Children in remote tribal areas face significant challenges in accessing school despite over 15 years of Right to Education Act

Schooling is the fundamental right of every child aged 6-14 years in India. The Right to Education (RTE) Act, enacted in 2009, guarantees free and equitable access to education for all children irrespective of caste, class, gender, religion, and geographical location. However, access to schooling remains a significant challenge for many children living in remote tribal villages. The piece highlights barriers to educational access faced by children in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. The insights are drawn from my observations during school visits and community interactions conducted as part of a field survey.

West Singhbhum is largely a rural, tribal-populated district that faces significant socioeconomic challenges, including low literacy rates, high poverty, and limited economic opportunities. A household survey, carried out by Aspire in 2023-24, covered all children in 16 blocks of West Singhbhum. The findings reveal that more than 50,000 children of school-going age (6-17 years) are currently out of school, with 9.2 per cent having dropped out and 8.2 per cent having never been enrolled.

One of the most pressing concerns is the lack of schools in remote tribal villages, particularly high schools. According to district official records, there are only 1,354 primary schools, 579 middle schools, and 171 high schools in the district. This small number of schools may be insufficient to accommodate all children in the district. Long distances and the absence of transportation further exacerbate this issue. Many children travel long distances to reach school, and in many cases, the only way to reach school is by walking, as there is no other mode of transportation available. In some regions, children travel 10-15 km to attend their high school. Additionally, difficult terrain with rivers and isolated hills further makes education physically inaccessible.

Teacher shortages are another significant barrier. Many schools are operated by a single teacher, with a lack of subject-specific teachers. Data from the Aspire survey reveals that there are 672 single-teacher schools in the district. Moreover, teachers lack the required training and orientation to effectively adopt current teaching methods, with limited accountability among teachers. Therefore, teaching methods become less interactive and engaging. Additionally, schooling infrastructure is inadequate. Many schools lack proper classrooms, functional toilets (especially separate toilets for girls), libraries, computer labs, and other amenities.

Language poses another formidable barrier. Local communities primarily speak tribal languages in the household. For example, survey data reveal that Ho is the primary language (60 per cent), followed by Odia (15 per cent), and Mundari (10 per cent). However, teaching is primarily conducted in Hindi, leading to communication gaps and disconnect between students and their studies.

Socio-cultural norms further restrict children’s access to school, particularly for girls. In-egalitarian gender norms persist, where parents are less likely to prioritise girls’ education. Moreover, the practice of early marriage and domestic responsibilities limits their educational opportunities. The survey findings also reaffirmed that over one-third of children are never enrolled on school due to working at home and over one-fourth dropped out due to the same reason, where girls are disproportionately affected. The lack of economic opportunities further compounds this problem, as parents are often demotivated to send their children to school due to a lack of future job prospects.

Economic constraints often force children to work in agricultural fields and other work with their parents to support their families. Children, especially boys, drop out at an early age and engage in child labour. In this region, seasonal migration is a common phenomenon to sustain livelihood. Survey data demonstrated that 6.5 per cent of households with children seasonally migrated to other places. It causes a huge disruption in children’s education. When parents temporarily migrate to other places for work, children also migrate with them, leading to prolonged absences from school and, in many cases, permanent dropout. Children also engage in Mahua (which is used to make a local drink) collection for livelihood support during a particular season of the year. This seasonal activity often results in children discontinuing their education, with many never returning to school.

Administrative barriers also prevent school access. The absence of necessary documents, such as Aadhaar cards and birth certificates, hinders school enrollment, especially during the transition from pre-schooling to primary education. The survey results reveal that over one-third of children do not have an Aadhaar card, and nearly two-thirds lack a birth certificate. Since many births occur at home (32.1 per cent, National Family Health Survey-5), obtaining these documents becomes challenging. Local communities often lack awareness of documentation procedures. Moreover, the bureaucratic process of acquiring them is tedious and time-consuming, making school admissions difficult for tribal children.

Poor governance, administrative apathy, and centralised administrative structures further hinder effective school functioning. There is minimal community involvement in school management. Moreover, communities are unaware of their rights and duties for school management and provisions for ensuring quality education. This disconnection leads to low accountability and poor service delivery in the school system.

Despite over 15 years of the Right to Education (RTE) Act to provide free and accessible education to all, children in remote tribal areas face significant challenges in accessing school. Many children are out of school due to multi-faceted barriers, which require urgent attention. These barriers include a lack of school and transportation facilities to reach school, and shortage of teachers, inefficiency in teaching methods, inadequate facilities, and lack of documents required for admission, cultural bias, domestic responsibilities, child labour activities, seasonal migration, and a lack of job prospects.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 proposes various reforms in school education, including the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) program and integrating local languages, ensuring universal access to quality education. However, tribal and marginalised children continue to face distinct educational challenges, highlighting the need for tailored, context-specific policies and programs to address this issue. Moreover, the success of the NEP hinges on the effective implementation of the RTE Act. Without adequate schools, functional infrastructure, and support systems in tribal areas, the goal of delivering quality education will remain out of reach.

Policy recommendations

1.      There is a need to establish more schools, particularly in remote tribal areas, and deploy an adequate number of trained teachers within the framework of the RTE. Moreover, schools should be equipped with essential facilities such as separate functional toilets for girls, safe drinking water, libraries, and digital learning resources.

2.      Providing teacher training on modern pedagogical methods, including computational thinking and STEM learning, can make teaching interactive and exciting. Integration of local language and learning materials, digital resources and adoption of a child-centric, activity-based approach can encourage active student engagement.

3.      Implement skill-based education programs to create more employment avenues for children, particularly in rural and tribal areas, and reduce child labour. Develop initiatives that expand future job opportunities, encouraging families to see the long-term benefits of education.

4.      Social norms that hinder schooling access can be challenged by engaging communities, youth groups, self-help groups and empowering adolescent girls through life skills. Programs on educational awareness can further encourage school participation and retention.

5.      Schools need to be properly functional, which requires active involvement of the School Management Committee (SMC) and Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). Community engagement is also essential to have greater accountability among teachers and school management. Moreover, the procedures for obtaining Aadhaar cards and birth certificates should be easier to facilitate smoother school admissions.

6.      Implementation of a robust tracking and monitoring system is necessary to identify and bring back out-of-school children, ensuring their successful retention and transition.

Pintu Paul is an Assistant Professor at the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi

Views are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth