The Language factor and its

impact on the Alternative

Education Project ‘Gothra
Bandhu’ : A case study from
Thirunelly Village,India
HAFEESHA TB & Vishnu
Assistant Professor of Journalism
Govt. College Kasaragod, Kerala, India
qThis research study is an attempt to find out the impact of the Alternative
Education Project ‘Gothra Bandhu’, role of language in connection with the
dropouts among tribal students in Thirunelly village and the importance of
Alternativeschools or one teacher education system.

qAccording to data from the SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan)Wayanad unit, therewere
1,140 Adivasi children dropped out of schools in 2016-2017 and 1,331 in 2015-
2016.

qThe study is carried out using direct interview method in Thirunelly village,which
lies in the border of the states Kerala and Karnataka, and it is a tribal dominated
village in Wayanad, Kerala.
 Gothra Bandhu

q Kerala government launched Gothra Bandhu in June 2017 to curb the dropout issue that
has been predominant in Tribal areas of Wayanad.

q The project has implemented in 241 schools of Wayanad with the mentors from Adiya,
Paniya, Kattunaikka and Urali tribes.

q According to the project the mentors should assist the tribal students in lower primary,
especially for students in first standard to learn better with the help of their own mother
tongue.
qThe project is in its third year and the government plans to replicate and expand
the same model in the tribal areas of Kerala.

qThe study was conducted across eight schools (seven schools where mentors have
been appointed and one alternative school in Thirunelly) in seven wards of
Thirunelly village which borders with Karnataka state.
 Tribes and their language

qAs per the census of 2011, the total population of the village is 12,878 and among them
6,746 belongs to Scheduled Tribes, which constitutes 52.38% of the total population.

q Adiya, Paniya, Kattunaikka, Urali kuruma, Kurichia are the tribal groups who lives in
the village.

qEach tribes of Thirunelly has different language.

q The language of Adiya is Adiya bhasha also known as Ravula basha which is a
dialect of Kannada (Singh, 1994).

q The language of Paniya is a degraded Malayalam and they also speak Kanarese
(Thurston, 2013).

q Kattunaikan speaks Kattunaikan dialect which is close to Kannada, and Urali

Kuruma speaks Kuruman basha which is a dialect of Kannada. (Singh, 1994).

q Kurichias have their own language known as Kurichia basha.

 Language and Education
q Reasons for the school dropouts among tribes – language barrier, content barrier
and socio economic conditions.

q Education failure of linguistic minorities is directly related to conflict between language

of instruction and home language (Mohanty K, et al, 2009).

q Thirunelly offers a similar scenario where the medium of instruction remains the
dominant language Malayalam and children of Adivasi groups with their own language
find themselves stigmatized among the peers, end up alienated due to lack of linguistic
capability in Malayalam.
q The dissonance created when interacting with the curriculum that doesn’t reflect
and also contradicts the culture and lifestyle of tribes often results in stress
and tension among tribal students.

q The first words which are generally taught in Malayalam curriculum are, the word
‘Tara’ (floor) and ‘Para’ (a traditional measuring device of rice). From the moment
where education is offered a child ends up in confusion, to learn and imagine things
one can never relate in own life.

q A teacher in a government school in Thirunelly village told us that ‘in the lastJune
during the lunch break the tribal children ran and shouted ‘Koolu’. We did not
understand what was happening”. ‘Koolu’ means food in tribal language but in
Malayalam it is ‘Bhakshanam’, it is difficult to tribal children comprehend many
Malayalam words. (Koolu means food in Kattunaikka language).
qContent barrier – Syllabus doesn’t feature any of the tribal life style, culture and
festivals.

qThe history of land grab by British then Chettis, history of slave trade in Wayanad
are absent in the curriculum

qOne of the cases where a parent of a tribal student pointed out that the aversion
generated by student while parents converse with the parents of non-tribal students
in tribal Malayalam dialect, the stigma and shamefulness was evident over the use
of tribal language.
Gothra Bandhu : criteria for the selection of
teachers

q Gothra Bandhu employs tribal youth preferably with

TTC/B.Ed. Qualification.

q knowledge in tribal dialect and Malayalam .

q From the same locality.

No. Name of School No. of Majority Community Languages Distance Qualification
Students Students of Known from (Mentor)
(1st Std the mentor (Mentor) residence
2018-2019) (Mentor)

1 Ashramam School 7 Paniya Adiya Malayalam 32 Km TTC

Thirunelly

2 DCM UP 67 Kattunaikka Adiya Adiya & 1 Km TTC

Appappara Malayalam

3 GLP School 9 *General Adiya Adiya & 20 Km D.Ed.

Aranapara Malayalam
4 GLP School 9 Kattunaik Adiya Adiya & 9 Km D.Ed.
Chekadi a Malayala
m

5 CA LP School 14 Paniya & Urali Urali & 31 Km D.Ed.

Tholpetty Kattunaik Malayala
ka m

6 GLP School 15 Kattunaik Adiya Adiya & 10 Km D.Ed.

Panvally ka Malayala
m

7 SAUP 32 Kattunaik Adiya Adiya & 7 Km TTC

Thirunelly ka Malayala
m
q While interviewing tribal promoters who are in-charge of tribal affairs of the ward where
they reside, were of the opinion that the project was designed and implemented
without any ground level research.

q During the academic year of 2016 - 2017, one school in Thirunelly village has recorded
dropouts.

q Tholpetty GHS with 4 students dropped out in Upper Primary and 16 students in High
School.

q Kattikulam GHSS in nearby village of Thirunelly (students of Thirunelly go to this

school for Higher Secondary Education) - 19 students from High School and 10 from
Upper Primary dropped out.

q During 2017 - 2018 period only Ashram school in Thirunelly recorded dropout with5
students from High School, 7 from Upper Primary and 1 in Lower Primary.
 Findings

qNone of the mentors are from same community of the tribal students.
qMost of them are not from the same locality.
qAll of them have the educational qualification as per the government recommended.
qOne of them don’t even know tribal language.
qMost of the dropouts are from High School and Upper Primary.
qOnly one dropout from Lower Primary.
qThe students become more stressed and alienated while reaching Upper Primary and
High School since they couldn't cope with Malayalam language and the content of the
curriculum.
qSome students from the High school even go to work due the economic condition of
their family.
Suggestions

Alternative schooling
q Alternative schools are child centered and offer interest-based learning
opportunity. The alternative schools for tribal children practice Experiential
Learning with the help of their culture and language.

q The one -teacher school system/ Alternative school system was launched inKerala
by District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) in 1997 and later it came under
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) with the aid of Department of Education and
Scheduled Tribes Development Department of Kerala (Sudheesh, 2012).
qAccording to the study by Centre for Socio-economic & Environmental Studies
conducted in 2002, Kerala has 307 alternative schools including schools for tribes and
fisher folk, out of that 263 are for tribes.

qWayanad has 60 and Thirunelly has 1 school.

q The self- learning materials of alternative schools consist of learning cards- from
which tribal children can identify the card as per the instruction of the instructor,
lessons of basket making, honey collection, fishing, collection of forest
produces.

q Apart from this the syllabus includes Language, Maths, English and Environmental
studies(Centre for Socio-economic & Environmental Studies 2003).
qOur study in Thirunelly village has found that Alternative school of Kunniyoor
started in 2001 and has been giving education to the Adiya and Kattunaikka
children.

qThe textbook includes proverbs, rhymes, stories, culture, festivals and art of tribes
of Wayanad. Being a non-tribal instructor Lalita Kumari teacher has learned
languages of Adiya and Kattunaikka through community involvement.

qLalita teacher says when I asked them what is the picture on the card by showing a
picture of head, they replied ‘Thilai’. I have not said it was wrong or you should
say ‘Thala’ (Malayalam word for head), but told them it is correct but we can also
write it as ‘thala’.
q It is important to give education in mother tongue but since tribal languages of Kerala
have no scripts they read and write in Malayalam, the official language of Kerala.

q The education system of Kerala has been trying to bring the tribal children into the so-
called mainstream by forcing them learn Malayalam.

q The alternative schools ensure them education through both tribal and statelanguages
and teach them their own cultural aspects, festivals and all through community
involvement.
q Lida Jacob Commission planning to close the Alternative schools since they don’t
have ‘enough’ facilities.
Adiya Paniya Kattunaikka Oorali Kuruma
THANK YOU