Mukt Shabd Journal ISSN NO : 2347-3150

A Study on Challenges and Issues in the Access of Education among the ‘Narikuravar’ Community Children in

S.Shridevi Assistant Professor, Dept. Of Visual Communication, Vels Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced Studies,

ABSTRACT

The ‘Naikuravar’ community is one of the backward and indigenous nomadic communities in Tamil Nadu. This community is one of the most underprivileged communities in the society. There are many problems that are faced by the community including illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, child marriage, alcoholism, domestic violence, lack of sanitation, unhygienic health practices and the like. Since child marriage highly prevalent in this community, children discontinue from their studies after attaining puberty. Based on literatures it can be ascertained that education has the power to transform the society and promotes community development. In , the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act is an Act of the parliament of India enacted on 4th August 2009. After this, many children from various communities were benefitted from this scheme. The students were given the basic materials like books, notes, school uniforms and a mid day meal. Even after all these, there are issues which prevent the children get their basic right of education. This study presents the factors that hinder the process of education to this underprivileged community. This study employed qualitative method of research. It incorporates intensive interviews with the key informants and focus group discussion with the children in the community. The study revealed that, the students are facing problems that need to be addressed by the teachers and promote a friendly learning atmosphere. The contributions towards the growth of the underprivileged community children will enable them to learn and develop themselves. This will help to change the face of an underprivileged community to an empowered community in the society. The need to have inclusive policies for the underprivileged indigenous communities especially in the education sector is the need of the hour and the society should change its perspective towards this community for their better future.

Keywords: Narikuravar community, Education, Indigenous community, Barriers to the education.

1. INTRODUCTION

The ‘Narikuravar’ community is one of the indigenous communities in Tamil Nadu. They are known for their hunting skills which have given their name of their community. Since they were prohibited from hunting, they took other alternatives for their survival like selling, beaded ornaments, plastic commodities, safety pins, combs and the like. This community speak ‘Vagriboli’ language which is called as a mixture language as it encompasses Indo- Dravidian languages. They have their own lifestyle and belief system. They were denotified in the year 1952. There are many theories that are associated with their migration to the southern India. For eg. Some believe that they were the Rajput warriors who came to south after the mughal invasion; others believe that they were the Maratha warriors who were forced to settle in the mountain regions due to mughal invasions. In 1966, Wreth and Fraser the authorities of the Gypsy community in Europe claimed that Domar community in Rajasthan is the ancestors of the Gypsy community in Europe who are called as ‘Roma or Romanies’. Edgar Thurston believed that they are related to the Khonds of Orissa. Even though they are seen as a one community from the outside, there are many sub divisions within them. Mainly there are two groups one is buffalo sacrifiers and another one is goat sacrifiers. They marry with the opposite community bride or groom. Each ‘Narikuravar’ clan has a holy bundle which has the blood of the sacrificed animal and the Idol of their God/Goddess. There are many problems faced by the communities. They are considered as untouchables by the other community member due to their unhygienic looks. They are not allowed to use the streets that are inhabited by the other upper caste members. They face scarcity of the resources, periods of hunger, debt bondage for longer period and the like. Child marriage can be considered as a major barrier to the development of the community. Children attend the Panchayat Union Primary School in their respective places. Only a handful of the students are able to complete their secondary education. Due to the problems faced by the children they are not worried much about their lack of access to their education. The study gives a children’s perspective and also the teacher’s perspective in the process of getting education.

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1.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDIES

1.To understand the factors that motivate the students to attend the school in their settlement. 2. To check the factors that hinders them from attending the school in their settlement. 3.To recommend the solutions for the making the students to attend the school in their settlement.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Chandru and Thirumalaisamy (2019), the lifestyle of the ‘Narikuravar’ community is changed. It is noted that many children in this community are unable to continue their studies due to the unavailability of the scholarships. This community is facing poverty for a long period of time which leads them to hunger in worst situations. In such cases, the students can’t be educated as they send them to work for their survival. Many young children can be seen selling safety pins denoting their hunger. They also lack interest in their studies. There are many self help groups that are helping their community for their development. Only few women are benefitted from this option. The researcher believes that only few women are aware of this. According to a Study by D. Cauchie and M. Bruyninckx (2013), is an empirical analysis within an institution called “APRES School”. It was founded in 2009 by a French association. This aims to promote education to the ‘Narikuravar’ community. The study reveals one of the important challenges that are faced by the workers is that the intercultural communication barriers. Since the mother tongue of the ‘Narikuravar’ community is ‘Vaagriboli’, the teachers who usually teach have the mother tongue of Tamil. This leads to the communication barrier. It reveals that the intercultural communication between the students and the teachers is one of the identified difficulties in imparting the education.

According to Dr. J. Jayachithra (2016), there are many Govt. schemes that are available for such communities. Due to lack of awareness, they couldn’t avail them. There should be a proper channel that could lead the schemes to such communities. There are chances of being politically exploited by the middlemen and the so called brokers. Proper awareness on their democratic ideas must be made. The inclusive policy must be made stronger so that such communities can have a contact with the mainstream society. The children should be able to mingle with the other community children in the school so they can easily adopt themselves to survive in the main stream society. The situation of this community is very pathetic. There are various forms of discriminations that are faced by the community. The researcher stated that “What we need is a commitment strategic system of Social Welfare Administration to ensure that the ‘Narikuravar’ Community has a focussed intervention to bring them out of their existing cycle of poverty and deprivation. If the ‘Narikuravar’ Community has to be given a fair chance to develop themselves and lead a socially satisfactory life, then there must be a concerted effort on the part of the Government, Civic Organizations to play an enabling role in their uplift to an Empowered Status in the Society”.

Muhammed Atheeque PP, Rajathurai Nishanthi (2016), the community has a unique lifestyle. It is revealed that major number of the community members has completed their primary education. There are many factors that hinder their education like poverty, child marriage and lack of awareness of education and the like. The researchers stated that the monthly income of the ‘Narikuravar’ community is four thousand which presents their social and financial situation in the society. For the development of this community the researchers presented their idea that vocational courses and training will help the community for their development. Dr. J. Jayachithra (2019), did a study on enrollment of ‘Narikuravar’ students in primary school. The researcher stated that there is a gradual increase in the enrollment of ‘Narikuravar’ children in every year. Proper awareness program on education by the Government is insisted. The ‘Narikuravar’ community holds their own belief system in regard to the education. This will change if the community is aware of the potential of the power of education. The researcher also stressed that the education is important factor for the social, moral, cultural and economic development. Francesco Burchi (2006), the researcher argues that the education is proved theoretically and empirically for promoting the empowerment. The

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researcher stated that the education contributes to the economic growth of a community and if affects the lives of the community in a positive manner. According to the researcher, the Human Development Approach gives an additional justification for investing in basic education.

Spiel et. al. (2018), the researchers presented the new agenda of Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, that was established in 2015. The new paradigm is based on the full global partnership and no one will be left behind. It promotes the inclusive and quality education with lifelong learning. To attain this, the researcher stated few points which should be considered. (1) to expand access and improve the quality of early childhood education, as a precondition for life-long educational success in all its goals; (2) to improve the quality of schools, including in learners’ direct interactions with their peer groups, educators and the surroundings; in institutional characteristics such as group size, student-teacher ratio, teacher qualifications and spatial and material conditions, and in the provision of a meaningful and relevant curriculum; (3) to enhance the role of educators, considering that teachers are not just carriers of knowledge and information, but role models that have a significant impact on children’s dispositions towards learning and life more generally; (4) to make higher and vocational education more inclusive and socially relevant, thereby enhancing the opportunities for students of all sectors of society to further their education in a meaningful and practical ways, eliminating social and cultural restrictions to access and reducing the dividing lines between high and low prestige and esteem between institutions and careers. The researcher also opined the use and promotion of information technologies that enhance the student’s learning capacity.

3. METHODOLOGY

This main aim of this study is to find the major issues and challenges that act as a barrier to access the education among the ‘Narikuravar’ community children in Pudukkottai District. This study is an analytical one as it answers the reason behind the aim of this research. The researcher selected the settlement of ‘Narikuravar’ community in a village called Koothadivayal which comes under town in Pudukkottai district. The study incorporates qualitative methods of data collection which comprises Focus Group Discussion and Intensive Interview. The Key informants for this study are the Head master of the Govt. Primary School in the selected settlement, the ‘Narikuravar’ community children and the ‘Narikuravar’ community women. The study presented the interpretation of the major issues and challenges that are faced by the ‘Narikuravar’ community children in the access to the education and also suggest the factors that can help to overcome the barriers associated to it.

4. MAJOR FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS

In this section the major findings and the interpretations are given based on the focus group discussion and the intensive interviews from the key informants. Initially the demography of the selected settlement is presented. Koothadivayal is a small village/hamlet in Aranthangi block in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu State, India. It comes under Mookudi Panchayath. It is located 34KM towards east from district head quarters Pudukkottai. It is 4KM from Aranthangi, 403 KM from state capital Chennai. Aliyanilai 3KM, Silattur 4KM, Arantangi 4KM, Avanathankottai 6KM, Thanthani 6KM are the nearby villages to Koothadivayal. Koothadivayal is surrounded by Arimalam block towards west, Thiruvarankulam block towards north, Avadaiyarkovil block towards south, Sakkottai Block towards west. Peravurani, Karaikudi, Pudukkottai, Pattukkottai are the nearby cities to Koothadivayal. This place is in the border of the Pudukkottai District and Sivagangai District. Sivagangai District is west towards this place. The ‘Narikuravar’ community is here from 1977 in this place during the tenure of former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran. In the earlier times, there were only one colony, but now there are two other colonies which are nearby. There are seventy seven houses in the new street. The generations of the Gypsies are divided in three colonies as they can’t occupy the given area. So they moved out in a nearby area. The colony is termed as ‘Pudhu Theru’ (New Street) and ‘Palaya Theru’ (Old Street). Only private bus transportation facility is here. As per the census of 2016-17, the population in sex wise are, Male – 384 and Female – 375. The information is

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obtained from the Panchayat union primary school (P.U.P.S). Here the Gypsies have all the basic legal documents like ration card, Voter’s ID card, and Aadhar card. They all received the free Govt. benefit schemes like Mixie, fan and television. Water pipe connections are there for every three houses. They have free electricity. There are no toilets. Fifty students are receiving education under compulsory Govt. school education. Within half a kilo meter, there is a Govt. hospital to which they go in times of illness. They earn Rs. 220 per day. The Gypsies are also involved in municipality corporation’s cleaning workers. This colony is clean in compared to other colonies. The importance of education is gradually increasing in the ‘Narikuravar’ community with the efforts of the headmaster in the Govt. Primary school. Constant awareness is being created by the key informant in order to make the community understand importance of education. As per the official report, thirty students are doing their primary education. In 1st standard there are 12 students. In 2nd standard there are 5 students. In 3rd standard there are 6 students. In 4th standard there are 4 students and in 5th standard there are 3 students. It is observed that boys are more in number in compare to girls.

Based on the intensive interviews from the ‘Narikuravar’ community on education, it is found that the families are getting aware of the importance of the education. They feel that education can only change the face of their identity. But they fear that, even if they are educated then who will employ them. As caste issues are still prevailing, and people are becoming the victims of casteism. They fear for their sustainability in the casteist society. They consider the male sex is important for gaining education as they are important part of the family even though female is the major bread winners in major number of the families. No matter of their gender roles, women are submissive in this community. Women are much distracted by their exposure to the media. By the time they reach their puberty, they are married. This hinders their secondary education. Based on the focus group discussion with the ‘Narikuravar’ children in the selected settlement, it is found that the children are facing caste based discriminations in the school which is why they were drop out from it. They are made to sit on the floor. This is informed by a child who was residing in another settlement in theni district who came here to see his relative. Bullying is also found among the school children which causes emotional distress and prevents them from attending the school. The children also reported the fear of getting beatings from the teachers when they weren’t able to answer to the asked questions. They come to school as they get the mid day meal, told by one of the child. It is noted that, sometimes the students can’t get along with the teacher when he/she is teaching due to language issues. These were some of the important observations that are made by the focus group discussion with the children of the ‘Narikuravar’ community. For understanding the quality and reception of education among the Gypsy children, the teacher in the Gypsy colony school is interviewed. The name of the teacher is Moorthy. He has been teaching the Gypsy students for 11 years. Major highlights from the interview are presented here. According to the teacher, there are many reforms that should be made when teaching the indigenous community children. One of the important barriers is the language. When a child is admitted to a school, then it is essential that the teacher must be able to understand the needs of a child before imparting the education. So it is essential that a teacher must know the language of the indigeneous community like the ‘Narikuravar’ community. It is observed that these three concepts are interlinked to attain the development in the community. If we see in detail, then if the students are continuing proper education then the parents of the children should have a proper income so that they can meet their needs, plus they also need awareness on the value of education. As the community has no permanent job, they face economic instability, which forces the children to take work for their stomach. Only during the festival times they earn up to Rs. 1000. They work for nearly ten days during the time they take the children with them which results in irregularity in school and they miss the lessons. They ‘Narikuravar’ community people are hesitant to leave their school going kids in their neighborhood for ten days or more, which is highly impractical for them. It is noted that, the people cannot expect the same level and quality of education among the children in compare to other community Govt. school children. The teacher came to this colony to change their educational status, but now it seems to be difficult for him as he feels that the ‘Narikuravar’ community people have a valid reason for their lack of education. The ‘Narikuravar’ children are very reluctant to be in school, like other children they used to run away whenever they see the teacher. He insist the students to pursue secondary and higher secondary education. It is noted that, the children are very good in studies, and if they have a regular attendance then they can be excelled. The teacher guided the students who

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were interested to do graduation studies with no idea about it. The students need a proper guidance in pursuing their higher studies which will be helpful for them in the career. There are two reasons which can be stated for their lack of education. They are number one, after attaining the puberty the students start to have sexual emotions towards the opposite sex which results in dating with the partner. This is neither controlled by them nor by their parents. Ultimately it results in marriage. They are also involved in pre-marital sex which is also a reason for the students to get them married, so that there won’t be any opposition from the family. This marriage is a main hurdle for them to continue their higher studies. Another thing is, if students continue their education up to 8th means, it is because of the economic problem of their parent. If they have secured job like the main stream people then there is a high possibility that the ‘Narikuravar’ children will study and can excel in any field. With the personal efforts of the teacher made the students to come to school often. The teacher has to go to each house of the colony and ask the students to come to school, as the students are very irregular to the school. After the school hours, the teacher again visits the colony to check up on the absentees and ask them to come school the next day. The teacher feels that he couldn’t bring that change which he expected. The Govt. officials are expecting much more from these students which is difficult to bring such a change. It will take a long way to go to attain such educational status. It is observed that the children can’t be kept with discipline in the school. The twenty children in the school are equal to two hundred other community children. They lack obedience. It is noted that if one has to uplift the status of education in the ‘Narikuravar’ colony then one must be able to mingle with the colony members in all the way. Their hearts must be won if we need something to be done for them. Then only they will listen and change themselves what we ask them to do. Educational awareness is provided time to time by the teacher. They are asked to study in the school or any other school whichever they prefer. It is observed that maximum numbers of the children are registered in the Govt. schools in this area. Nearly one hundred and fifty children are registered. The ‘Narikuravar’ children will study up to 5th standard if they are forced to study. Otherwise they will drop out. The teacher firmly believes that in the current period maximum number of the children, who are married, completed their 8th standard and they know the importance of education. So they will definitely make their kids study. As this generation children are made aware of the education and they have the understanding about it. According to the teacher, currently only 25% of the education has been reached to the Gypsy community. We can expect to give 50% of the education in the upcoming years. This is a long term process and it cannot be attained quickly as the mentality of the kids and the parents should change first. So these were some of the important observations that were made in the study.

5. CONCLUSION Education is one of the key elements for the development of a community. Today the indigenous community like the ‘Narikuravar’ community is facing many hurdles for the access of the education. But with the help of dedicated teachers, awareness programs and the role of NGO’s are playing a prominent role among the community to make them aware of the importance of education. It is concluded from the study that, students from the underprivileged communities are facing problems like bullying, discriminations and abuses that should be considered by the authorities. To cultivate a harmonious environment in the society, it is a must to develop an inclusive environment from the school that is beyond all the social evil. The children must be motivated and taught in a way that they can learn with enjoyment using technologies. Dedication of the teachers is required while dealing with the children from the under privileged and the indigenous communities. Today ICTs are playing a major role in the field of education. It helps to learn easily in compare to the traditional way of teaching especially the children for whom language is a barrier. So ICTs based learning and the inclusive environment in the school will help the student to access the education they deserve and reap its potential benefits to make their community an empowered one.

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REFERENCES

1. S. Chandru and K. Thirumalaisamy (2019), ‘Status of Narikoravar (A Type of Gypsy Community) Women Entrepreneur in Coimbatore’, Tamil Nadu, Asian Review of Social Sciences, ISSN: 2249-6319 Vol.8 No.2, 2019, pp. 150-155.

2. D. Cauchie and M. Bruyninckx (2013), ‘Education and Social Inclusion of Tribal Minorities: Critical Analysis of School Pilot Project in Tamil Nadu’, University of Mons, Belgium, ICERI Proceedings, pp. 1121-1130.

3. Francesco Burchi (2006), ‘Identifying the Role of Education in Socio-Economic Development’, International Conference on Human and Economic Resources, Izmir, ERP Initiative.

4. Dr. J. Jayachithra (2016), ‘A Study on Narikuravar (Nomads) Community in Palamalai Nagar, Sivagangai District, Tamilnadu’, Global Journal for Research Analysis, Vol.5, Issue-6, ISSN: 2277-8160.

5. Dr. J. Jayachithra (2019), ‘Enrollment of Narikuravar Students in Primary School’, The International journal of analytical and experimental modal analysis, Vol.11, Issue.7, ISSN NO: 0886-9367.

6. Muhammed Atheeque PP, Rajathurai Nishanthi (2016), ‘Explanatory analysis of life style of Narikurava community in Pudukkottai district’, International Journal of Advanced Research and Development, Volume 1; Issue 10; October 2016; Page No. 21-24, ISSN: 2455-4030, Impact Factor: RJIF 5.24.

7. Spiel, C., Schwartzman, S., Busemeyer, M., Cloete, N., Drori, G., Lassnigg, L., Schober, B., Schweisfurth, M. and Verma, S. (2018) The contribution of education to social progress. In: International Panel on Social Progress, (ed.) Rethinking Society for the 21st Century: Report of the International Panel for Social Progress. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 753- 778. ISBN 9781108399661 (doi:10.1017/9781108399661.006).

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