

the Govt.notification has found place in the proceedings of the
meetings dt.29/9/20039Third meeting) and dt..17/12/2003(fourth
meeting) of the Committee (on item 3(f) in the proceedings of the
third meeting and on item 3(b), 3(c),3(d),3(g), 3(h), and 3(i) in the
proceedings of the meeting.

14. The Govt. has been pleased to extend the term of the Committee up
to 31/8/2005 vide their Notification NO 16054/SME/Date
17/9/2004.

15. Meanwhile the member Secretary of this Committee was transferred

to the Directorate of Secondary Education Orissa, and the coordination
of the Committee was assigned to the State Tribal Coordinator,
OPEPA. Accordingly on 1.11.2004 the fifth meeting of the Committee
was held in OPEPA and the field visit schedule was finalized.

8
The Committee decided to examine the issues in two ways.

i. To examine the issue from language – pedagogic view

ii. Field visit to have real experience on what is really happening in tribal
area schools of Orissa.

In the first instance it was decided by the Committee to visit Mayurbhanj

since the Santal issue on use of Ol Chiki script is necessary for the presentation
before Hon’ble Chief Minister, Orissa.

Therefore, pending with the field visit to south Orissa, the first visit was
conducted during 20/12/2004 to 25 12/2004 and the observation of the
Committee in details is presented in this volume.

CHAPTER- II

TRIBAL SITUATION IN ORISSA

There are sixty-two scheduled Tribes in the State with 13 primitive

tribes. Out of 314 Blocks 118 Blocks are with more than 50% tribal population
and have been identified as Tribal Sub-plan Blocks. Most f them are
concentrated in south Orissa, western Orissa and north Orissa with their
linguistic diversities and distinct cultural landscape.

In the context of primary education in Orissa, tribal have a substantial

distribution in the schools.

The number of schools with percentage of tribal children and number of

schools in Orissa is given in descending order

Table I

SCHOOLS WITH PERCENTAGE OF TRIBAL CHILDREN IN ORISSA

Sl Schools with No of Language

No. percentage of schools situation
tribal children
1 100% 3197 Mono lingual
2 99%-90% 2534 Monolingual

9
 3 89%-80% 2190 Monolingual-
bilingual
4 79%-70% 2032 Bilingual
5 69%-60% 1979 Multilingual
6 59%-50 2087 Multilingual
7 <50% 34074 Multilingual
Source: DISE Data: OPEPA 2003-04

Schools with 100% to 50 % tribal children in the State is 14019.

District wise schools with ST population is annexted .( Annexure –

IV)

Table II

ENROLLMENT OF ST CHILDREN IN ORISSA

Categories Boys Girls Total

Primary (6- 645446 548212 11,93,658
11)
Upper 98488 65303 1,78239
Primary(11-
14)
Total96-14) 743934 613515 13,71,897
Source DISE:2003-04 : OPEPA

Table III

CLASS WISE NUMBER OF ST CHILDREN IN THE STATE

Class Boys Girls Total

Class- I 187323 172957 360280
Class-II 139915 123647 263562
Class -III 124902 106904 231806
Class- IV 105652 81546 187198
Class -V 87654 63158 150812
Class- VI 52544 34270 86811
Clalss-
VII 45947 30033 75980
Total 743937 612515 1356449

10
 School
Type Boys Girls Total
Primary
(I-V) 645446 548212 1,193,658
(VI-VII) 98488 64303 162791
Total 743934 612515 1,356,449
Source : DISE : 2003-2004 : OPEPA

The above table indicates that the tribal children in Class I to Class
III total 748000 tribal children have been en rolled . Their home language is
different from the school language. Language is of course a major factor that
affects the teaching learning process of tribal children . It is also found from
the research that tribal children have low achievement ratio in comparison to
the other children. But other factors are also responsible in respect of low
achievement.

The table indicates that substantial children in the schools have been
provided access. But tribal children have not been ensured access to their
home language for which they face learning difficulties. At the same time
teachers in these schools also face teaching difficulties .

In addition to the language issue, issues like lack of teacher training,

lack of bilingual materials, lack of support to the teachers serving in tribal
areas, and lack of a pro-tribal attitude are some of the reasons that affects
the education of tribal children in the State.

MAYURBHANJ DISTRICT AT A GLANCE FROM TRIBAL LENS:

There are 26 Blocks in the district and total 2271 970 people in the district
out of which total ST population is 1067826( ST male:544591 and ST female:
523235).

The dominant Schedule Tribes in the district are the Santals, Munda,
Khadia,Gond, Mundari, Kol and Bhumij where as the minority primitive tribes
are Lodha and Mankdia.

Total ST children in the district is as follows:

DISTRIBUTION OF ST CHILDREN IN MAYURBHANJ DISTRICT:

Age group : :0-3:Age 3-5 age 6-11 11-14

group
Boys 23302 19065 42675 21497
Girls 22388 18318 34916 16217
Total 45610 27383 77591 37714
DISE : 2003-2004 OPEPA

11
The school type in Mayurbhanj with percentage of 100% to 50% tribal
children is mentioned below:

No of Schools with 100 % ST children: 524

No of schools with 99 % to 90 % ST Children 532

No of schools with 89% to 80% ST children: 373

No of schools with 79% to 70 % St children: 281

No of Schools with 69 % to 60 % ST children:262

No of schools with 59 % to 50 % ST Children: 252

Schools below 50% ST children: 1141

Besides there are more than 500 EGS centers having substantial tribal
population which there is a need to address the classroom with tribal
children.

The above figures indicate the status of tribal children in the district.
The need for ensuring access to the tribal children is addressed through SSA
and EGS centers. Besides there are Ashram Schools in which tribal boys and
girls are enrolled. But the issue of home and school language is not yet
addressed by the educational institutions.

DIETS/ BRCs/CRCs are functional in the district. But these institutions

hardly have any capacity to address the learning needs of tribal children in the
context of bridging the gap of home language and school language for
universal achievement.

CHAPTER- III

TO INTRODUCE :

Tribal situation is different in Orissa, in comparison to the other States of

the country, because of the largest number of speech communities. Besides
Santals, some of the major tribes having their own languages are Kondh, Saora,
Munda, Kol, Ho, Oraom, Koya, Kishan and Paraja; and primitive tribes are
Bonda, Juang, Mankdia and Lodha. Present movements for recognition of their
newly invented or revealed scripts to assert their separate identities must be
taken into consideration for averting major catastrophes in future.

Mayurbhanj poses the biggest problem as 55 out of 62 tribal communities

are represented there. Santals constitute the largest speech community. What is

12
much more important is the fact that they are found in large numbers in
contiguous areas of West Bengal and Jharkhand.

They are also in Upper Assam and Tripura. The present Ol-Chiki
movement is not only to unite the Santals of different states where Santali is
written in Bengali and Nagari scripts. The hidden agenda is to carve a separate
state This is the political dimension of the issue.

Mother tongue in primary education is the right of the tribal communities.

Non-recognition of this right has given rise to many movements. This is not only
a phenomena in Orissa., but of the whole country. The sooner we evolve a
language policy, the better off we will be.

It is not possible to develop all the languages to a comparable level. It is

the duty of the State to recognize their identities and assume the responsibilities
of teaching them the dominant state language. Bilingual primary education is the
only strategy that will meet all such demands half way and diffuse the
adversarial posture.

All movements are neither law and order issues nor are they naxalite
movements. Some times State violence pushes the young and the old into the
laps of violence. Therefore bilingual primary education must be attempted to
begin with in some of the major tribal languages. A standing Committee may be
created to monitor and ensure the implementation of programme as decided by
the Government from time to time.

THE ISSUES:

Language and scripts are two subjects about which every person has an
opinion. A governor of the North East, who had written two books in a language
of the region, says “he is convinced that the language has no grammar.” Many
people believe that unwritten languages are dialects. The Institute of Tribal
study of the State Government is called the Academy of Tribal Dialects and
Culture.” The underlying assumption is that tribals have no languages. They
communicate in dialects. Another assumption is that all tribals have one culture.

Dr Manmath Kundu in his “ Impact Study on Introduction of Ol Chiki

Script in 30 Schools of Orissa” says “ When two languages are very different in
selection of meaningful sound segments (phonemes) there arises need for two
different scripts for faithful representation of their respective sounds. In this
sense separate script is an advantage”. Nothing is more far from truth. The
assumption underlying the International Phonetic Association (IPA) script chart is
that it is possible to transcribe all languages of the world using a single grid.
Roman script is used to write languages in Africa, Latin America and parts of
India and Orissa.Chinese script is the bridge among mutually unintelligible
languages/dialects counted under Chinese. A single script is read differently by
speakers of different dialects and hold them together.. In India, Sanskrit is
written in all the scripts of India. Konkani and Santali are written in five scripts
each. Sindhi is written in Nagari and Perso-rabic, Hindi, Marathi and Sanskrit
sharing one script, Nagari. Bengali, Assemese share one script each with minor

13
modifications. So are Telugu and Kannada. Therefore need for two scripts for
two different languages is not a necessity.

Having separate script is no advantage. At one point of time, as the

Director of Central Institute of Indian languages wrote a letter to all States. I
told them that the unwritten languages should be written using the script of the
dominant State languages.

There were two reasons. One is the maintenance of languages. Quarrel

over scripts comes on the way of language development as it happened in case
of Sindhi. The second reason is the participation of the minor and minority
language speakers in the socio- economic reconstruction of the State at the
earliest. While maintaining their MT, the sooner they learn the State official
language, the better off they are. By adopting a bilingual method at the primary
level, it was possible to maintain the mother tongue/home language while
achieving competence to study through the medium of dominant state language
at the post primary stage.

Govt. of India has an industrial policy, a science policy and some sort of
education policy, but do not have a language policy. The NPE 1986 and its
amended version 1992 refer us back to 1968, the three-language formula. The
formula primarily deals with English, Hindi and the dominant State language. It
is a consensus arrived at the meeting of the State Chief Ministers. It has no
reference to the mother tongue, no reference to classical languages and no
reference to proximate languages. It has been far away from foreign languages.

A line is in order as regards bilingual schooling:

Bilingual schooling has many interpretations. Two languages studied as

subjects or two languages studied as medium are called bilingual schools. Even
where one language is taught as medium and another as subject, such schools
are called bilingual schools. But the bilingual schooling expounded here has
different connotation.

Bilingual schooling aims at bridging the gap between the home language
and school language. The child comes to the school with the capabilities of
speaking and understanding the home language, which is the mother tongue of
the child. Reading and writing have to be built up on this foundation. Therefore,
in the 1st year 80 percent of the available school time has to be devoted for
writing and reading of the home language. And 20 per cent of the school time
has to be devoted to speaking and understanding of the school language. In the
final year of the primary education the time is to be reversed, 20 per cent for
the home language and 80 per cent for the school language. In between it is
40- 60 and 50- 50. It has been demonstrated that it enhances motivation,
ensures greater retention, and reduces dropouts.

Dr DP Patnaik, giving his personal statement says, I left Orissa when I

was [pretty young. We lived in Shantiniketan for eleven years, in Poona for six
years and in Karnataka for twenty-eight years. My children studied the regional
languages of the areas we lived. One day my son asked me, how many
languages should we learn? I told him, it depends on what you want to be and

14
where you want to go. For example, if you want to go to France you must study
French. If you want to go to Germany, China, Japan or Soviet Union you will
have to learn Germany, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. If you seek your
fortune with in the country, then you have to learn the major language of the
region. I am really not bothered about the number. But as a parent I am
concerned about the fact that having studied the language of the region,
whether you get the opportunity to compete with the native speakers of that
region on equal basis. After I took over as the Director of CIIL I was asked
similar questions, I repeated the answer given to my son.”

Indian scripts other than Roman and Perso-Arabic have emanated from a
single source, Brahmi. All Indian languages belong to six families, Indo Aryan,
Dravidian, Munda, Sino- Tibetan, Nahali, and Andaman and - Nicobarese. But all
scripts other than the two referred to above belong to a single family. Therefore,
with out understanding the inherent togetherness of the existing scripts, any
invented, revealed or discovered scripts made in violation of the underlying unity
are bound to create problems rather than solving them.

Languages change faster than scripts. The Oriya language has changed,
but all changes are not captured in writing. For example, short and long
distinction in Oriya is lost. The three sibilants are lost barring only one, the
dental. The Bargya and Abargya ‘j’distinction is lost leaving behind j and y.
Similarly, the ‘b’ written twice have changed into ‘b’ and ‘wa’ The vocalic T, short
and long are lost. Actually it has developed three ways,’ ru’ in Orissa,’ ri’ in
Bengal and ‘ar’ in Bundelkhand area.

Although the change is in pronunciation, the old sounds are retained in

spelling. The argument in favour of retaining them in spelling is that they keep
historical meanings apart. It will create problems in reading old manuscripts.

Same is the condition of English. George Bernard Shaw left all his
property for reform in English spelling and pronunciation. But English lives with
its anomalies and new problems are being added. This is true of all the
languages of the world. There was a time when scholars spoke of the English
language. Now the same scholars speak of the Englishes of the world. All the
varieties are written with in one and the same script. Santali is found in Tripura,
Bihar, Santal Pragana, Bhagalpur, Manbhum, hazaribagh,
Singhbhum,Mayurbhanj and Balasore in Orissa,Birbhum, Bankura, Midnapur in
West Bengal and Assam. Its dialects are Kamari-Santali, Kurmali, Lohari -
Santali, Mahili, Manjhi, Paharia.(The languages of India and Nepal, SIL, Decan
College , Puna, 1966). The subject of standardization has been discussed since
1903. The Roman script for Santali has undergone many changes. To what
extent the new script captures variations is yet to be ascertained.

A new script has been invented by Pt. Raghunath Murmu, who named it
Ol Chiki. As some people have begun to speak about Ol Chiki language , it is
important to know that Ol Chiki is a script and not a language. A script is like
the dress of a person. No matter whether one wears a suit, pyzama kurta or
dhoti Punjabi.(S)he remains the same person. Similarly no matter in which
script the language is written, it remains the same language. About the Ol Chiki
script Dr Kundu has to say the following:

15
 “ Ol Chiki, the script for Santali language was invented by Pt
Raghunath Murmu of Mayurbhanj district of Orissa. Himself a
Santali , he was a great scholar of Santali language and culture
and a creative writer in Santali. Although the script developed by
him came to limelight only when it was displayed in the
Mayurbhanj State Exhibition. Pt. Murmu worked on the script long
before, when he was a teacher in a school at Badamtaliya near
Rairangpur. He made letter after letter, made a hand press to type
them out and when completed all the letter, arranged them in to
groups. He tried them out on his Santali students and made
changes where necessary. Sri Pratap Chandra Bhanj Deo, the then
maharaja of Mayurbhanj( a princely state then) was impressed by
pundit Murmu’s sincere efforts and said that he has no objection
to the tribals of his state using the script. Later with the help of
the Kherwar Jarpa Samiti of Jamsedpur pandit Murmu got the
type for the script made at the Swadeshi Type Foundry,
Calcutta. The Samiti for the first time published a journal named
Sagen Sakam (green leaf) using Ol Chiki script. After word printing
press were set up in Orissa and West Bengal to publish books in
Santali using the script. At present the Santals all over India have
started using the script. The Govt. of West Bengal has given official
recognition to the script and started teaching Santali students
through Santali using the script in primary schools. Other tribals
whose languages are similar to Santali have also expressed their
willingness to use the script. Tribals on their own have started
schools to teach themselves the script.”

( Annexure I: Impact Study on Introduction of Ol Chiki Script in

30 schools of Orissa: 2001)

First of all it is not true that “At present the Santals all over India have started
using the scripts” A very miniscule section of Santals have opted for Ol-Chiki
in Orissa.The roadside urban and suburban centers do not want Ol Chiki .They
prefer Oriya and Bengali. In Bihar Santali is written in Nagari. The Govt. of
Orissa (Dept. of Education) vide their resolution No.XIXEM 15/91-7710 dt.
25/2/91 decided to introduce the teaching of Santali language in Ol Chiki script
on an experimental basis, as an additional language at the primary stage” in 30
primary schools of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh district. AS follow ups
to this resolution teachers were selected, Ol Chiki primers were prepared and
teaching of Santali language in Ol Chiki scrip[t was introduced in 30 schools(
20 in Mayurbhanj, 5 in Keonjhar and 5 in Sundargarh district) from May 1992.
The experiment failed. The report of the Committee set up by the Govt. of
Orissa came to the conclusion that the parents “ are found to believe in
competition and tuition. They are more in favour of learning Oriya and
English. Learning their own language and script is secondary for them(P.13)” It
is most unfortunate that emphasis on the new script takes parents away
from their own language.

The Andhra situation illustrate this forcefully. The New Indian Express in
its issue of 7/1/2005 states as follows: Best education often comes through
mother tongue. Over 240 tribal children studying in 80 tribal schools in Andhra

16
Pradesh more than justifying the truth.” For the first time in the country, these
tribal children are bearing the rudiments of their own language which means
connection, pride and of course the past.xxxx

“ The scheme did not materialize overnight. It took eight teams – each
consists of a linguist, an educationist, an anthropologist, a tribal teacher, and
local NGOs representative to design the syllabus. NO less than nine different
tribal languages are spoken by different ethnic groups in the State.xxx

“ Hence we selected words from their languages to teach them. Only the
script is in Telugu.xxx”

“ xxx at a recent meeting in New Delhi secretary of Union Tribal welfare

Dept directed other states to follow the AP model. The new curriculum could
be extended to 4000 schools next year.”

The Indian Education scene is full of over statement and ignorance. The
CIIL provided leadership in bilingual education for tribal. It prepared phonetic
Readers, Grammars, Glossaries, Instrumental materials in tribal languages in
the North East, in Rajasthan,,Orissa, Maharastra, Goa, Daman Diu,Andaman
Islands. It supported the Andhra Programme in Tribal Oriya (Poderu) . It is a
matter of joy that the Andhra programme has received the attention of the
Central Government. What is of importance is the fact that tribal languages
are taught in Telugu script.

Another important activity in Orissa DPEP was intervention in tribal

education which has drawn the rapt attention of the Govt of India and World
Bank. DPEP Orissa, with the help of linguists and tribal area teachers have
implemented a comprehensive long term tribal intervention encompassing
teacher training( Attitudinal Aspect- which is first of its kind in India), tapping
traditional tribal leaders jati Mahasabha, engaging educated tribal youths for
retention drive and forging school community relation, and finally preparation of
full-fledged teaching learning materials in tribal and oriya language for
seven tribal communities.( Saora, Koya, Juang, Kuvi,Kui, Bonda and Munda).

The exercise took two years in capacity building followed by a series of

activities like, training of teachers , orientation of tribal writers, field trailing
and finalization of primers with the teachers hand book and picture
dictionaries.

In 2001 DPEP distributed these textbook among 63000 ST children in the

schools with more than 70% tribal children. Even the Secretary, SME and
Secretary ST/SC development Department jointly took decision and Dept of
School and Mass Education issued orders to use tribal primers in the schools
with bilingual situation

(Annexure-II: Proceedings of the meeting held on Tribal language

Primers prepared by DPEP: 14/9/2000)

In that case, Orissa is one of the advanced state which prepared context
specific, child centered primer in tribal languages and distributed among the 63
000 children. In comparison to Andhra Pradesh, Orissa has done a lot in the

17
field of tribal education. But unfortunately, the State govt. did not patronize the
efforts of using tribal primers in tribal areas schools. It is not known how the
tribal primers in Kondhmal and Malkangiri were used with out imparting
training to the teachers. Even the effectiveness of using the primers in DPEP
districts were also not taken up to sustain the activities. The success
stories of DPEP in tribal intervention could have been more meaningful in
implementing tribal activities in DPEP-II and SSA districts. But this was not
replicated.

However the focus of using these six primers were in tribal- and oriya
language and the scripts are Oriya. Community support in using tribal
primers in Saora, Juang and Kuvi community was encouraging since the DPEP
community mobilization programme was effective and VECs were actively
participating in the schools where tribal primers were used by the teachers.
This was also helping the tribal to revitalize their cultural values and
language with dignity.

‘In the year 1990, The ATDC had undertaken a study of the use of Ol
Chiki in schools under the able guidance of Prof. Khageswar Mahapatra, the
then Director of ATDC. This has been published by the ATDC. Not a single
person pleaded for Ol Chiki. They demanded education in Tribal language
medium. They demanded teachers from tribal communities to teach in tribal
language as medium of instruction. These are legitimate demands. The Govt.
must give special attention.(Adivasi Unnayan: Astama Yojanara Anuchinta:
Adivasi Pratinidhinka saha Sakshat Alochanar Bibarani, January 27, 1990)

Further, Prof Mahapatra organized a Seminar of the representatives of

the major tribal groups of Mayurbhanj on 17th September,1989. The participants
deliberated on the issue of language medium in primary schools. The
proceedings was published and submitted to the Government and circulated.
At the end following recommendations were made to government of Orissa
in the department of H and TW and Education and Youth Service.

“ The recommendation made were:

1. Primary School teachers conversant in Santali language should be posted

in the schools having more than 50% Santali students.

2. Facilities for learning three languages i.e. Oriya, English and Hindi
should be provided

3. Use of Santali dialect and Ol- Chiki script should be encouraged in

nonformal and adult education ecenters

4. Introduction of multiple languages and scripts in the field of general

education should be avoided.

The recommendations were examined in the Education and Youth Service

Department. Government have taken the following decisions:

18
 1. The proposal for introduction of Ol Chiki script in the primary schools
imparting general education was to be dropped.

2. Textbooks in language subjects are to be prepared in Santali and other

major tribal dialects using Oriya scripts.

3. An intensive training programme for primary schools teachers working

in Tribal sub plan areas is to be organized with funding from H and TW
Department

4. The books for non formal and Adult Education should be prepared in
Santali and other tribal dialects using Ol – Chiki and other developed
tribal scripts.”

Again Prof. Mahapatra studied through field visit in west Bengal and
Biharin 1990( June – July) to gather views with regard to introduction of Ol
Chiki script in school education. This report submitted to the government as
appended.

( Annexure- III,Report on the study of tribal languages at school

level in Tribal Bihar)

These efforts were made by the ATDC was not followed up by the
concerned departments with along term vision. The result was gap between the
community and schools. Teachers were not trained up. O textbook were
developed. There was a lack of long term plan for the tribal.

The situation has compounded because of lack of follow up action.

Preparation of primers is the beginning, not the end of TLM. Preparation of
supplementary reading materials for children, more particularly for the tribal
children, must receive priority attention. The Orissa Sahitya Academy and
money separately may be earmarked to publish tribal language literature
through them. The SCERT and SSA must pull their resources together and set up
a TLM unit with twin focus of research and innovation.

Pundit Raghunath Murmu is not the only person to have prepared a script
for Santali. Well known freedom fighter Prafulla Pattanaik(01/01/1917-
14/01/2003) in cooperation with some others had initiated / prepared a
modified Nagari script for Santali. Bhagalpur University had given recognition
to it at the post Graduate stage.”(Chetana Varta, 2.6 January 2004 Special
No.Pp.15)

Before Pt. Raghunath Murmu invented his Ol Chiki script many of his
publications were printed in Oriya script. His dramas were enacted and well
liked by the audience. There was no complaint about the adequacy of the script.
His main interest was to bring together the Santal living in different states by
providing them a single communicative language. The main aim appears to be to

19
bringing about a single Santal state by incorporating districts from the
neighboring states. At least this is the claim by some of the later leaders.

The Saora case is different. A Saora delegation arrived Delhi to discuss

their script. They were directed to come to Mysore. When asked what their
problem was, they said they wanted the Govt. of India to recognize their script.
I was genuinely completely surprised. I said, I have written Oriya in the Roman
script for the Americans to learn Oriya. I have written Oriya in Nagari script for
other Indian language users to learn it. I helped to write Oriya in Telugu script
for the Tribal Oriya speakers of Araku Valley. I never needed any body’s
permission to write my language in any script I like. The Tamils did not need any
body’s permission to create the Grantha script for writing the Sanskrit
language. They had no answer.”

The same question may be asked to the Santali speakers. The Govt. is
committed to maintain the language and not necessarily to be printed in Ol
Chiki script . If an important popular book is to be printed in Ol Chiki script to
reach out to a larger population , the government may consider giving a
publication grant.

CHAPTER- IV

IMPRESSION FROM THE FIELD VISIT

Schools visited by the Expert Committee in Mayurbhanj district during

20/12/2004 to 25/12/2004 is mentioned detailed in Annexure – V.

The field trip undertaken by the Committee was highly instructive. One of
the first things that struck us is the manipulation of statistics. In a school
attendance was between 80-87 except the day of our visit when it was 37. It
appears that the schools are expected to prepare the record at 11.A.M..

We were told that most schools fill up their registers around 4 P.M.
This explains the figures of out of school children given by DPEP being 2.5
lakhs, UNICEF 15 lakhs, Orissa Human Development Report 21 lakhs and
Vision 2020 being 36 lakh.

20
 In many of the schools teachers spoke of the Ol Chiki language. Almost
everywhere we corrected them saying that Ol Chiki is the script and Santali is
the language. We got the impression that their training is defective. They are
told precious little about the tribal language and culture. They are unaware
about the middle class values imposed through their text books.

For example, the study room, neither the single room tenement given to
Mankdias as part of rehabilitation or in the average village house of the
Santals there is a study room. Even the married son of a Mankadia shares the
single room tenement of the family. Another lesson speaks of the gift Anuradha
gave to her friend on her birthday. Those children who don’t know their date
of birth celebration of their birth day is a joke. The children ask what is a gift?
Why does Anuradha give a gift to her friend?

The students cannot read Oriya fluently even in the fifth standard. From
the first to the fourth standard the students recognize letters falteringly. They
read words letter by letter. They have no notion of intonation and reading a
sentence. The teachers help them in examination. In one school the answer to a
question was near equal in all the answer books. Either the children got them
by heart or were helped by the teachers.

The teacher, in many cases has little knowledge of multigrade and

interdisciplinary teaching, although they are engaged in such activity. They, in
many cases are unaware of the total number of students, the number of ST
students and the number of girls. Some said that they cannot speak of
numbers with out consulting registers. They don’t know the breakdown of SC
and STs. All that they know is that a certain percentage is ST. There is no
wonder that in a school it is prohibited to use their home languages from 10
AM to 4PM.

From the field Visit it is clear that

1. No decision is taken about the use of Santali as subject or medium

2. Experimentally Santali language with Ol Chiki script was introduced in 30

schools. According to the Kundu Report the experiment has failed.

3. No decision is taken about linking the home language with the school
language. As a result the ASECA schools teaching Santali with Ol Chiki
script has gained in popularity.

4. In VI and VII standard the ST children do not read , write and understand
Oriya fluently. The dropout at the elementary level can only be
understood in this context.

5. This is true of English. The students complain that it is not possible to

build a strong infrastructure on a loose foundation.

6. Literacy should be conducted through mother tongue, Santali for Santal ,

and respective mother tongues for different tribal language speaking
group.

21
7. A biliteracy programme should be developed so that literacy in both home
language and school language could be imparted. This would couple well
with bilingual primary education at the primary level.

8. Education of middle class values is imposed on the tribal, thus becoming

irrelevant to the tribal life and living.

9. The Santals remaining in different states write their languages in different

scripts. These facilities linking the home language with the dominant state
language. It helps them participate in the development and reconstruction
of the State at the earliest.

10. The discussion with ASECA Rairangpur representatives was revealing. They
have a single point agenda-Santali should be taught through Ol Chiki .
They made two points.

a. Santali pronunciation can only be captured through Ol Chiki script.

b. Communication among Santals living in different states is only

possible through a single script. It was pointed out to them that
Sanskrit survived because it was written in various scripts of the
country. All the scripts captured Sanskrit pronunciation. More over
Telugu and Kannada, Bengali and Assemese, Sanskrit, Marathi and
Konkani scripts are written in their respective regions. N body says
Telugu is written in Kannada script. There is no reason why a
modified Oriya script cannot be called the Santali script in Orissa.

11. The Santals remaining in different states write their language in regional
scripts as it facilitates linking with their state official language. It helps
them participate in the development and reconstruction of the state.

12. More over, because of the three language formula any child who comes
through the school system learns three languages and three scripts.
Therefore creating a single script for interstate communication is no longer
necessary.

13. When members of the Committee told them that our concern was the
future of children, they said that we would open colleges and universities.
In fact we met students who have taken BA. MA from such institutions run
by ASECA.They have studied only Santali in Ol Chiki script and no other
subjects. Their degrees are unlikely equated with degrees in any
university.

14. It was pointed out to them that every university has an equivalence
committee. No body would accept their BA equivalent to the degrees they
offer. Such a situation had arisen in the case of Daakshin Bharat Hindi
Prachar Sabha. They rectified their syllabuses. Unless ASECA stops giving
fake degrees they would have created a generation of disadvantaged
children / students who would have no other way but being instruments in
the politics of language and handmaidens of violence.

22
 15. We met some intellectuals in Baripada. One of them said that since one
generation is to be educated in the new script to teach the next and
new books are to be written the Santals will be 50 years behind the
time.

16. Assuming that the new script is adopted the literacy rate will go down
immediately. This is another validation of the statement that the Santal will
go back wards by 50 years, if a new script is introduced at this stage.

17. In Oriya adequate books in different disciplines are yet to be written. To

write such books in Santali and that again in Ol Chiki script will further
retard their educational progress.

18. There is very little monitoring . In spite of the fact that there SI of
schools, BRCs/ CRCs, the monitoring system does not function well. This
need to be rectified.

One thing is clear. Whether it is infrastructure inadequacy, teacher

absenteeism, early puberty or poverty, the girl’s dropout is one of the major
causes of the girls becoming vulnerable. The growing trafficking in women and
children is one of the consequences of dropping schools.

We may examine the current scenario of Mayurbhanj district which

could give some ideas to think about the functioning of tribal areas school
with the huge amount of tribal children with non tribal teachers.

OBSERVATION

Observation in the field is that

• In Class I and Class II number of ST children is high. In case of 90 % to

100 schools with ST children it is a matter of serious concern in the
context of teaching and learning the children.

• It is not understood how the teachers in schools with 100% ST children

are imparting teaching with a language, which is not intelligible to the
children. In a child centered education system, it is the language of the
child, which determines the cognitive aspects during her primary stage.

• Teaching in a language other than the mother tongue of the children is

certainly against the mental ability of the tribal children. Due to this
compulsion, tribal children are unable to comprehend the content and
language of the text books in earlier stage and subsequently it affect the
learning process so much so that the children are not able to grasp the
content and text book language even in Class V.

• It was found that even the teachers belonging to the tribal community
and having sufficient knowledge on local tribal language, don’t use the
mother tongue of the children with a make-belief that mother tongue
should not be spoken in the classroom.

23
 • The attitude and belief of the teachers mars the use of MT in classroom.
Even the teachers don’t understand the process of teaching in Class I .
• 80 % of the class time should be spared in orality between the children
and the teachers in Class I in the school language and 20 % written work
should be taken up. But it was found that only written work is initiated
for reading and writing of the mother tongue the very beginning of Class
I that to in Oriya, and therefore the comprehension of the tribal children
in language is very low even up to Class V.

• Writing with out purpose and meaning with out a context is boring and
monotonous for the children and they fail to get pleasure out of writing.

When the Committee met the members of ASECA it was discussed that
language is important in view of cognition, but script is a symbol, which bear
the language. The Santali leaders are of opinion that, if the Ol Chiki script is not
used for Santali language, the pronunciation of some words would be difficult,
and also if it is written in Oriya script, the meaning of the language will be
changed due to the limitations of Oriya language in representing some of the
Santali words.

The Committee is of opinion that any language can be written in any script
and there is no bar. Pronunciation of some words in a language does not hamper
the basic character of a language, or else English would not have been the
language of world, and by now, due to bad pronunciation, it would have lost its
chastity. Instead by adopting many new words from many culture, English
become the richest language for its assimilative quality.

Santali language in that case is a full-fledged language with its Ol Chiki

letters to represent its own morphology and semantics. But the question of
using Santali language in a State education system becomes difficult due to
several reasons. This issue was discussed in the State Level Seminar on Use of
Santali language in Mayurbhanj District, which was held on 9/1/2001, in which
Hon’ble Chief Minister Sri Naveen Patnaik had inaugurated the Seminar.

Many eminent educationists, linguists, and Santal leaders had a dialogue on

use of Santali language in Primary schools of Mayurbhanj. The consensus was
that if Santali language is used in the schools, the following points should be
considered at first for future of education of children.

24
 CHAPTER- V

SUMMARY TABLE OF THE STATUS OF TRIBAL EDUCATION IN THE STATE

IN GENERAL AND MAYURBHANJ DISTRICT IN PARTICULAR

Aspect of Tribal State Initiative Mayurbhanj Implication

Education

State Initiative In the absence of a Santali Primer and Santal, Munda

state policy, the State Teacher Handbook Kol, Ho, are the
has taken initiatives is prepared by major tribes,
from time to time. OPEPA in Oriya Kurmi is a
script in 2001. But cultivator
since the demand community having
was to introduce their Kurmali
Santali l primer in language close to
Ol Chiki script by Bengali and Oriya.
the Santal Munda tribe has
community to the also own script.
Govt. of Orissa, However their
pending state demand is not the
decision ,It is not script but to use
introduced. mother tongue in
primary schools.

Choice of As per the NPE (1986) LoI is Oriya In Orissa only

Medium of and PoA (1992) State English is Second tribes with major
Instruction has initiated using language. spoken language,
(political, mother tongue in Hindi is Third which have no
sociocultural, primary schools through Language. exposure or
and introducing six tribal Teachers do not assimilation to the
pedagogical primers in Saora, use Mother tongue state language,
criteria) by the Bonda, Kui, Kuvi, Juang of the tribal may be adopted for
State and Koya, covering children in the MT education in
about 100,000 ST school or classroom classrooms. Tribes
children during 2004. even some of them already have
Educated tribal know it. adopted Oriya, as
advocate for Oriya as LoI have to be
LoI and English as provided with
Second language. Tribal supplementary
Organisation like ASECA readers on their
having an agenda on folktales and songs
revitalizing tribal from their cultural
identity demand for expressions.
language. State project
is only promoting Tribal
Education. This has to
be sustained by the
SCERT/DIETs through
Tribal Education Units.

25
Creation of Research Institutions do DIET, Baripada has Govt. NGO, efforts
coordinating, not mention any conducted some may be initiated to
monitoring, and implementation action research on take up research,
evaluating agencies or any tribal education, its sharing, use and
agencies to guidelines for state which is not implication among
oversee agencies to follow the sufficient. The the field
implementation effectiveness of using North Orissa functionaries.
of LoI policy of language as LoI even University, TRI,
in the schools where Orissa may be
Saora, Juang and Kuvi engaged in
Primers were used. research on
different aspects of
tribal education in
Mayurbhanj

Sociolinguistic Orissa is linguistically . State language is Santali, Munda, Ho,

environment diverse in which 62 used in the schools, Kol, etc are the
tribes along with many and even though languages used by
minority language there are scope of 50 % people of the
groups, having different using MT in district. It is to
school types with three schools with 100 % note that when the
categories, those are ST children in the adults are bilingual
monolingual, bilingual District no such in the marketplace,
and multilingual schools efforts is initiated children are
in the schools. monolingual in
home.

Attitudes Normal attitude of non- The mother tongue Teachers attitude

toward tribal teachers and is not valued as a towards use of MT
languages academicians towards LoI. Santali has in classroom need
tribal language is not acquired some to be discussed,
favourable. Since the prestige because of and changed. Even
language in school is its revitalization by the question of
dominant over the MT the ASECA and also scripts may also is
speaker in the schools, by getting a question of
the cultural hegemony is recognition in the introduction with
clearly visible. Eighth schedules in serious concern in
the constitution of view of its use,
India. However, sustainability, and
Santali is only implications.
group to demand
using MT in
classroom with its
own script.

Psycholinguistic Cultural primers were At the district Teachers in these

aspects prepared on the basis of level, there is no 30 schools were
(cognitive draft NCF 2000 with the evidence of using transferred to other
learning) foundation of experience MT even if 30 schools. Some went
of the child reflected in experimental on training and did
the primers. schools were not return to the
Some good results were opened in same schools. Some

26
 found the Saora, Kuvi 1992.This effort non-tribal teachers
teachers and Juang was initiated with were posted there
teachers who used tribal out a strong vision and they were unable
primers initially and with out along to teach in Ol Chiki
resulting in mixed term plan for the script.
community reaction. same.
Comprehension was
ensured with tribal
primers. But the local
educational
administrators did not
support the efforts, with
a disbelief of considering
it a time bound
project.

Language There exists a wide Fewer than half of Santali, Saora,

development range of written the indigenous Koya, Kui, Kuvi,
(books and materials in seven languages are Juang and Bonda,
materials languages (Saora, Kui, usable as medium and Munda
written in Kuvi, Juang, Koya, of instructions; language have
mother tongue) Bonda and Santal and those that are used been used for
Munda) followed by are used mainly for primer, and they
teacher Handbook, school literacy have a rich folklore
picture dictionary, materials and to use them for
conversational chart, bibles; only Kikuyu reading materials.
self-learning materials, has a significant
and language training body of written
module for teachers etc. literature
ATDC and some NGOs
in the State have
prepared the materials
besides OPEPA.

Curriculum The State follow the Curriculum for Curricula are

development. national Curriculum Santal, Munda mainly based on
No specific Framework and the local children in primary the State as a
context specific specific needs of the classes has not whole in which the
curriculum is children of culturally and been developed. conceptual and
available linguistically diversities Even in the State cultural experience
are not addressed in it. followed of the tribal
curriculum, the children is not
need of tribal reflected.
children is not
reflected.

Text books and Textbooks are Most of the No local primers

language available in Oriya textbooks are are promoted.
materials language only and the written with a Though it is
teachers have the make middle class value prepared the
belief of using the text system with out ASECA is
for examination is the reflecting the demanding to use

27
 only objective. It does cultural context of the Santali primer
not reflect the cultural tribal children. No in O l- Chiki script
aspirations of about 14 culture specific or for which the
lakhs tribal children in area specific topics Santali primer in
primary and upper are reflected in the Oriya script is not
primary stage. text books in which printed.
the children could
Therefore tribal primers find their
are ignored since these experience as
does not comes under though there are
evaluation. 70000 tribal
children in the
District

Teacher In DPEP Districts Teachers undergo At the beginning of

training Teachers are trained on pedagogical implementation,
In Orissa Attitudinal training training, which teachers had been
which includes some cover the core trained in the old
basic questions of tribal areas of curriculum LoI; now teachers
education. and classroom are trained in the
But the training of transaction process new LoI, but most
teachers on how to use and theories of teachers' college
primers is yet to be learning. texts are still in the
taken up although the But the process of old LoI
tribal primers are understanding the
distributed to the language of the
60000-100,000tribal child, importance of
children every year. MT, addressing
bilingual classroom,
attitude of teachers
on tribal children
etc. are not
addressed in TT.

Piloting of the In September 2000, The District SSA or On Pilot basis

new LoI in Dept. of SME and SC/ST the DIETs except Santali language
Saora, Kuvi and decided to introduce LoI participating in the and Ol Chiki script
Juang. in the schools with writing of primers was introduced in
having 100% tribal made no initial 30 schools, but
children. But due to efforts. The DIET failed due to proper
poor implementation in had the possibility planning.
the field it was not to survey the
monitored properly. So schools with gap in
the knowledge was home language and
confined to the school language
teachers- writers of and to create public
primers only. opinion.

28
Pedagogical Pedagogical methods District level There is a serious
methods are not clearly stated for education officials, gap between the
tribal area schools to BRCs, CRCs are realities of
use LoI, except the ignorant on MT teacher’s
efforts of DPEP. It was education, and comprehension on
not sustained due to addressing bilingual bilingual
discontinued efforts, classroom. classroom. Current
and no special efforts pedagogical
were given to it. practice does not
address the
context specific
issues, assuming
that tribal children
will be
mainstreamed so
they also need to
study in RL.

Monitoring and • Monitoring and Inspectors/ Tribal children

evaluation evaluation have BRC/CRCs have have less
not been taken up hardly thought of comprehension in
in the field. State addressing the the subjects taught
level support was need of tribal in RL. Their
there but at the children. They are cognitive aspect is
district and Block mechanical in undermined in the
level, the their teacher core content and
seriousness of training and TLM RL, which is not
tribal education preparation in RL, intelligible to them.
was not felt and ignoring the basic So the question of
therefore it was need of tribal achievement is a
not nurtured in children. far-reaching goal in
tribal areas Action research is tribal areas
schools. taken up by the schools.
• No evaluation DIETs, but
was ever taken evaluation of
up on use of comprehension of
tribal primers in tribal children in RL
the districts is not taken up.
where it was
introduced.

Community Tribal community has Santal is the only When educated

Response: mixed opinion on using tribal group in the Santals advocate
MT of the tribal children State to demand for Ol Chiki script,
in the schools. Santali as MT in illiterate Santals
Some of them demand primary classes as want their children
MT in classrooms where the language of the to be taught in
as some educated tribal children. Oriya language and
advocate for use of But some parents script.
Oriya as LoI in schools. are not in favour of
Ol Chiki script
There is a mixed

29
 reaction about Ol
Chiki.

Recommendations:

After careful consideration the Expert committee recommends the following

points to be considered at the Government level.

• Santal language should be used as medium of instruction at the primary

level, but attempt must be made to bridge the distance between mother
tongue (MT) Santali and regional language/ school language (RL)- Oriya

• Text books for Santali in both the scripts (Oriya, Ol Chiki) may be
prepared for school children

• Use of Ol Chiki script to study Santali language be made optional

• Adequate standard text book, reference books, lexicons, glossaries and

such other teaching aids may be produced and used in the schools

• Teachers for teaching Santali to be properly trained to teach Santali

language, script and literature.

• Teachers for Santali and other tribal languages should be properly

trained. Since Santali is the majority language of the State, their training
for teaching script, language and literature ahs assumed importance.

• Separate training programme for in-service teachers should began here

and now. Attention must be given for the training of pre service teachers
on the basis of demands of the tribal community/ Santali.

• Recruitment of teachers for teaching Santali in primary classes should

have language competence as required qualification. They, at the end of
training should be able to teach in Santali language, script and literature
in the schools

• Sufficient teaching learning materials and literature may be produced in

tribal languages like big book, tales and legends for school children to
create a positive cultural outlook in the schools. Community language
resources can be documented and reproduced for school children.

• OPEPA/SSA should revitalize the tribal education activities, which have

been initiated during 1997. Preparation of tribal-Oriya TLM, teacher
training, Capacity building of DIETs, BRCs, CRCs, Monitoring and
Evaluation may be initiated immediately to meet the need of the State.
This may be empowered exclusive to cater to the need of tribal children
keeping its special focus.

30
 • Tribal organizations should be promoted for generating a positive
response from the community to introduce tribal language as medium of
instruction at primary stage.

• Community should know why and how tribal language could be helpful to
the tribal children for transition from mother tongue to regional
languages.

• Tribal organizations, Sahitya Academy and such other state level

organizations may be funded to promote tribal language and culture at
the district level to ensure local involvement,

• State Government is seriously concerned for Minority languages. The

Expert Committee feel that the functioning of the Committee may be
sustained to advise the government on minority language issues from
time to time. The committee recommends that the tenure of Expert
Committee may be extended for at least three years to monitor and
provide technical support to tribal education in the State.

DR M.K. Mishra Prof K. Mahapatra Prof D.P. Pattanayak,

Member Convener Member Chairman

Ex pert Committee Expert Committee Expert Committee

31
Annexure- I : Impact Study on Introduction of Ol Chiki Script on
30 Schools
of Orissa
Annexure- II: Proceedings of the Meeting Held on 14/9/2000 on
Tribal language Primers prepared by DPEP
Annexure- III: Report on the study of tribal languages at school level
in tribal
Bihar
Annexure- IV: District wise Schools with ST population
Annexure- V: Field Visit of the Language Expert Committee
commissioned b y
the Dept. of School and mass Education Department, Govt.
of
Orissa

32
Annexure IV DISTRICTWISE SCHOOLS WITH ST POPULATION

Name of the 100 99- 89- 79- below

District equal 90 80 70 69-60 59-50 50 Total
Mayurbhanj 524 532 373 281 262 252 1141 3365
Sundargarh 281 349 267 245 222 176 466 2006
Koraput 327 212 150 175 158 163 766 1951
Keonjhar 156 221 207 189 171 197 1185 2326
Rayagada 395 235 161 117 126 99 537 1670
Kondhmal 182 165 203 188 162 140 525 1565
Nabarangpur 54 152 176 160 137 123 498 1300
Gajapati 493 97 64 41 34 42 399 1170
Malkangiri 319 156 72 64 29 32 349 1021
Sambalpur 52 79 82 97 105 110 516 1041
Kalahandi 22 35 84 86 95 142 1458 1922
Nuapada 30 42 56 44 61 71 577 881
Anugul 23 21 32 32 41 44 1182 1375
Bargarh 17 10 22 30 41 78 1605 1803
Ganjam 110 28 22 18 14 21 3040 3253
Jharsuguda 20 26 42 44 57 62 392 643
Bolangir 18 23 36 77 93 117 1775 2139
Balesore 35 31 17 11 31 22 2152 2299
nayagarh 25 11 11 10 8 18 934 1017
Dhenkanal 32 27 25 29 27 47 1216 1403
Cuttack 23 14 12 17 7 17 2156 2246
jajpur 15 15 23 14 17 29 1716 1829
Khurdha 16 7 4 6 13 8 1508 1562
Deogarh 14 27 25 26 37 45 309 483
Boud 6 6 10 14 19 11 632 698
Sonepur 8 9 6 7 8 16 920 974
Bhadrak 0 2 2 2 1 1 1434 1442
Jagatsinghpur 0 0 3 3 2 1 1354 1363
Kendrapada 0 2 3 4 1 3 1676 1689
Puri 0 0 0 1 0 0 1661 1662
253 203 4809
Total 3197 4 2190 2 1979 2087 34079 8
Schools with 100% ST (Monolingual
children 3197 Situation)
Schools with 99-90% ST Nearly monolingual
children 2534 situation
Schools with 89-80%ST (Bilingual
children 2190 situation
Schools with 79-70% ST Bilingual
Children 2032 situation
Schools with 69-60% ST Bilingual
Children 1979 situation
Schools with 59-50% ST Bilingual
children 2087 situation
Schools below 5-% ST 3407 Multilingual
children 9 situation

33
Schools wit
100% to 59% 59% ST 1401 Need linguistic
ST children 9 intervention

Annexure- V

Field Visit of the Language Expert Committee commissioned by the Dept.

of
School and mass Education Department,

Date of Visit: 20/12/2005 to 24/12 /2005

District Visited: Balesore, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar

Team: Prof. DP Pattnayak, Chairman, and Language Committee

Prof. Khageswar Mahapatra, Ex Director, ATDC

Dr Mahendra Kumar Mishra, EX-State Tribal Coordinator, OPEPA

Objective of the Visit:

• To assess the status of ST children in primary schools in the context of

using mother tongue in classes
• To assess the gap of home language and school language
• To know the competence of teachers on teaching in bilingual classes
• To identify the teaching learning process in bilingual classroom
• To know the community interest and involvement in school process as
well as their perception in using Ol Chiki in classroom
• To assess the understanding of the field functionaries in addressing tribal
education in the context of high ST populated schools/ Blocks.

34
Details of schools visited:

Date. Name of Name of the Name of the Total ST Language

the Block School Children chil spoken
District dren
20/12 Balesore Nilagiri Jadida CRC 194 86 Kol, Santal,
/05 ,Podasula(I- Bhumij,
VII)5 teachers Bathudi
Nilagiri Jagannathpur 112 21 Munda
(I-V) 3
teachers
Nilagiri Bhalukasuni (I- 123 58 Ho
V)3 teachers
21/12 Mayurbh Bangriposi DhadangiriPS 45 42 Santali ,
/05 anj (2 teachers) Bhumij
Simileswari 368 61 Santali ,
Nodal UPS(I- Munda
Vii)3 trs, 3
vacant
Bisoi KadambdaUPS 122 110 Santali,
5 trs Munda, Ho
Bisoi Nodal CRC 578 236 Santal
Raiarangpur Jodia Nodal UPs 198 99 Santal
Rairangpur Discussion with ASE On use of
CA Ol Chiki
Dandbose 235 204 Santal
Gambharia 145 117 Santal
nodal UPS
Tentelia PS 142 142 Santal
Munda
Bahalda Gidhighat UPS CRCmeet 40 14 santal
ing teac teachers
hers
TaranaUPs 466 348 Santal,
12 teachers Munda, Kol
23/12 Keonjhar Sadar Block Rajabandh UPS 189 142 Santal
/2005
Patna Rengal BedaPS 62 51 Santal, Kol
24/12 Patbila Ups 203 180 Bathudi,
/2005 4 trs. santal
Kendumundi 22 18 mankdia
Mankdia DA.
Kendumundi PS 120 84 Santal, Kol

35
 Back to Bhubaneswar

DR M.K. Mishra Prof K. Mahapatra Prof D.P. Pattanayak,

Member Convener Member Chairman

Ex pert Committee Expert Committee Expert Committee

36