This was successfully organized by the Department of Tribal Heritage and Tribal Indology, School of Education and Extension, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences-Deemed to be University , this was held on 12^th June 2020 at noon. The hon’ble speaker of the day was Professor Bhujendra Nath Panda, currently working as Professor of Education and Dean, Research at Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar a constituent of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) an Autonomous organization under MHRD, Govt. of India. Prof. Panda has thirty-five years of experience especially in the field of Tribal Education, educational research, training, development, extension, and consultancy in the area of school education and teacher education. He has been involved as advisor and consultancy projects of national and international bodies including UNICEF, World Bank, MHRD, NCTE, RCI, and other state agencies. He is a member of Think-tank on Teacher Education of Odisha. The topic of the day was “Education of tribal children in India: problems and project in the 21^st century”. Dr. Sushree S. Mohanty, Deputy Director-cum Assistant Professor coordinated the session and Dr. Manoj Kumar Behera, Associate Dean and Dean (I/c), School of Education and Extension moderated the session. The session started with a warm welcome to all by Dr.Manoj Kumar Behera. Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor KISS-DU Prof. (Dr.) Harekrushna Satpathy introduced the speaker and also introduced the topic. He emphasized on the importance of the topic in the present scenario when the World is facing such a pandemic- COVID 19. Dr. Manoj Kumar Behera briefed about the topic to make it more clear and transparent to all.

Abstract of Presentation:

India is a land of various ethnic, multicultural, multi-religious, and various indigenous people and out of which the most backward and marginalized sections are the tribal community. The Scheduled Tribe (ST) population of the country, as per the 2011 census, is 10.42 crore, consisting of 8.6% total population with 90.87% of them living in rural areas and 9.23% in urban areas. More than half of the ST population is concentrated in five states of the Country (Odisha, 9.2%). Tribal people live in about 15% Country areas with various ecological and geo-climatic conditions ranging from plains and forests to hills and inaccessible areas. Tribal groups are different stages of social, economic, and educational development. While some have adopted the mainstream way of life, few (75 ST groups out of 705 types) are primitive in nature. For the upliftment of the tribal people, Govt. has taken several programs to promote education among tribal and the Constitution of India has provided many safeguards with a protective provision, developmental provisions, administrative provisions, and reservation provisions.

• During the presentation the following issues/concerns will be highlighted:
• Why do we need education
• Demographic status of Tribal population in India and Odisha
• Who are scheduled tribe and what are those constitutional safeguards
• Educational and literacy trends of ST in India,
• Problems and challenges of Tribal Education
• Different educational scheme for the development of tribal education
• Policies and programs for tribal people
• NPE -1986 and NEP, 2020 (draft) and its recommendations on Tribal Education
• Priorities for Tribal students
• International trends in Tribal Education
• 21^st Century needs and its infusions
• Research trends on Tribal Education
• Recommendations/suggestions for improving Tribal Education

It can be pointed out that education is the single most important means by which individuals and society can build capacity, overcome barriers, and expand opportunities for their wellbeing. In the case of tribal people, it is the time to maintain a balance between preserving their culture and identity vis-a-vis bringing them to the mainstreaming of the society so that holistic development is possible. Hence, the time has come to take a drastic decision and effective plan and policy measures to reduce the obstacles in pursuance of education of tribal children.

More than 200 participants around the world participated in this session. The session winded up with a wonderful question-answer session. In the end, Ms. Guddi Saktinanda, HoD, Department of Education proposed the vote of thanks.

 

• Moderator- Manoj Kumar Behera, Associate Dean and Dean (I/c), School of Education and Extension, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences-Deemed-to-be-University
• Coordinator- Sushree S. Mohanty, Deputy Director-cum Assistant Professor, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences-Deemed-to-be-University