Tribal students will now get to learn about their cultural identity and indigenous knowledge systems. With the present education system bereft of the intangible cultural and heritage traditions of Scheduled Tribes (STs), the ST & SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare department is initiating a programme, Parichiti, that aims at creating cultural spaces in its schools, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
This new component will be integrated into their existing curriculum. A nodal teacher will be identified at the school level to implement all activities under the programme.
Officials said a tribal resource-cum-museum will be created on all the schools' premises where tribal artefacts, ornaments, textiles, musical instruments, personal adornments; hunting, fishing and agriculture implements; weapons and crafts which are specific to the communities will be showcased. These artefacts would be collected by the teachers and students besides the alumni members. The department will fund their procurement.
This apart, an icon gallery named Ama Gaurav will be created in every school where photographs of freedom fighters, activists, language warriors and artists who have meaningfully contributed to the tribals, will be put up.
Every SSD school will also have a wall magazine Ama Lekha Ama Sanskruti where tribal students will be encouraged to contribute every month on a topic related to their tribe either through write-ups, poems, paintings or crafts.
Apart from infrastructure additions, there will be academic activities as well including Parichiti events. As a pilot for these activities, 99 schools in the districts of Rayagada and Mayurbhanj have been chosen. The calendar of activities for one academic year will include workshops and competitions on tribal art and crafts, music, dance, and tribal food festivals, among other things.
Besides, the schools will get activity laboratories where students will document their cultural and folk traditions, and languages. These labs will be equipped with computers, digital audio and video players besides the internet. School libraries will be equipped with books on stories, folklore and poems of the tribal regions.
"When we connected with teachers and community members, almost 80 to 90 per cent of them suggested that we create cultural spaces in schools. This is why we have come up with Parichiti," said Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the department Roopa Roshan Sahoo.
