CHAPTER -V

5.1 PresentJEconomic Status of Kokana Tribes.

a) Age b) Language 86 Religion c) Family Type. d) Formal 85 Non-formal (Special) Social status of the Respondents. e) Social background of family Members. f) Sources of Income

5.2 Present Trend of Education among the Kokana Tribe. a) Present Educational Condition of Children Between the age of 6 -12 years. b) Reasons for not attending the school c) Relationship of Education with Socio-Economic Status of the Respondents.

5.3 Motivational and Attitudinal Responses of the concerned people.

a) Expected level of education by parents and students.

b) Attitude of Household and Student Respondent towards Education and future career.

c) Expected place for Education and future living.

d) Opinion of Household Respondents in terms of study of children and working village school. e) Forms of motivating children for education. f) Attitude of students towards education. g) Motivation among the students for education. h) Difficulties faced by students Respondents in studying in various subjects. i) Reasons of facing difficulties in studying various subjects. j) Opinion of Teachers on the need for having special training for tribal education. k) Languages used by Teachers in teaching /communicating with Tribal Children.

1) Teachers perception regarding attitude of tribal parents towards school, functioning of schools and education. 5.1 PRESENT SOCIO- ECONOMIC STATUS OF KOKANA TRIBE

The data analyzed and presented in the chapter was collected mainly through three types of units in order to project the picture of socio-economic condition of Kokana Tribe. These units consisted of 360 respondents. I.e. 225 household, 90 matriculating students and 45 teachers.

As far as socio-economic status of Kokana tribe is concerned variables like age, language, religion, formal and non-formal social position, type of family and occupational structure or sources of income, holding of land, range of annual income etc. have been studied.

Kokanas enjoy somewhat higher social status than the Bhils of

Kalwan, Satana and Sakri talukas where kokarwis predominated tribe. It is settled tribe in Nashik, Thane and Dhule districts of Maharashtra.

Economically the tribe is better than the Bhils of same belt. Bhil is the another tribe living in the study area which feels inferior than the

Kokanas. Kokanas are separately inhabited in 'padas' or gaon's, Bhils were also commonly living with Kokanas in some villages; but marriage do not take place between both the tribes. Non-tribal living nearby and around the Kokana area were also considered Kokanas to gain the higher status than other tribes of the region. a) Age:-

As discussed earlier the present study has covered three types of respondents namely household heads, school children and Ashram

231 School teachers. Household sample included 225 respondents having different age groups between the age of 25 to 75 years. However the majority of such household head respondents i.e. 66% were between the age of 25 to 45 years who normally comprise of youth and adult farmers who take active part in most of the village educational activities. However the remaining 34% household respondents were mostly above 45 years of age, but which still have been considered as active participants in educational activities who might have been involved in such activities in different capacities as advisors, trusted, etc.

The Second group of respondents comprised of Xth Std. School children who were mostly from the age group of 15 to 17 years which is a normal age group for Xth Std. Children. It is quite clear from the calculations that majority of the tribal parents enrolled the names of their children in the l^t Std. At the age of 6 years which was considered to be the ideal age to send children to the school. But on the basis of 15 years of age for Xth Std. Students it can be commented that there was growing consciousness among parents about sending children to schools at their early age and increasing awareness about the education among

Konka community.

The third category of respondents covered under the study consisted of Teachers mainly teaching in Ashram schools. The age of such teachers was ranging from 25 to 55 years. However, most of the teachers were from the age group of 25 to 40 years. Out of all 45

Teachers 30% of them had 5 years of teaching experience and the rest of them i. e. 70% Teachers were having 10 to 15 years of teaching

232 experience. Almost more than 50% Teachers have their native places within the district with 50 kms of distance and rest of them i.e. 3% come from other districts with 51 to 100 kms distance. b) Language And Religion:

Kokanas have their own dialect called Kokani which is a combination of Marathi and Gujarati. All the household heads, students and teachers covered in the study speaks in kokani language when they have a conversation with the members of their own group or the residence of their area. But when they have a conversation with non- tribal groups they use 'Ahirani' or 'Khandeshi' which was sub dialect of

Marathi commonly used in Dhule, Jalgaon and north parts of Nashik districts and particularly used by non-tribal groups. Marathi was rarely spoken by educated household respondents whenever necessary. It is observed that student respondent speak Marathi or 'Ahirani' when they have a conversation with teachers and non-tribal students and when they have dialogue with their fellow members they speak 'Kokani' that is their own dialect. When asked it was noticed that all (100%) student respondents were able to read and write Marathi, Hindi and English languages. Likewise all the student respondents were speaking Marathi fluently but 20% students were not able to speak Hindi and nobody was able to speak English.

All the 45 teacher respondents admitted that they can speak

Marathi and Hindi fluently whereas 80% teacher respondents expressed their inability to speak English. Teachers said that they have been using

233 regional language while speaking with the Kokana students and 10% teacher respondents responded saying that they always use Kokani languages having conversation with Kokana students.

As far as religion was concerned out of 225 household respondents

15% respondents were unable to tell their religion, of whom 3% respondents had a confusion regarding religion, by repeating Kokana or

Kokani as religion, they did not know the difference between tribe and religion. Though these 15% respondents had a practice of Hindu as their religion. But 85% of the household respondents opined Hindu as their religion. It was observed and noted that all the household respondents had a mix practice of religion i.e. Hindu and their own tribal religion.

Observation and celebration of Dungaree Deo, waghbaras, Kansari pooja were some of the important celebrations of their tribal religion and

Diwali, Dasara Holi, Nag-panchmi, pola, Sankrant were the festivals of non-tribal Hindu people which were celebrated by the Kokanas. They celebrated the Hindu festivals but they had less sensitivity towards

Hindu religion at their inter-community level social life.

In short, on the basis of collected data it can be concluded that

15% of household respondents were not aware about their religion whereas 85% household respondents were found to be aware about their religion.

When asked the same question to the student respondents 83% clearly answered Hindu as a religion but remaining 17% student respondents viewed Hindu -Kokana as their religion.

234 It was clearly indicated that matriculating Kokana students also did not have a sufficient exposure about their religious life and only spoke in official language.

All 45-teacher respondents clearly mentioned their religion as

'Hindu'. The selection of teacher respondents was done from tribal and non tribal category. Out of 45 teacher respondents 30% were from

Kokana tribe and 30% from Maratha caste and one each i.e. 5% belonged to Wani, Mali, Sutar, Lobar and schedule castes. It was also interesting enough to note that 15% teacher respondents were neutral as regard to their caste. But 100% teacher respondents were belonging to Hindu religion. c) Family Type:

In the traditional society the institution of joint family acted as powerful element in the transference and continuation of cultural traditions. The sub ordination and super ordination designed to regulate the lives of the joint household and the recognition of the family as a unit for all social relationships tended to give the family such enormous influence that the individual lost his identity in it. The social environment never provided any opportunity to feel that he had interests apart from the family. The dominance of family and group needs was also acceptable to the youngsters as their idea, aspiration and ways of living were more of less in keeping with prevalent traditions. It was common for younger members to stay even after marriage willingly in a family of three or even more generations, comprising, say a grand father, father, brothers,

235 uncles, nephews and cousins with their dependent wives and daughters,

all living in same household and having a common hearth, common

worship and enjoying common property. Though separation and

partitions may have occurred, the normal tenor was to live in the same joint family, take to parental occupation, settle in the same place within

the kin and caste/tribe environment and continue its traditions. This

was in keeping with them prevailing more or less static and agrarian

society of small isolated self-sufficient village communities. Today the

things have altered. The material and social environment in India has

changed and within the ideas, the aspirations and the way of living of the

people.

In the present study the enquiry had aimed at examining the type

of family in which household respondents were living and which family

type i.e. joint, nuclear and extended was prevailing to dominate over

Kokans in near future. It also tried to examine the co-relation with

property menace. Some times in recent years family type was influenced

by the financial or economic status of the family or its property holding

position. Nuclear family system was the current trend seen among the

Kokanas. Table no.5.1 shows the distribution of type of family household

respondents with the relation to property position i.e. holding of land etc.

236 Table 5.1

Distribution of Type of family according to the Land Holding of

Household Respondents

Sr. Type of Family &, Joint Nuclear Extended Total No. Land Holding 1 Landless 1(50) 1(50) 2 (0.99) (0.97) (1.00)

2 Upto 5 acres 74(42.00) 85(48.00) 19(10.00) 178 (Small 86 Marginal (73.27) (82.53) (90.47) (79) Holding) 3 Between 5 to 10 18(51.00) 15 (43.00) 2(6.00) 35 acres (Middle (17.82) (14.56) (9.53) (16) Holding) 4 Above 10 acres 8(80) 2(20) 10 (Large Holding) (7.92) (1.94) (4)

5 Total 101 (45.00) 103(46.00) 21(9.00) 225(100)

(Figures shown in bracket indicates percentages).

While considering the type of families of the respondents covered in the study, only the household head respondents were included for the present purpose. The table No.5:1 clearly indicates that the total population of household respondents is divided in three types of families namely joint, nuclear and extended. Out of all 225 families covered under the study the joint and nuclear families comprised almost equal number i.e. 45% and 46% respectively. This very clearly indicates that the tribal people in the region, where the study was conducted still have the faith, belief and importance to joint families, even though the trend in the present context is towards the nuclear family. In addition to these two

237 types the tribal families are also found in an extended form. Such families comprised of 9% of the total. The extended families are neither joint nor nuclear. For the purpose of physical arrangement such as staying, cooking, taking care of children, deciding their own choices, these families have the nuclear pattern but as far as their work in the field and ownership on the immovable and movable property is concerned such families have a joint pattern.

The Table 5.1 given above relates between the type of family and pattern of land holding among the tribal people in the area which clearly indicates relationship between the degree of land holding of the household respondents and their family type. From the figures and percentages appearing in the table it is clearly noticed that majority i.e.

79% of the household respondents which is the highest number of the

total are small and marginal land holders and who also belong to joint, nuclear and extended families. Regarding the landless household respondents the table shows that it is negligible number i.e. hardly 1% of them are landless.

The remaining section of the household respondents are having better land holding between 5 to 10 acres and above 10 acres who comprise of 20% of the total household respondents.

On the other side it is also indicated that prevailing type of joint

family system of the respondents was slightly more among the

respondents possessing a large degree of land holding. Marginal and

238 small farmers tend to have smaller household and large proportion of extended families and considerable number of joint family system.

In present position Kokana tribe preferred small family norm which is practiced by economically lower group which is seen in the form of nuclear and extended family system. d) Formal and Non-Formal (Special) Social status of the

Respondents:

In olden days, tribe was considered as a well organized and established political or democratic unit. Decision making was more collective rather than one sided. The tribal village Panchayat had its own norms and unwritten rules through which tribal culture and other socio­ economic dealings were taking place. Tribal dialect was one of the principal tools which assisted in preserving the social health of the tribal community. Because in the absence of formal education and script to the tribal language, tribal dialect was the only media to transform the essential and other required information for the tribal people.

On this background tribal community never had particular kind of formal leadership in the community. Thus, leadership pattern was somewhat informal among-Kokanas- Leadership was naturally evolved and established. There was no question of competition or any other formalities. Therefore these informal leaders had exercised and enjoyed a particular status in the tribal community. For which we refer it as a

'social credit'. These persons always render their service for the benefit of the community without any expectations through which people started

239 respecting them and the process of interaction began and naturally community started getting organized itself through this give and take process. But one thing we should have in mind that these natural or informal leaders did not have any extraordinary or special status in the community. But they had a common life.

In recent years, particularly after inpendence, with the inception of

Panchayat Raj Institutions in India, formal democratic process has taken place and tribal communities have been insisted to be a part of that process in order to bring themselves in the mainstream of national life and hence, formal leadership pattern have been existed which has a particular or special status in the community. Therefore, to day tribal communities are enjoying both the types of leadership pattern in

Maharashtra and India.

The present study has made an attempt to understand the social status prevailing among the Kokana tribe. Table 5.2 shows the social status (special) of the respondents which they were enjoying along with the range of their annual income. Table 5.2 indicated that out of 225 household respondents 19% had a specific status (Socio-political and administrative) in the community. Such as village officials like

Gramsevak, Talalthi, Society secretary, etc. Sarpanch, Panchayat

Members, and Non-formal village leaders and the remaining 81% of the household respondents did not have any special status but they were considered as villagers.

240 Table 5:2

Socio Economic Status Of Household Respondents

Sr. Socio- Village Sarpanch Panchyat Non- Villager Total No. Economic official Member formal Status villager 1 Annual - - - 01 26 27 Income (9) (14) (12) Upto Rs. 5000 (Low ) 2 Between 10 01 05 05 138 159 Rs.5000 to (71) (14) (42) (45.50) (76) (71) 10,000 (Middle) 3 Above Rs. 04 06 07 05 17 39 10,000 (29) (86) (58) (45.50) (10) (17) (High) Total 14 07 12 11 181 225 (6) (3) (5) (5) (81) (100) In recent years, due to the practice of panchyat Raj system, attitude of

Kokana people and trend has been changed to give the respect to the village officials, administrators or any other formal leaders from non- formal key persons like old aged and experienced person with sound moral character, Bhagat or Magic person, lord among the Kokanas etc. therefore formal leadership pattern is now becoming more popular and important to receive the credit higher social status in the Kokana tribe.

While considering the distribution of household respondents between the social and economic status the social status was defined as the persons having different designations as village officials like Gramsevak,

Talathi, secretary of Coop. Societies, etc. , Sarpanch of the village,

Panchayat members and non-formal village leaders. The remaining respondents were given the social status as citizens of the village, on the

241 other side the economic status was indicated by annual income of the household respondents. The annual income upto Rs. 5000 was considered as Low economic status of the respondents, the respondents having the income of Rs. 5000 to 10,000 were considered as having the middle economic status and the respondents having the incom^e above

Rs. 10,000 have been considered as High income group for the study purpose.

As indicated in the table it is noticed that the persons having the low economic status are mostly the villagers in general and a few non-formal village leaders, whereas the respondents from the other two economic status groups namely middle and high belong almost to all the categories of social status. However majority i.e. 71% of the total respondents come under the middle economic status group. It is further noticed that villagers and non-formal village leaders who do not enjoy any formal status in the village have been represented by almost all the economic strata of the Kokana Community.

But the persons having the formal positions such as village officials sarpanch and panchyat members were having better economic status in the village as none of them was from low income group.

In short, we can say that traditional position of social status have been replaced by the modern positions of social status in the community which were actually the formal positions of the respondents.

242 e) Social Background of family members

The social background of the household respondents covered under the study and their families has been considered by taking in to account various factors such as number of children in the family, type of children such as solely dependents, school going, earning, other earning members, old aged persons, educated unemployed persons in the family.

Table 5:3

Agewise distribution of family members for families of selected respondents (225 Household Respondents)

Sr. Social Status Age group Male Female Total No. year 1 Children Below 103(13) 104(14) 207(13) (Dependents) 6 years 2 Children 6 to 12 114(15) 97(13) 211(14) (including School years Going) School gomg Non 127(16) 117(16) 244(16) School going 3 Earners Literate 13 to 65 150(19) 96(13) 376(25) years. Illiterate 13 to 65 220(28) 263(35) 353(23) years 4 Old Aged 60

The Table 5:3 gives age wise distribution of family members of the selected household respondents covered under the study. The families

243 represented by the selected household respondents covered under the study constitute 1527 members of which 51% male and 49% of female members belong to different age groups from the new born baby till the old person about the age of 75 years. The average size of the family of

Kokana tribe under the study was around 6 to 7 members in each family.

The categorywise distribution of family members indicates dependent below 6 years, other children between 6 to 12 years consisting school going, non-school going and drop out children, earning members from the age of 12 years to 60 years who constitute the major portion of the population, old age people above 60 years etc. The attempt has also been made to reveal the numbers of literate and illiterate persons from the age group of earning members.

The earning members in the family constitute near about 48% of the total population which include literate as well as illiterate persons.

While referring to the group of children as the major component of the family it is noticed that only 13% children come under the age below 6 years are considered as dependent children. The second group of children comprises of 30% of the total population between the age group of 6 to 12 years of which 14% are school going children and 16% are non-school going children. The ratio between male and female among all the categories is found as good as equal in each category. f) Sources Of Income :

Poverty or financial weakness is the main economic disability of tribal community. The Kokana tribe covered under the study has very

244 inadequate sources of income and gross annual income was also stated to be very low. But considering tradition ways of cultivation of land and seasonal nature of agriculture, it was inevitable to accept the stated income of the family in the given situation.

Kokana household respondents stated to have only agriculture as the principal source of income which depended on monsoon. The degree of irrigated land was observed very less. Therefore seasonal agriculture and agricultural labouring were the means of livelihood. And on the other side the holding of land was stated to be very low. It is appeared in table

5:4 that out of 225 selected household respondents from three talukas majority of them i.e. 79% holding land below 5 acres and 70%were having the annual income between Rs. 5000 to 10,000 which was lower middle range of income of the respondents. And it is supported by the statistic given in table No.5:4 that 1.00 % respondents were landless.

These landless respondents were totally depended on agricultural wage during the season and could earned only up to Rs. 5000/- p.a.

Therefore it can be said that these 4.00% Kokana landlords were having the dominant role in the tribal economy as well. Though the economic phenomena was indicating some sort of class extreme, there was less practice of differences or manipulation, amd exploitation of low income group Kokanas from higher income group Kokanas. The atmosphere at work place i.e. the farm of Kokana landlord was stated to be very sound since most of the labourers are being from low income group Kokanas.

245 Table No.5.4

Distribution of Household Respondents by land holding and Annual Income

Land Income Between Above Total Holding Upto Rs. 5000 Rs. 10000 Rs.5000 to 10000 Landless 02(100) - - 02(01%) Upto 5 Acres 28(160 150(84) - 178(79%) Between - 8(23) 27(77) 35(16) 5 to 10 acres Above - -- 10(100) 10(04) 10 acres Total 30(13) 158(70) 37(17) 225

Table No. 5:4 indicated that 79% household respondents were

holding the land below 5 acres, it means nearly 80% respondents were

holding the land below 5, acres and 20% respondents were having

the land above 5 acres.

It is very interesting to analyze the phenomena that holding of land

was quite fair as regard to the tribal community but due to the traditional way of cultivation and non-availability of advanced tolls and

ignorance tribal farmers were not able to produce more agricultural

income from their land. And on other side social pressure of division of

land was also increasing in Kokana community; which adversely affected

on income range and cropping pattern.

Out of the majority of i.e. 79% of the household respondents

holding upto 5 acres of the land 84% of them were having annual income

of Rs. 5000 to 10,000 and the remaining 16% could not earn much

246 income even though the land holding was upto 5 acres. The income of above mentioned 16% respondents was just below Rs. 5000 per year.

The next category of the respondents having 5 to 10 acres of land comprised of 16% of whom 77% could earn annual income above Rs.

10,000/- and remaining 23% had less income.

Finally the respondents having the land holding above 10 acres constitute only 4% of the total respondents and all of them could earn the income of Rs. 10,000 and above per annum.

Thus the table clearly indicates the trend and correlation between land holding and income of the respondents that the landless persons have the lowest income and as the land holding goes on increasing the level of income of the respondents also increases.

5.2 PRESENT TREND OF EDUCATION AMONG THE KOKANA TRIBE

After the advent of democracy in India, for the first time, a special consideration is made for the education of the tribals. After the attainment of independence in the year 1947 the constituent assembly provided statutory safe guards in the constitution for the people of SC 85

ST and other depressed classes by defining them as socially and educationally backward classes.

In order to bring the illiterate and economically backward tribals in to the mainstream of national life, various schemes were started by the government of India after independence. In these schemes the priority was given to the educational development of tribals.

247 As far as education of Kokana tribe is concerned of course it is a recently started activity only i.e. after independence. In the first two decades there were hardly a few persons who were admitted and attending the schools in Kokana tribe. Educational facilities and schemes could not reach to the Kokana people in the region till recent.

Particularly western parts of Kalwan, Satana, Peth 85 Surgana talukas of

Nashik district were most deserted talukas in regard to the education.

Some of the Gandhian workers took interest in work of tribal education in the region. The Gandhian workers Shri Duttatray Bidkar, Shri Nana

Dixit, Shri Natavadkar started their educational work in Satana, Kalwan and Sakri Talukas through their Institution named Dang Seva Mandal, and Bhil Seva Mandal, Pacchim Khandesh Shikshan Mandal etc; which resulted into the fair amount of enrollment of the Kokana students in boarding schools. But because of the lack of encouragement and motivation from parents and community, very few of the students reached upto the matriculation classes and had matriculated but there was no picture of mass movement of education among the Kokana community between 1950 to 1970. It was only after 1974-75 the efforts were made by the government to motivate parents and children to send and attend the school through providing supplementary foods and other school facilities, and hence, the development of education among

Kokanas was very slow.

Today's condition of primary education among Kokanas might have fair but there is no sustainability of attendance pattern from students

248 side due to the various reasons given in table 5:7. Present condition of higher education among Kokana is very disappointing. Study of educational background of selected household respondents supported this view of worseness of higher education among Kokanas.

Out of 225 selected household respondents only 3(1%) were studied above matriculation of them one was from Kalwan and two from Sakri

talukas respectively. Majority of the household respondents were

illiterate, which amounted to 50%, whereas about 38% respondents were

literate by simple reading and writing skills and working arithmetic's

between the classes of 1 to 4 std only. Most of them were educated upto

2 and 3 std. But in the present position they were not much able to read

fluently and write smoothly but they can only sign their names. Therefore

the formal education that they had received in the school was not playing

the functional role in the life of these literate respondents.

Talukawise Educational Status of Household Respondents

according to their Age Group

249 Table No. 5:5

Taluka wise Educational Status of Household Respondents according to their age group.

Kalwan Taluka s. Educational Illiterate Primary Secondary Matriculatio Above Total No Status & Age metrication Group 1 25 to 35 15 (65) 6(26) 1(4.5) 1(4.5) 23(100) years (39) (35) (20) (33.3) (35)

2 35 to 45 10(50) 6(30) 2(10) 1(5) 1(5) 20(100) Years (26) (35) (40) (33.33) (100) (30.50) 3 45 to 55 Years 9(56) 4(25) 2(13) 1(6) - 16(100) (23) (24) (40) (33.34) (25) 4 55 to 65 years 4(80) 1(20) - - 5(100) (1) (6) (8) 5 65 to 75 years 1(100) (2) - - - - 1(100) (1.50) Total 39(60) 17(26) 5(7.50) 3(5) 1(1.50) 65(100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100)

(Figures in Bracket indicates the percentages)

Table No. 5:5(a)

Talukawise Educational Status of Household Respondents according to their Age Group

Satana Taluka. s. Educational Illiterate Primary Secondary Matriculati Above Total N Status & Age on metrication o. Group 1 25 to 35 16(70) 6(26) 1(4) - - 23(100) years (35) (35) (25) (33) 2 35 to 45 14(59) 5(25) 2(8) 2(8) - 24(100) Years (30) (35) (50) (67) (34) 3 45 to 55 Years 9(65) 3(21) 1(7) 1(7) - 14(100) (19) (18) (25) (33) (20) 4 55 to 65 years 4(67) 2(33) - - - 6(100) (9) (12) (9) 5 65 to 75 years 3(100) - - - 3(100) (7) (4) Total 46(66) 17(24) 4(6) 3(4) - 70(100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (Figures in Bracket indicates the percentages)

''SO Table No. 5:5:b

Talukawise Educational Status of Household Respondents according to their Age Group

Sakri Taluka s. Educational Illiterate Primary Secondary Matriculati Above Total N Status & on metricatio o. Age Group n 1 25 to 35 8(29) 20(71) - - - 28(100) years (28.50) (38) (31) 2 35 to 45 8(26) 18(58) 1(3) 4(13) - 31(100) Years (28.50) (35) (33.34) (80) (34) 3 45 to 55 5(31) 10(63) 1(6) - 16(100) Years (18) (19) (33.33) (18) 4 55 to 65 6(43) 4(29) 1(7) 1(7) 2(14) 14(100) years (21) (8) (33.33) (20) (100) (16) 5 65 to 75 1 (100) — 1(100) years (4) (1) Total 28(32) 52(57.50) 3(3) 5(5.50) 2(2) 90(100) 100 (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (Figures in Bracket indicates the percentages)

It is indicated in table 5:5(a) that Satana taluka was quite behind in education than other two talukas, i.e. Kalwan and Sakri. Satana taluka had highest percentage (66%) of illiterate household respondents.

Followed by Kalwan taluka (60%) and Sakri taluka (32%)

Educational awareness among the respondents in Sakri taluka(Table No. 5:5 (b) was seen quite more as compare to that Kalwan and Satana talukas, which was supported by the percentage drawn from the analyzed data that 57.50% household respondents were educated upto primary classes in Sakri taluka that is highest percentage of primary educated respondents whereas Kalwan and Satana Taluka had a lesser percentage of primary educated respondent i.e. 26% and 24% respectively. The same trend is indicated about the matriculation and

251 above matriculation education. Sakri taluka had 5.50% matriculated household respondents which was slightly higher than other two talukas.

Kalwan had 5.00% matriculated respondents whereas satana had only

4% matriculated household respondents. Thus first hypothetical statement is proved by the above fact that "Educational and status

Kokana Tribes in Sakri Taluka is better than Kokanas of other two talukas".

Satana taluka did not report any single percentage of above matriculated respondents whereas Kalwan taluka had only one (1.50%) respondent having the education beyond matriculation and Sakri taluka had two respondents (2%) who were educated above matriculate level.

Due to the plain geographical nature of the Sakri taluka and better transportation facilities Kokana people from Sakri talukas could develop close contact with non-tribals, which was one of the main motivating factors to attract Kokana people towards education observed in Sakri taluka which was supported by personal and group discussion with the

Kokana people while collecting the data.

If we see the age -groupwise comparative educational status of the

respondents, then it will show that there is shght variations in three

talukas in regard to the educational status of the respondents.

Table 5:5 indicated that majority i.e. 15 (39%) of illiterate

household respondents from Kalwan taluka were belonging to the age

group of 25 to 35 and Satana taluka had a 35% illiterate respondents in

the same age group whereas Sakri taluka was having the lowest

252 percentage (28.50%) of illiterate respondents in the age group of 25 to 35.

It is interesting to know enough that the percentage of illiteracy by vertical age group is brought down in two talukas i.e. Kalwan and satana but in Sakri taluka it is seen to be certain phenomena in all the age groups. In Sakri taluka illiteracy is found 28.50% in the age group of 35 to 45 years; then again it came down at 18% in the age-group of 45 to 55 years. It is also seen that there were no matriculated and above matriculated respondents in the youth group between the age of 25 to 35 years except kalwan taluka, which was having one matriculated respondents between the said age group, leading to 33.33% However there were no educated respondents in the higher age group above 55 years which begins from 55 years except in Sakri taluka, each had one respondents is from secondary and matriculate level. At the same time

Sakri Taluka also had two respondents who were educated upto the matriculation level. It very clearly indicates the fact that people from

Sakri Taluka have better education awareness and background as compared to other two talukas. a) Present Educational Condition Of Children Between The Age Of 6 To 12 Years.

The education of tribal children has always been perceived in national policy as a very specific contextual issue. It has been realized by educational planners that the approach in tribal areas must be distinctive in keeping with the spirit of the Indian constitution that provides for learning in the local language.

Sahyadri region of tribal habitation where the Kokanas were living was hilly area covered by forests where Kokanas survive in very close

253 relationship with nature. The habitation pattern of Kokanas in these areas has been dispeared with small little hamlets or padas. On account of remoteness and low leveled economic activity, teacher absenteeism has been a problem this are. The sense of alienation is the foremost cause for the tribal children dropping out as very few words from tribal home environment are used in the school context.

School condition in tribal areas has many times created a schooling problems of tribal centre. In January 1998 tribal children (of them majority were Kokanas) from government Ashram school in Nashik district took a long march to Nashik zonal headquarter of Tribal

Development Department of Govt. Of Maharashtra in order to protest against conditions in their school, 23 children between the ages of 10 to

12 had marched 66 kilometer across hilly terrine to the Nashik. Their complaints given below are indicative of conditions under which deprived children are struggling to study. i| The head teacher came only on weekends. h) The watchman ill-treated the children; m) Uniforms had not been given.

Iv) For three months, no breakfast had been given to the children and

lunch consisted only of rice and 'daal' with one 'roti'. v) Thirsty children had to walk to a nearby brook, as the school tube

wells had stopped functioning three years before.

The children were happy with the outcome of their protest.

Uniforms and water supply had been promised, a new head teacher

254 was appointed and the watchman suspended. Vegetables were beginning to be shown up on the menu. The rice was finally being cleaned before it was cooked, commented . . Herru Bhoye, aged

10. Her schoolmate, who had been waiting almost a whole year for a teacher, was happy that a new one had been appointed.

So above cited narration is the situation more or less available in the tribal region where the children of Kokana, Bhil,

M.Koli tribe are presently taking the education in Government run

Ashram schools as well as primary^ secondary schools of Zilla

Parishad and the schools managed by private bodies.

Today schooling facilities are made available to some degree in tribal area by the government but the long physical distance of school from house, lack of motivation on the part of parents and children, lack of awareness and help of children in household and agricultural work etc. majority of the children either dropped out from the school or never enrolled their names in school.

Though the Kokana tribe is presently more aware about the education, majority of the children were found to be dropped out from school or their names have not been enrolled in school by their parents.

Table No.5.6 shows the present condition of education of the children between the ages of 6 to 12 years.

255 Talukawise distribution of Kokana Children of 6 to 12 years age according to their educational status

Taluka School going Drop out Never attended Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Kalwan 40 37 77 29 26 55 22 20 42 174 (35) (38) (37) (41) (38) (40) (39) (42) (40) (38)

Satana 39 31 70 24 22 46 20 18 38 154 (34) (32) (33) (34) (32) (33) (36) (37) (37) (34) Sakri 35 29 64 18 21 39 14 10 24 127 (31) (30) (30) (25) (30) (27) (25) (21) (23) (28) Total 114 97 211 71 69 140 56 48 104 455 (47.30) (45.33) (46) (29.46) (32.24) (31) (23.24) (22.43) (23) (100) (Figures in the bracket indicates percentage. )

As table No.5:6 shows, there were 455 children from 225 families of interviewed household respondents only 211 (46%) Children were school going 31% were dropped out from school and remaining 23% had never attended the school because they did not enroll their names in the school. Therefore, not even 50% of child population was attending the school regularly but only 46% were attending the school, which is not meeting the objective of state to achieve the target of education for all by

2000 A.D.

It is also noticed from table No. 5:6 that the percentage of drop out among girl students was higher (32.24%) than that of boy students

(29.46%) . Therefore traditional outlook of tribal and non-tribal people towards neglecting girls education was supported by this study also.

Whereas 23.24% boys and 22.43% girls had never enrolled their names in the school. Thus, school wastage is leading the serious problem of

256 education in Kokana tribe. The ratio of school going boys and girls between the ages of 6 to 12 was some what similar with the difference of

1.97% . it is indicated that out of 241 boys 114(47.30%)were attending the school and out of 214 girls between the ages of 6 to 12 years 45.33% were attending the school in the present position.

Like higher educational status of the household respondents, children education has also received the attention of researchers and people in general in Sakri taluka. The percentage of school going children in Sakri taluka was higher (50.39%) than other two talukas of Nashik district i.e. Kalwan (44.25%) and Satana (45.45%) . Trend in percentage of drop out in three talukas was same what i.e. 31.61% in Kalwan,

29.87% in Satana and 30.71% in Sakri talukas but the percentage of children who never attended the school also indicated less percentage i.e.

(18.90%) in Sakri taluka which supports the earlier analysis of positive indications of education in Sakri taluka. The percentages of children who never attended the school in Kalwan was 24.14% and Satana Taluka was 24.68% respectively.

Sexwise comparison shows the inferior educational status of the girls in all the three talukas out of 77 school going children in Kalwan taluka 48.05% were girls and 51.95% were boys and satana taluka indicated the percentage of school going boys and girls as 55.71% and

44.29% respectively. The same trend had seen in Sakri taluka also i.e.

54.69% and 45.31% respectively. Among the dropped out 52.73% were boys and 47.27% were girls in Kalwan taluka and same trend was

257 appeared in Satana taluka but Sakri taluka had a highest percentage

(53.85%) of girls dropped out from the schools than the other two talukas

Therefore Sakri taluka has shown somewhat contradictory situation. On one hand the taluka is indicating the positive picture of education as compare to other talukas but at the same time internal variations in

Sakri taluka have been cleared noticed that the percentage of dropped out girls (53.85%) and never the boys who never attended school were higher than that of opposite sex percentage.

Inspite of favourable atmosphere for education in Sakri taluka internal situation was not much sound for the next generations but as compare to other two talukas Sakri taluka shows somewhat advance stage of the development in education, b) Reasons for Not Attending The School

(a) Socio-Economic:-

The scocio-economic conditions of the family always affects the trend of not attending the school among tribal children. Informal discussions with teachers and parents revealed that children are mostly admitted to schools at the age of 6 or 7, because at this tender age, they may not be of much help at home. But after the age of 9 to 11, the

Kokana child becomes an economic asset as he or she can work either at home, in the forest or in the farm. This is especially true of girls who assist their mothers at home and some times in the fields. The child is, therefore, withdrawn from the school and thus becomes a drop-out. As

Manning Nash correctly puts it" "where school and work conflict in

258 societies at the level of income, work always wins, poverty compiled with family agricultural production has the effect of drawing children out of school as they are useful in the fields".

While discussing with the Kokana people in general, matriculating

Kokana students and teachers working in tribal area particularly Ashram school teachers, it was revealed that socio-economic circumstances of the

Kokana people were responsible factors adversely affecting the education of children at schools.

As table No.5:6 revealed that majority of the children between the ages of 6 to 12 were either dropped out from school or their names have never been enrolled in the school. The percentage of dropout children was high at the primary and pre-secondary level of education.

259 Table 5;7 opinion of Respondents on various factors/reasons for children not attending the school.

Sr. Reasons Household Students Teachers Total No. Heads (out of 360) 1 Health Problems 14 2 - 16 (6) (2) (4) 2 Household Work 109 12 12 133 Agricultural work and (48) (13) (27) (40) looking after the youngsters 3 Poor Financial Condition 22 16 3 41 (10) (18) (7) (11) 4 Bad Companionship 9 2 3 14 (4) (2) (7) (4) 5 Inappropriate functioning 20 31 5 56 of schools (9) (34) (11) (16) 6 No interest in education 27 10 8 45 and difficulties in (12) (11) (18) (13) understanding the language 7 Negligence of parents - - 10 10 (22) (3) 8 No particular reasons 93 17 4 114 (41) (19) (9) (32)

(Figures in Bracket indicates the percentages)

Poor financial family condition was one of the universal reasons to keep away the child from educational opportunity. Some of the causes of drop-outs and illiteracy are found deep-rooted in their socio-cultural life which researcher tried to understand. Therefore, every attempt was made by the researcher to find out the various reasons of children dropping out from schools. These attempts were made by contacting the parents, students and teachers concerned.

It has been noticed from table 5:7 that there were number of reasons for children not attending the school. Opinions of all the types of respondents about various reasons were as follows.

260 i) ni Heath - Ill-health among the tribals has been one commonly

identified factor which adversely affects children's education in

tribal areas. As indicated in table 5:7 about 6% of household

respondents were of the opinion that due to health problem of

their children, they were not able to attend the school regularly.

With regard to the students opinion about the health

problem only 2% of students stated that due to health problem

they could not attend the school regularly. But teacher

respondents have not supported the opinion as expressed by

parents 8& students. ii) Help in-Household/Agricultural work and looking after the

youngsters - seeking the help of children in the household work

and agricultural work has been a common practice in rural

areas and especially among the tribal people which was clearly

noticed while studying the reasons for children not attending the

schools. Due to rich socio-cultural life of the tribal people and

limited sources of income, they always sought some sorts of help

from their children. Due to poor financial condition of family

they always desired the support of children and descents for

earnings, so that their family will survive and girl children were

always considered to be a property of would be in laws and that

is why they were required to undertake certain household

training so that they will be able to serve the in laws family

better. In tribal community family is also considered to be a self

261 nurtured unit which pays full attention towards looking after the

babies in family for which younger children were asked to stay

at home for the purpose. Therefore children particularly girls

between the age of 6 to 10 were required to be a t home during

day time in order to look after the babies which lead to

irregularity of children in school.

Help in household work, agricultural work and looking after

the babies was found main reason for not attending the school

and drop out. Out of 360 total respondents (households 225,

students 90 and teachers 45) 133 (40%) were of the opinion that

children were required to share the household responsibilities

during their school going hours. Almost 48% of the total

household respondents opined that they took the help of their

children in other than educational work.

When we referred back to the trend of drop out children as

mentioned in the previous table and relate the same to the

trend of extending their help in household work, we can very

clearly see the co-relation between the two. iii) Poor Financial Condition; Poor fmancial condition was also

one of the important reasons for children not attending the

school. When opinions of all the 360 respondents covered in the

study were considered, it was noticed that only 41 i.e. 11% of

them stated the poor fmancial condition of the people was one of

the reasons for children not attending the schools. From

262 amongst the three types of respondents 10% household

respondents, 18% student respondents and 7% teacher

respondents supported the opinion.

Thus, from the above figures, we can say that student

respondents were having the maximum opinion on poor

financial condition as one of reasons for their not attending the

schools. iv) Bad Companionship- It was also interesting to know about bad

companionship as one of the reasons for not attending the

school in Kokana tribe. About 7% of the teachers, 4% of the

household heads and only 2% of the students have attributed

bad companionship as one of the reasons for not attending the

school. This reason was felt more important by teachers as

compared to other respondents as they were the close observers

of students. v) Negligence and indifferent attitude of parents- Negligence

and indifferent attitude of parents towards children's education

was mostly noticed by teacher respondents, where 22% of the

teacher respondents, felt that parents do not pay attention to

their children's education which results in absenteeism of

students from schools.

b) Educational; -

Apart from socio-economic factors, some other factors closely

related to education were also found equally important in adversely

Of.T. affecting the children's education. Difficulty in studies, understanding the language, inappropriate functioning of schools,

and not having any interest in education were some of the related

factors which were responsible for children in not attending the

school.

i) While looking at the opinion of each category of respondents,

it was noticed that it was the students group; who mostly felt

that inappropriate functioning of the school was one of the

major factor leading to the tendency of not attending the

school among children. This was expressed by 34% of

student respondents,

ii) Similarly it was further noticed that not having any interest

in education and difficulties in understanding the language

were expressed by all the three categories of respondents i.e.

18% teachers, 11% students and 12% household

respondents,

iii) No particular reason- It was also noticed that out of the total

respondents about 114 (32%) respondents could not express

any specific reason for children not attending the school.

However 41% of the household respondents which were

maximum in number as compared to others i.e. 19% of

students and 9% of teachers who could not give any specific

reason but certainly expressed that children do not attend

the school.

264 c) Relationship Of Education With Socio-Economic Status Of The Respondents:

Financial position or economic condition of the family always played its vital role in determining and establishing the particular status in the society. But in recent decades and years education become the equal partner and contributor in achieving the higher status in the community; Kokana tribe was also not excluded from this view. It is needless to say that finance and education are collaboratively performed their role in making man, community and developing society. Kokanas were seen more conscious and aware about the education and its importance but poor financial condition or inadequate financial credibility it was unaffordable to manage the schooling expenses for the

Kokana parents.

Table 5:8 shows the co-relation between income range and level of education of the household respondents.

'y^^ Table No. 5:8 Educational and Socio-Economic Status of the Household Respondents s Education Illiterate Primary Secondary Matri­ Above Total r. Economic culation matri­ N status culation o. 1 Upto Rs.5000 18 (60) 11(37) 1(3) 30 (Low ) (16) (13) (8) (13)

2 Between Rs. 78 (49) 63(40) 9(6) 6(4) 2(1) 158 5000 to 10000 (69) (73) (75) (55) (67) (70) {Middle) 3 Above 17(46) 12(32) 2(6) 5(13) 1(3) 37 Rs. 10000 (15) (14) (17) (45) (33) (17) (High) Total 113(50) 86(38) 12(6) 11(5) 3(1) 225 (100) (Figures in bracket indicates percentages)

It is seen from table NO.5:8 that out of 225 household respondents only 30 (13%) were below the annual income of Rs. 5000/- and educationally they were mostly below the secondary school level. However the majority i.e. 158 (70%) of the household respondents were in the middle income range of Rs. 5000/- to 10,000/- and the remaining 37

(17%) were in the upper income range of Rs. 10,000/- and above.

It is generalized belief that education play an important role in improving the economic status of the people. But while reflecting on the above table, it is very clearly observed that except in the case of low income group household respondents others are also having better income level even though they have less education, whereas in cases of other respondents having middle and upper economic level, the educational level does not show any clear indication as the tribal people and their economy is determined only on their hard work in the filed.

266 Therefore economic cause was not only the factor for educational backwardness of the Kokana Community but social factors were also equally responsible to perpetuates the illiteracy and ignorance among the

Kokanas.

5.3: MOTIVATIONAL & ATTITUDINAL RESPONSES OF THE CONCERNED PEOPLE:

In recent years due to transportation facilities made available by

the state and other educational, health infrastructure, Kokana tribe came

into contact with non Kokana people. Since Kokanas have agriculture as

basic occupation they started to imitate to other communities

particularly Maratha community in terms of their economic, social and

cultural life. Original Kokana socio-cultural pattern is now getting

disturbed due to the give and take process between Kokana and Non-

Kokana villages. This has also resulted into the increasing inter-actions

between them, leading to large extent of imitation in socio-economic

pattern of other communities by Kokana people. And therefore

significance and importance of taking higher education is being noticed

among the Kokana people to a great extent. And it is due to the settled

nature of the Kokana tribe, educational awareness is seen in large scale.

About 225 household (parent) respondents and 90 matriculating student

respondents and 45 teacher respondents were interviewed for the present

study. Parent and student respondents have been asked about the

various things to know their attitude towards education like expected

267 place for education and future living, prime motivation for students study, causes and difficulties in study etc. a) Expected Level of Education by Parents and STudents

Out of 225 household (Parent) and 90 matriculating student respondents majority of them i.e.58% parents and 48% students wanted to educate their children or wanted to take education upto graduation level which shows the wide awareness about education among parent and children respondents. It was followed by 21% household (Parents)

and 25% student respondents to take education upto matriculation.

About 13% students gave preference to vocational education while only

2% parent respondents were with this expectations.

Table No. 5:9 Expectations of Household and Student Respondents:

Sr. Expected Level of Education No. of Respondents No. Household Student (1) Primary 7(3) - (2) Middle 13(6) 3(3) (3) Matriculation 48(21) 22 (25) (4) Graduation 130(58) 43(48) (5) Professional 4(2) 5(6) (6) Vocational 5(2) 12(13) (7) Other 8(3.50) 3(3) (8] Can't say /Don't know 10(4.50) 2(2) Total 225(100) 90(100) (Figures in bracket indicates the percentages)

In short, it can be said that there was greater awareness about the

education among Kokana parents and children. But Kokana student

respondents have shown little bit low expectations in terms of

professional education. It was observed while discussing with the student

respondents that higher education leads to the greater confusion in the matriculating students, as many of them did not have clear idea about further education after SSC. b) Attitude of Household and Student respondents towards education and future career

As far as career expectations were concerned table No. 5:10 shows that majority i.e. 59% of the student respondents desired to be teachers after completing their education, and others have expressed their wish to get professional career particularly in medicine, engineering and law.

Quite a few of them were in favour of executive posts and government service. On the other hand it was also noticed that parents had altogether different types of expectations from students that about 62% of them expected that children should get government service. '

To^ble.. 5; 10-Attitude of Household and student Respondents towards Education and future career

Sr. Career Expectations Number of F^espondent s No. Household Student (1) Officer 15 7 (7) (8) (2) Professional 10 9 (4) (10) (3) Teacher 20 53 (9) (59) (4) Any Govt. Service 139 12 (62) (13) (5) Can't say 41 9 (18) (10) (6) Total 225 90 (100) (100) (Figures in bracket indicates the percentages)

269 The other views of parents about their expectations on children's

Ccireer advancement were similar to those of student's expectations.

Parents generally expected their children to get government jobs due to the fact that there is more security and protection by the government. However, student respondents desired to become teachers, due to the fact that Teacher's Jobs are easily available and well paid. c) Expected place for Education & future Living

An attempt was made by the researcher to get the views of parent and student respondents with regard to their expectation and choice of place for future education of students. The views of both parents and students were of different types such, as they would expect that students should take education only in Tribal village, Non-Tribal village, at Taluka place, at district place or at Metropolitan cities and so forth.

Table No. 5;11 Opinions of Household and Student Respondents about expected place for Education and future Living

Sr. Career Expectations Number of FRespondent s No. Household Student (1) Tribal Village 26 24 (11) (27) (2) Non-Tribal Village 23 34 (10) (38) (3) Taluka Place 105 (47) (8) (4) District Place 56 19 (25) (21) (5) Metropolitan 4 5 (2) (6) (6) Can't Say 11 (5) (7) Total 225 90 (100) (100) (Figures in bracket indicates the percentages)

270 While looking at the percentage wise distribution of both the respondents on the above opinions, it was noticed that most of the parents, i.e. 47% were of the opinion that children should go at Taluka places for their further education and 38% of students respondents expressed their opinion stating that they would prefer to take further education in non-

Tribal village so that they can progress better. Quite a good deal i.e. 27% of student also felt that they would prefer to study only in Tribal village as they find the place more safe and convenient.

However, the number of students desiring to take their further education at Non-Tribal and Tribal villages and at District place is quite high as compared to other expectations.

d) Opinion of Household respondents (parents) in terms of a) study of children b) Working of village school.

It was also observed during the study that parents had shown a greater concern about the way their children study at schools and the way the schools were functioning while imparting education.

Table 5:12 Opinion of Household Respondents in terms of-

a) Study of children and

b) Working of village school

271 Table No. 5:12

Opinions of Household Respondents in terms of Study of Children and Working of Village School. Sr. Opinions Number of Respondents in term of No. Study of Children Working of School 1) Satisfied 130(58) 120(54) 2) Not satisfied 33(15) 30(13) 3) Somewhat 38(17) 43(19) 4) Don't Know 24(10) 32(14) 5) Total 225(100) 225(100) (Figures in bracket indicates the percentages)

As depicted in above table, out of 225 household (parent) respondents majority of them i.e. 58% and 54% were satisfied with the study of their children and working of the village school respectively.

Whereas the percentage of dissatisfied respondents were 15% and 13% respectively. However rest of the respondents were of the opinion that the study of children and. functioning of schools was somewhat satisfactory as they were not much happy about it.

In short table 5:12 shows that educational environment was developing positively in tribal area due to the self motivation of parents and interest of students along with the efforts of government and voluntary agencies. e) Forms of motivating children for education:

Since tribals have no or less of educational background, researcher felt it very important to know the methods used by parents to induce their children in sending to school, on the opinion of parents on various ways of motivating children for education it was studied that many ways

2:5^: and means were practiced by the parents so that their children can go to schools regularly. The following ways and means were found to be more effective by the parents; such a giving punishment to children, convincing the children by just telling them, sometimes by rewarding them or persixating them. However there were also some parents who did noting to motivate their children as they may either be sure about their children's education or it was also possible that they did not have any concern for their children's education.

Table No. 5:13 Opinions of Household Respondents about forms of Motivating children for Education

Sr. Forms of Motivation No of Respondents No. 1 Punishment 35(16) 2 Just Telling 115(51) 3 Reward & Persuasion 25(11) 4 Nothing 28(13) 5 Other 12(5) 6 No Response 10(4) 7 Total 225(100) (Figures in bracket indicates the percentages)

Out of all the view expressed above, giving punishment and by just telling the children to go to school were more effective ways of motivating children. From these two efforts 51% of parents motivated their children just by telling them the importance of education and 16% had believed in giving punishment to their children. Rest of the parents have practiced other remaining methods as indicated above.

273 f) Attitude Of Students Towards Education

As the main focus of the present study was on the Educational

Aspects related to Kokna tribe in the selected areas, the researcher very specifically made an attempt to know the attitude of students towards education. In order to have a clear picture on such attitude, the following components were given waightage in the present study.

1) Motivation among the student respondents for education.

2) Difficulties faced by student respondents in studying various

subjects.

3) Reasons of facing such difficulties in studying the subjects.

4) Opinion of teachers on the need for having the special training in

teaching tribal students.

5) Teachers perception regarding attitude of tribal parents towards the

functioning of the school and education.

6) Languages used by teachers in teaching and communicating wit

tribal children

7) Opinion of teachers in terms of adequacy of text-books for tribal

children. g) Motivation among the students for education:

For tribal children in the area, education or going to school is a new concept and new experience which many of them feel that it is one of the disturbing factor or hurdles in the process of their routine tribal life, it is also a true fact that teachers and schools are the enemies of a newly enrolled students or who is being enrolled in the school for the first time.

274 Many students even if they are curious and anxious to go to school, parents of such children because of no educational background prevent them from going to schools. Under such circumstances it is very essential to throw some light by getting the views of students and teachers on motivational factors for enhancing and promoting education among tribal children.

Table No.5:14 Motivation among the student respondents for Education

(Out of 90 Respondents)

Sr. Motivational Factor No. of Respondents. No. (1) Encouragement 85 persuasion by parents 25 (28) and relatives. (2) For the sake of knowledge 34 (38) (Self actualization) (3) Influence of friends 10(11) (4) Better Employment opportunities 36(40) (Vision for better future) (5) Unable to say 17(19) (Figures in bracket indicates the percentages)

Table 5:14 very clearly indicates various motivational factors for their education such as encouragement and persuasion by their parents and relatives, got motivated out of the self-actualization and feelings to gain more knowledge, influence of friends and vision for better future etc.

While referring to the distribution of student respondents according to their opinions of motivational factors the two factors from the above namely self actualization means they themselves got motivated to get

275 more knowledge therefore they had enrolled themselves for taking education and the second is the vision for better future in terms of getting better employment and better opportunities and better position in the society. The opinions expressed for vision for better future are maximum i.e. 40% as compared to other factors and motivation for the sake of knowledge contains 38% views. Similarly two other view are also followed by the above as motivating factors namely encouragement and persuasion by parents and relatives having 28% opinions and influence of friends with 11% opinions. It is also noticed that there were about 19% students who were not clear about their motivation for education and hence were unable to express any views. h) Difficulties faced by student respondents in studying various subjects:-

As mentioned earlier the tribal students fmd it difficult to go for education in various ways. Some difficulties aire of external and physical nature such as unwillingness of parents, work assigned to students

/child at home or in the farm, child's companionship etc. on the other hand student also face many other difficulties which are of internal and psychological nature.

An attempt has been made to identify from the student respondents in terms of understanding various subjects in the school.

im Table 5:15 Difficulties faced by student Respondents in studying various subjects. (Out of 90 Respondents)

Sr. Subject found difficult No. of Repondents. No. (1) English 88(980 (2) Mathematics 75(83) (3) English 86 Mathematics 80(89) (4) Science 18 (20) (5) No difficulty 2(2) (Figures in bracket indicates the percentages)

Table 5:15 indicates that tribal students mainly find it difficult to understand the subject like English, Mathematics, Science etc, which are very new to them. Of course every subject to that extent is new to the tribal students but due to the nature of those language subjects which have more of interesting lessons, they understand the subject with interest. However English, Science and Mathematics are considered as non-interest subject by the tribal students and thus they find it difficult to study them.

The weightage in terms of percentage of students facing difficulty in understanding each subject shows that English is the most difficult subject which was found difficult by 98% students followed mathematics with 83%. AT the same time 89% of students found both English and

Mathematics equally difficult. As far as science was concerned it was a difficult subject only for few students i.e. 20% of the total. Thus out of 90 students covered under the study as many as 88 have found the subject difficult and there were only 2 students who

expressed that they did not find any difficulty in studies.

i) Reasons of facing difficulties in studying various subjects:-

An attempt was immediately made by the researcher to see the

reasons as to why the students found the subjects difficult to study, the

reasons expressed by the students were as under; medium of instruction,

teachers do not explain well, subject as such was difficult, subject was

not taught in the beginning, etc.

Table No. 5:16

Reasons of difficulties in study (Out of 90) Sr. No. Reasons No. of Respondents (1) Medium of instruction 85(94) (2) Teachers do not explain well 72(80) (3) Subject as such was difficult 83 (92) (4) Subject was not taught well in the beginning 80 (89) (5) No response 5(6) (Figures in Bracket indicates the percentages)

Of these various reasons mentioned above almost all have been

given equal weightage by the students, but at the same time 94% which

was highest number of student felt that due to medium of instruction

they could not understand the subject. It is worth to mention here that

the medium of instruction used by the teacher is state language i.e.

Marathi and when required Ahirani the local non-tribal language is used

inside and outside the class. Both Marathi and Ahirani are unfamiliar

278 to understand the subject due to medium of instruction. Moreover

English language being the foreign language is beyond their capacity and understanding level.

About 92% of the students said that the subject as such was very difficult to understand whether it was English or mathematics or science who stated that the subject was not taught well in the beginning and teachers do not explain well respectively. Both these reasons seen to have close relationship i.e. the beginning of the subject was not properly and

at present also teachers do not explain it well. j) Opinions of teachers on the need for having special training for tribal children

On the basis of their experience the teachers have expressed their

opinion regarding the need for having any special training for tribal

children. This realization was felt by the teachers as the tribal students

were facing lot of difficulties and problems at school. Only 2 opinions

were expressed by the teachers regarding the special training programme

stating that there is need for special training for tribal children in which

60% of teachers felt that a very specific and special training module

needs worked out for tribal children such special training programme

may emphasis the use of tribal language while teaching the subjects.

279 Table 5:17

Opinions of Teacher Respondents on Need for special training in Teaching Tribal children. (Out of 45)

Sr. Opinions No. of Respondents No. 1 Special Training Needed 27 (60) 2 No Need of special Training 18 (40) 3 Total 45 (100) (Figures in bracket indicates the percentages)

Similarly the subject such as Geography, History and Civics can be modified according to the tribal history and culture in tribal areas and taught to the tribal children which will serve the purpose of easy understanding and keeping in touch with tribal culture and region.

Some of teachers also expressed part of special training programme that the extra ordinary and clear tribal students may be given special consideration and send to the specialized and advanced training institutions in the country for their future education.

There were some teachers who also felt it very essential to shift the tribal Ashram school from tribal to non-tribal areas so that tribal students will be able to adapt new environment and learn properly.

The remaining 40% teachers had different ideas about improving the educational habits among tribal student but did not feel any need for

special training.

280 l^l Languages used by Teachers in teaching/ communicating with tribal children.

It is a universal truth that the teachers who have been working in a

Ashram School located in tribal areas normgdly used the regional and tribal language inside and outside the classroom.

Table 5.18 Languages used by Teachers in teaching communicating with tribal children. (Out of 45)

Sr. Language No. of Respondents No. 1 Regional (Marathi) 43(96) 2 Regional 86 Tribal 02(4) 3 Total 45(100) (Figures in bracket indicates the percentages)

While looking at the percentage wise distribution of the teachers since it was their own expression in terms of the use of language 96% of teachers expressed that they have been using Marathi language for teaching the students, only 4% of the teachers said that they have been using regional and tribal language along with Marathi while imparting training the students.

Table 5:19 Opinions of Teacher Respondents in term of Adequacy and suitabilities of Text Books for Tribal children

Sr. Teachers Opinions No. of Respondents No. 1 Adequate and suitable 25 (56) 2 Not adequate and unsuitable 20 (44) 3 Total 45 (100) (Figures in bracket indicates the percentages)

281 With regard to the text books available and followed for teaching tribal students about 56% teachers felt that the text-books were adequately provided to them and they were suitable for training the tribal students but at the same time 44% of the teachers objectively felt that the text­ books were not adequate and not suitable for teaching the tribal students. These teachers felt that different types of text books with adequate numbers should be provided to the Ashram schools for training the Tribal students.

1) Teachers perception regarding attitude of tribal parents towards school, functioning of school and education.

The teachers working in Ashram schools need always to depend on

the help, guidance and co-operation of the village people where Ashram

schools are located. In every respect they have to come in close contact

with the villagers, parents, children and relatives while processing the

matters related to tribal education.

Table No. 5:20

Teachers perception regarding attitude of tribal parents towards school and functioning of school and education. (Out of 45) Sr. Parents Attitude perceived by Teachers No. of Respondents No. 1 Co-Operative 25(56) 2 Sympathetic but not active 36(80) 3 Indifferent 08(18) 4 Unfavourable 04(9) (Figures in bracket indicates the percentages)

Table 5:20 clearly indicates perception of teachers regarding the

attitude of people towards them, towards the school functioning and

282 towards the education process as such. As many as 80% of the teachers felt that the attitude of tribal parents towards them was very sympathetic but people were not so active as compared to their sympathetic attitude.

Another group of 56% of teachers felt that parents were quite cooperative and of helping nature in their work. Parents also cooperated them in promoting the school functions and educational process, there were about 18% teachers who were indifferent on their perception regarding attitude of parents towards education. There were only small section of teachers i.e. 9% who felt that parents had unfavorable attitude towards them.

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