Education for ADIVASI children by Irving Villegas,

( Adra pradesh, India february 2011)

India is one of the countries to make education a fundamental right of every child.

But how will the Adivasis exersice their right, if they are not made aware of the act?

When there are no schools in most Adivasi villages, how would they become literate?

The Adivasi are the Indigenous people of India, they have developed their own identity, through their traditions, culture, language and religion- These communities live in isolated areas such as hills and forestsThey live in harmony with nature and since childhood learn to create livelihood from the rich resources in their habitat.

Its an outcast group that has problems with their land and suffer from discrimination and abuse. Their identity and rights are not recognized yet. Illiteracy is an obstacle for them to enforce their rights.

By tradition in their communities, the family must stay together. The kids just stay in their homes to accompany the elders. Household chores are for girls,they are in charge of cooking, cleaning and fetching water daily. Most of the girls have to walk long distances to reach the river. Education is not a priority for these families.

Educating the younger generation of these adivasis could be the basis of livelihood in the future.

For this reason and more reasons the organization "Samata" has created "Balamitra"one of the few projects which provides primary education for Adivasi´s children.. So far they have built 40 schools in different villages where none had existed before, and also one boarding school in the city, providing facilities especially for girls and orphans. Through songs and games they are taught to read, write and learn new things.

They learn socialisation through English and Telugu(regional languaje)

Most Important, they beginning to understand their rights which is the first step to further encourage education in their community and be prepared to access government schools at the middle school level.

for more information on Balamitra project visit:
balamitra.org
samataindia.org