EXPERIENCES OF SCHOOLING OF SAORA CHILDREN STUDYING IN

MLE AND ODIA-MEDIUM SCHOOLS

BY SAKSHI MANOCHA, NMRC, JNU

INTRODUCTION

MULTILINGUAL RUBRIC OF INDIA3372 MOTHER TONGUES (1576 listed, 1796 as

‘other’ languages)22+1 OFFICIAL LANGUAGES80% of the Indian languages (most of them

being tribal) are excluded from the mainstream society.

Consequences of exclusion of Home language

• Poor education performance• High rates of ‘Push-out’• Capability deprivation and poverty• Loss of Diversity( see Mohanty ,2008; Tove Skutnabb Kangas 2000).

MLE PROGRAMME

MLE PROGRAMME: It is a mother tongue based Multilingual Education programme based on Jim Cummins BICS and CALP.

• L1 BASED MLE PROGRAMME WAS INITIATED ON PILOT BASIS IN TWO STATES OF INDIA:

ANDHRA PRADESH IN 2003 AND IN ODISHA IN 2006

HOME LANGUAGE OPEN THE DOORS FOR CHILD’S CULTURE TO BECOME AN ESSENTIAL PART OF

CLASSROOM PRACTICES

Example: USING LOCAL MEASURING SYSTEM TO TEACH CHILDREN ABOUT UNIVERSAL MEASURING SYSTEM.

My favourite subject is maths because I like the way sir teaches addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with the help of our games and our songs.”- Student, MLE school.

Children elated to have their language, games and songs in school

“I like language class, because, in this subject we read our stories and sing our songs. I enjoy them a lot.”-Student, MLE school

FEARLESS VOICES OF CHILDREN IN MLE SCHOOL

Initially, I was afraid of coming to school but because our teacher is so warm and friendly and he teaches us in Saora, I felt much better and now I enjoy coming to school. I like to read, write and playing with my friends in school.” – Student, MLE school.

• Children actively participate in classroom discourses.

• Do not take knowledge as filtered by teachers and voice their opinions

Saora children Feeling alienated in odia-medium school

“Our teacher doesn’t teach us in Saora and as we don’t know Oriya, I find it difficult to understand what all he teaches in class.”- Student, Odia Medium school.

Culture of silence in Odia-Medium schools

• Children wanted to avoid teacher’s question and attention.

• Children remained tight lipped in class room.

• Took knowledge as filtered down by the teacher.

Articulation about one’s self and culture

• Children in MLE schools could narrate their experiences, articulate their thoughts, spoke about their culture with pride.

• Children in Odia Medium schools were hesitant to narrate their schooling experiences, were scared to talk about their culture and could not express their thoughts and feelings in Oriya.

“No, I don’t know any poem or song not even in Saora. Our teacher doesn’t teach us any poem or song, so I don’t know.”-Student.

STUDENT-TEACHER RELATIONSHIP

• Engaging teaching-learning experiences of children in MLE schools and a bond that they shared with the teacher created a strong sense of identification with the school whereby students saw school not as threatening but rather their ‘own space’.

• The estranged teaching-learning environment and poor teacher-student relationship made school an alien place for Saora children studying in Odia- medium schools.

CONCLUSION

• Although this study was carried out in primary classes of MLE and odia-medium schools, the findings of this study can be extended to ECCE.

• Use of Home language in Early childhood education can allow children to emotionally connect with teachers and identify and feel like a valued part of the school. Thus leading to healthy Social and emotional development.

• Use of Home Languages allows teachers to establish a link between school and every day knowledge of the child thus enhancing their cognitive and meta-cognitive skills. (See, NMRC Longitudinal study for more details).

• Implications for Language development.

THANK YOU