Status of and Barriers to School Education in Chhattisgarh A Study of Bastar and Sukma Districts Ashok Pankaj Susmita Mitra Antora Borah Sponsored by New Education Group – Foundation for Innovation and Research in Education Council for Social Development Sangha Rachana 53, Lodhi Estate New Delhi – 110003 MARCH, 2018 i Research Team Data Processing Team Rajender Singh Gitesh Sinha Field Supervisor Ravi Kant Chaubey Data Entry Operator Santosh Field Investigators Aniruddha Deka Raja Sarthi Brijesh Gupta Pratap Samrath Chottu Pal Kawasi Kosa Subham ii Contents List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. v List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. v List of Boxes ................................................................................................................................... v List of Annexures ........................................................................................................................... vi List of Photographs ......................................................................................................................... vii Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledgements......................................................................................................................... ix Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ xi Chapter I Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 The Problem Posed ............................................................................................... 1 1.2. Historical Background of Tribal Education .......................................................... 2 1.2.1. Tribal Education in Pre-Independence Period .......................................... 2 1.2.2. Five Year Plans and Tribal Education ..................................................... 3 1.2.3. Improvement and Gaps in Tribal Education ............................................. 6 1.3. Education, Tribal Population and Conflict Areas: A Review ............................... 7 1.3.1. Tribal Society and Education .................................................................... 7 1.3.2. Conflict and Education .............................................................................. 10 1.4. Objectives ............................................................................................................. 11 1.5. Approach/Analytical Framework ......................................................................... 12 1.6. Methodology, Study Area and Sample ................................................................. 14 1.6.1. Methodology .............................................................................................. 14 1.6.2. Study Area.................................................................................................. 14 1.6.3. The Sample ................................................................................................ 15 1.6.4. Tools .......................................................................................................... 15 1.7. Chapterisation ....................................................................................................... 16 Chapter II Status of and Barriers to School Education in Chhattisgarh ............................... 17 2.1. General Status of Education ................................................................................. 17 2.1.1. Literacy Rates and Variations across Districts ......................................... 17 2.1.2. Current Enrolment Status of Children in Government and Private Schools ................................................................................... 17 2.1.3. Education Status of Children Aged 6-14 Years ......................................... 18 2.2. Availability and Accessibility of Schools ............................................................. 18 2.2.1. Availability of Schools ................................................................................ 18 2.2.2. Declining Number of Government Schools in Contrast to Increasing Number of Private Schools (2007-08 to 2015-16) .................. 19 2.2.3. Access to School ......................................................................................... 21 2.3. Basic Facilities in the Existing Schools ................................................................ 22 2.3.1. Infrastructural Facilities ............................................................................ 22 2.3.2. Availability of Mid-Day-Meals ................................................................... 23 2.4. Teachers and Pedagogy Related Issues ................................................................ 24 2.4.1. Availability of Teachers ............................................................................ 24 iii 2.4.2. Professional Qualifications of Teachers .................................................. 24 2.4.3. Teacher’s Training .................................................................................... 24 2.4.3. Language as a Barrier ................................................................................ 25 2.5. Learning Outcomes............................................................................................... 26 Chapter III Status of and Barriers to School Education in Baster and Sukma Districts: Supply- Side Factors ................................................................................................................................... 28 3.1. Accessibility of Schools ....................................................................................... 28 3.2. Basic Facilities in Schools .................................................................................... 30 3.3. Teacher-related Issues .......................................................................................... 31 3.4. Resident Status of Teachers ................................................................................. 33 3.5. Average Working Days and Loss of Teaching Days ........................................... 34 3.6 Language and Curriculum .................................................................................... 35 3.7 Discrimination and Abuses in School .................................................................. 39 3.8. High Enrolment versus Low Attendance ............................................................. 40 3.9 Delivery of Government Facilities ....................................................................... 41 3.10. Role of the School Management Committees (SMCs) ........................................ 41 Chapter IV Socio-economic and Cultural Barriers: Demand-Side Factors .......................... 42 4.1. Socio-economic Barriers ...................................................................................... 42 4.2. First Generation Learner ...................................................................................... 45 4.3. Cultural Barriers ................................................................................................... 46 Chapter V Geographical Terrain and Conflict as Barriers ..................................................... 47 5.1. Closure of Schools ............................................................................................... 47 5.2. Conflict and Secondary School ............................................................................ 49 5.3. Children Recruited in Naxal Groups/Salwan Judum ............................................ 50 Chapter VI Conclusions and Recommendations ...................................................................... 52 References ......................................................................................................................... 61 Appendix ............................................................................................................................ 64 Annexures ............................................................................................................. 64 Photographs .......................................................................................................... 77 Schedules .............................................................................................................. 84 iv List of Tables Table 1.1: Drop-out Rates of ST Students in Different Class Groups Table 2.1: Decadal Change in the Number of Government and Private Schools in Chhattisgarh Table 2.2: Distance of School and Mode of Transport Used By Students (6-14 Year Age Children) Table 2.3: Share of LWE and Non-LWE Districts among the Total Schools Lacking Various Infrastructural Facilities Table 2.4: Region-wise Learning Outcomes of Elementary School Students in Chhattisgarh Table 3.1: Block-wise Share of Government and Private Elementary Schools in the Bastar and Sukma Districts Table 3.2: Distance to School and Mode of Commuting in the Bastar and Sukma Districts Table 3.3: Block-wise Basic Facilities in Elementary Schools in the Bastar and Sukma Districts Table 3.4: Block-wise Ratios of Male-Female and Professionally