RE: [MLE] Multilingual primers for more Anganwadi Centers in Orissa

Dear multilingual education friends,

There is more news on the new developments in Odisha / Orissa. Dharitri Patnaik of the Bernard van Leer Foundation wrote the below response to last week's message. To me the best news is that he reports that the demand is coming from the tribal communities themselves: The persistent campaign by tribals from the villages to the state capital has resulted in this directive. Demands for quality curriculum in tribal languages, recruitment of tribal men and women as teachers, centres in remote tribal hamlets and involvement of communities to monitor education are all part of the campaign.  This is confirmed by some of the newspaper links. It seems that the Odisha Adivashi Mancha (OAM) has been instrumental in this endeavour. DishaDiary reports:
The OAM is currently working on details of a strategy to make the new directive effective. "We will meet the Chief Secretary again to apprise him of our plans and concerns on the directive issued," says Mandal.  "Since the government has taken a right step on our long pending demand, we are ready to engage with it to give it a proper direction," he adds.
And The Hindu:
As per the suggestion of the OAM, tribal children should get educated in their tribal mother tongue at anganwadi kendras at pre-school level.
Thanks, Dharitri, for passing on these links and the additional information!

Regards,
Karsten

Karsten van Riezen
Education Consultant,
LinkedIn Profile
SIL International, South Asia Group

All mailings since 2005 are posted on: www.mle-india.net.

Recommended sites: India: http://www.nmrc-jnu.org/; International: http://www.mlenetwork.org/

Disclaimer: This mailing list is an informal way to share mother tongue based multilingual education (MLE) related information. The sender neither claims credit or responsibility for the reports and events shared through this mailing list. Subscribing or unsubscribe by writing "[MLE] Subscribe" or "[MLE] Unsubscribe" in the subject-line and send a message to: karsten_van_riezen@sil.org. Any contributions or suggestions are welcome.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: [MLE] Multilingual primers for more Anganwadi Centers in Orissa
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:44:49 +0200
From: Patnaik, Dharitri <Dharitri.Patnaik@bvleerf.nl>
To: karsten_van_riezen@sil.org <karsten_van_riezen@sil.org>, MLE-List@gmail.com <MLE-List@gmail.com>


Dear Karsten,

Thanks for sharing the news with the group.

The government of Odisha has passed a government directive to provide education in all pre and primary schools in mother tongue. Odisha is home to 1.4 million tribal children.  Language forms one of the primary reasons for low enrolment and retention amongst tribal children in pre and primary school. Bernard van Leer Foundation( BvLF) has a three pronged approach that has helped local advocates secure this victory. BvLF supports 900 mother tongue early childhood centres that serve 15,000 children; an evaluation that proves the efficacy of the approach; and a campaign by a forum of national and state level advocacy groups on indigenous people's rights. The persistent campaign by tribals from the villages to the state capital has resulted in this directive. Demands for quality curriculum in tribal languages, recruitment of tribal men and women as teachers, centres in remote tribal hamlets and involvement of communities to monitor education are all part of the campaign.  The government's directive is a momentous milestone both nationally and regionally.  It is a crucial step toward a national law on making mother tongue early childhood education a fundamental right.

Below are some of the press clippings.






Warm regards,
Dharitri


Dharitri Patnaik
India Representative

  

www.bernardvanleer.org
dharitri.patnaik
@bvleerf.nl
t:+919583010940

 
From: Karsten van Riezen, M-Ed [mailto:karsten_van_riezen@sil.org]
Sent: 14 August 2012 20:28
To: MLE-List@gmail.com
Subject: [MLE] Multilingual primers for more Anganwadi Centers in Orissa

Dear multilingual education friends,

Good news from Orissa. Chief Secretary Sri Bijay Kumar Patnaik has directed OPEPA to develop bilingual primers in tribal dialects for children from Class-1 to Class-III and cover all
the schools having 100% monolingual tribal students. He also  directed to OPEPA to customize the Anganwadi study guide (Arunimain) in tribal languages in the context of their culture. The stories, rhymes, dance performances, folk-lores of the tribe concerned will be reflected in this. In another development, 9 new  tribal languages have been
identified for inclusion in Multi  Lingual Education programme. These languages are Gutob, Ho, Gondi, Parja,Khaira, Didayita, Chhatisgarhi Odia, Binjhal ( western Odisha) and Binjhal (for Bargarh region).

The full text of the notice is copied below and can be found here: http://www.odisha.gov.in/samachar/2012/Jul/data/30-07-2012/MULTILINGUAL_PRIMERS_300712.pdf

Regards,
Karsten
--

Karsten van Riezen
Education Consultant,
LinkedIn Profile
SIL International, South Asia Group

All mailings since 2005 are posted on: www.mle-india.net.

Recommended sites: India: http://www.nmrc-jnu.org/; International: http://www.mlenetwork.org/

Disclaimer: This mailing list is an informal way to share mother tongue based multilingual education (MLE) related information. The sender neither claims credit or responsibility for the reports and events shared through this mailing list. Subscribing or unsubscribe by writing "[MLE] Subscribe" or "[MLE] Unsubscribe" in the subject-line and send a message to: karsten_van_riezen@sil.org. Any contributions or suggestions are welcome.
_____________________________ Full text of Notice _________________________________________
MULTILINGUAL PRIMERS FOR MORE AWC &  PRIMARY EDUCATION IN TRIBAL AREAS.
Develop Arunimain 10 major tribal languages: Chief Secretary
Bhubaneswar, 30 th July 
To ensure equity in educational opportunities for tribal children, Chief
Secretary Sri Bijay Kumar Patnaik has directed OPEPA to develop bilingual
primers in tribal dialects for children from Class-1 to Class-III and cover all
the schools having 100% monolingual tribalstudents. The direction has been
given in a high level meeting held under his chairmanship in secretariat
conference hall today. Discussions in the meeting reveal that as per Odisha
Child Center Survey conducted earlier Govthas decided to prepare bilingual
primers in 10 major tribal languages namely Munda, Santhali, Kissan, Oraon,
Kuvi, Saura, Koya, Bonda, Juanga and Saura.  In the meanwhile the
preparation of primers in all theses languages have come up to the final stage.
As of now 544 primary schools including 135 schools in Mayurbhanj district,
37 in Samabalpur district, 67 in Sundargarh, 95 in Rayagada, 60 in
Malkangiri, 30 in Keonjhar, 60 in Kandhamal and 60 in Gajpati district have
been taken up for this intervention of Multilingual Learning Programme.
Chief Secretary has directed to expedite the process of printing of primers and
training for teachers to transact the primer. It has been decided that this
facility of multilingual primer will be extended to all the schools having 100%
monolingual tribal students. Sources say,there are about 3400 such schools in
tribal districts.
Similarly, decisions have also been taken to introduce similar type of
facility in the Anganwadi Centers of tribal dominated areas to facilitate
reading, writing and learning in mothertongue among tribal children. As is
known from sources, there are near about 20,000 AWC and Mini-AWC in
tribal areas. The study guide line entitled Arunimahas been prepared for all
AWCs in the state. Chief Secretary has directed to OPEPA to customize this
Arunimain tribal languages in the context of their culture. The stories,
rhymes, dance performances, folk-lores of the tribe concerned will be
reflected in this. The script will be Odia but the language will be the language
of the tribe concerned. Sri Patnaik has instructed them to pull together the
resource persons of OPEPA, Academy for Tribal language & Culture and
Women & Child Development Department and customize Arunimawithin 3
months.
In another development, 9 new  tribal languages have also been
identified for inclusion in Multi  Lingual Education programme. These
languages are Gutob, Ho, Gondi, Parja,Khaira, Didayita, Chhatisgarhi Odia,
Binjhal ( western Odisha) and Binjhal (for Bargarh region). It has been
decided that Primers will also be developed in theses languages. The
Secretary Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe Development Sri Santosh
Sarangi, Pr. Secretary Schools & Mass Education Sri Rajesh Verma, Director
OPEPA Sri Krishna Gopal Mohal, Deputy Director, OPEPA Dr.
Basantamanjari Acharya along with other senior officials participated in
discussions.
U.K.Mohapatra,
PRO to Chief Secretary