JOURNAL OF INDIAN EDUCATION - NCERT · 2020. 3. 31. · 6 Journal of Indian Education August 2010 in terms of tribal, indigenous or adivasi education. In particular, I want to quote

CONTENTSEditor’s Note 3

Social and Political Exclusion, Religious Inclusion 5The Adivasi Question in EducationNANDINI SUNDAR

Christian Missionaries in Educational and Social Change 25A Critical Study on the NagasLUNGTHUIYANG RIAMEI

The Academic Achievement of Tribal Students of 35Ashram Schools of Surat DistrictPRITI CHAUDHARI

Study Habits of Visually Impaired Students in 47Relation to their Study Related VariablesVINAY KUMAR SINGH, GEETA SINGH AND MASROOR JAHAN

Relevance of Educational Thoughts of 59J. Krishnamurti in the Context of Education for PeacePARMANAND SINGH, PARNITA SINGH AND JAYASHANKAR YADAV

Teaching School Students through Distance Mode 66Some ReflectionsB.C. DAS

Quality Culture in Teacher Education 78K.K.SHARMA AND SAROJ SOBTI

JOURNAL OF

INDIANEDUCATION

Volume XXXVI Number 2 August 2010

Self-Directed Learning 84Meaning and Praxis in ClassroomVANDANA SINGH

Technological Possibilities of EDUSAT 97SARAT KUMAR ROUT

Constructive Classroom Activities for Biology Learning 111BHARTI DOGRA

A Qualitative Analysis of State Level Tests of 121National Talent Search ExaminationK.CHANDRASEKHAR AND MAMTA AGRAWAL

Learning Orientation and Perceived Parental Attitudes of 128Students at the Senior Secondary LevelLETHA RAMMOHAN

Book Review 139The Development of Teacher Education in Portiuguese GoaSURENDRA SINGH

REPORTAGE 142Some Observations on Educational ResearchSHANKAR SHARAN

EDITOR’S NOTE

Indian society had lived for a millennium by a value system founded ondivision and hierarchy, classically manifested in the system of caste-feudalpartriarchy. The post-independent India learning from her own experiencesof the colonial period has widened her eyes on the issues of inequality andsocial injustice.

The Constitutional commitment to social equality and social justice wasa step towards equal and just societies. The states assumed the necessaryresponsibility for compensating for histories of discrimination, exploitationand marginalisation along with guaranteeing equality of citizenship byproviding essential and special support to the dalit and adivasis. Our recentefforts for educational reform showcase that historical inequality in diffusionhas been mitigated to a great extent; however unequal provisions not onlyin terms of physical amenities but also in curriculum persist to some extent.The prevailing school curriculum does not relate knowledge that schoolprovides with the life of children belonging to marginalised groups.

Exploring this very concept of education, the text of Nandini Sunder’slecture “Social and Politcial Exclusion, Religious Inclusion: The AdivasiQuestion in Education” (delievered for the Memorial lecture series of theNCERT) focusses on transformation of adivasi children in central Indiathrough formal schooling and also on the exclusions of their own knowledgeof biodiversity from the school curriculum. Further in this series, two articles-one by Lungthuiyang Riamei and the other by Priti Chaudhari reflecting onschool education in relation to marginalised groups are included.Marginalisation in terms of disabilities has also its own difficulties in schooleducation which needs to be addressed through research studies. VinayKumar Singh, Geeta Singh and Masroor Jahan have made an effort in thisdirection through their research which explores study habits of visuallyimpaired students in relation to their study related variables.

In the age of unprecedented levels of violence school education assumesthe responsibility of strengthening the value system along with the task to

educate the children for resolving conflicts. In this crucial time and situationeducation system needs to be guided by the ideas of our great thinkerssuch as Vivekananda, J. Krishnamurti, Sri Aurobindo and MahatmaGandhi. This volume includes paper deliberating on the relevance ofeducational thoughts of J. Krishnamurti in the context of education forpeace. This paper is jointly written by Parmanand Singh, Parnita Singhand Jayashankar Yadav. We all in education community have strong feelingthat for bringing qualitative improvement in our educational system; weneed to work towards making our teaching/pedagogy more effective. Thisconcern has been expressed in articles contributed by B.C. Das, K.K. Sharmaand Saroj Sobti, Vandana Singh, Sarat Kumar Rout and Bharti Dogra. Thisvolume also carries two research articles on varied themes: one is on“A Qualitative Analysis of State Level Tests of National Talent SearchExamination” by K. Chandrasekhar and Mamta Agrawal and another oneon “Learning Orientation and Perceived Parental Attitudes of Students atthe Senior Secondary Level” by Letha Rammohan.

Finally, the journal brings out a book review “The Development ofTeacher Education in Portuguese Goa” by Surendra Singh and a reportageabout observations on Educational Research by Shankar Sharan.

Field of education is getting wider day-by-day with emerging ideas,innovations and reforms.The forum of Journal of Indian Education tries tocapture a few of them contributed by you, for you.

Academic EditorJIE

Social and Political Exclusion,Religious Inclusion

The Adivasi Question in Education*

NANDINI SUNDAR**

Abstract

The talk focusses on adivasi children in central India, their transformation throughformal schooling and the way in which new kinds of knowledge comes to replace orco-exist with older forms. On the one hand, there are occasional acknowledgementsthat adivasis or indigenous people have great knowledge of biodiversity which canbe of use in the emerging biotech industry, on the other hand, there is very little doneto tap into this in a holistic or sustainable model. Indeed, the formal schoolingsystem often destroys the knowledge that children already possess. Schooling is animportant avenue for not just career mobility but identity formation and the creationof personal and professional networks. However, the focus of studies in India hasbeen on issues of educational deprivation or at best on social exclusion anddiscrimination regarding access within the existing system. It has not looked at thecontent and effect of formal schooling with regard to indigenous knowledge, or theway in which adivasi identity is transformed through the kind of competitiveproselytising that is undertaken through schools, by both the R.S.S. and otherorganisations. At the same time, a discussion of schooling implies some idea of‘normalcy’. In fact, in large parts of adivasi India, people live in a state of absoluteabnormality, where the state has undertaken both large scale displacement andrelentless repression. The paper asks if and what kind of schooling is possible inthese circumstances, and what kind of citizen is ought to be produced?

I am grateful and honoured to be invitedto give–2009 B.M. Pugh Memoriallecture. Prof Pugh is a model for us all

not just in terms of his scholarship anddedication to institution building, butalso a model of the best we can hope for

* This article was presented during the B.M. Pugh Third Memorial Lecture at The NorthEastern Council Auditorium, Nongrim Hills, Shillong, held on 9 October 2009 andpublished by NCERT, New Delhi.

** Nandini Sundar is a Professor of Sociolgy, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.

6 Journal of Indian Education August 2010

in terms of tribal, indigenous or adivasieducation. In particular, I want to quotefrom a few lines about him: “During1926-28, he worked with the famousentomologist Professor D. P. Clausen ontiphia, an insect also known as theJapanese beetle. B.M. Pugh incidentallyhad known an insect very similar to thisearly in his childhood at Laitkynsiew. Hiswork with the Berkeley faculty yieldedspectacular results, which wereeventually responsible for saving theapple orchards of California from themarauding Japanese beetle.” Not onlydid B.M. Pugh draw on his own practicalexperiences as a child, he translated thisinto scientific knowledge that helpedpeople in a country far from his own.When I think of what I would like to seeas the educational future for adivasichildren, I think of a combination ofindigenous knowledge, formal schooltraining which gives one the confidenceto compete with others, and a concernnot just with helping one’s owncommunity, important as that is, butwith contributing to the wider world.

Sadly, my lecture today is focused noton this optimistic future, but on thedismal present, the constraints thatcome in the way of realising this

educational dream for the vast majorityof adivasis in central India. The situationis, of course, different in many states ofthe North-East with their high literacyrates, but the problem of culturaldestruction and political discriminationthat underlies the educational processis perhaps not dissimilar.

One of the areas taken up by theNational Knowledge Commission, set upin India in 2005 to enable thedevelopment of India as a knowledge-based economy has been ‘traditionalknowledge.’ Arguing that principledcommercialisation of our cultural,creative and legacy practices has thepotential of generating employment forat least 100 million people and anannual revenue of at least Rs. 600,000crore per year’, it lists a number ofaspects of ‘traditional knowledge’, manyof which refer to tribal practices inmedicine, art and agriculture.1

Thus scheduled tribes recognised aspossessing traditional knowledge of akind that is not only useful to them, buthas implications for national growth andsustainable development more broadly.However, other aspects of governmentpolicy towards adivasis systematicallydenigrate any knowledge that they

1 The principles and basic premises that should govern the documentation and use of ourtraditional knowledge, that is our creative, cultural and legacy industries. Plant based drugformulations of which we have over 40,000 that have come to us through the Ayurveda,Unani,shiddha, Tibetian ( all documentd) and the non-documented tribal systems of medicine.Traditional agricultural practices of which 4,502 have been documented by the I.C.A.R in aseries of volumes, with 86 have been validated and 38 cross-validated till December 2005.Our culinary traditions which use some 150 documented vegetables for which nutritionaland other information is available, and an equal number of fruits. Culture-specific tourismfor example, through indenification of tribal art centres, promoting authentic local performingarts and making use of the unusual sites and practices which ave been well-documented, forexample in a book brought out by CBSE., New Delhi. Our traditional products, services andart forms that are not included above”.

7Social and Political Exclusion, Religious InclusionThe Adivasi Question in Education

possess, and make it impossible for themto develop, leave alone adopting theirpath as the model for others. The large-scale displacement, and the growingdeforestation and degradation ofenvironmental resources, reduce thehabitat in which indigenous knowledgesurvives. Equally importantly, the formalschooling system often destroys theknowledge that children already possess,and transforms social relations whichare relatively equal in the direction ofgreater patriarchy and hierarchy. Whileschooling is an important avenue for notjust career mobility but identity formationand the creation of personal andprofessional networks, it is not clear that,as they stand, these networks will helpto tap into or enhance the knowledge ofadivasis. Instead, there is a danger, thatunless there are other factors that affirmcultural pride in adivasi identity,education will become a means foralienation from the adivasi community.

My lecture will attempt to illustratethe manner in which adivasi children incentral India are transformed throughformal schooling and the way in whichnew kinds of knowledge comes to replaceor co-exist with older forms. It isimportant to keep reminding ourselvesthat ‘educational processes arefundamentally culturally processes’(Luykz, 1999, xxxiii). The material forthis lecture is drawn from 19 years(1990-2009) of fragmentary observationof schools in (undivided) Bastar district

of Chhattisgarh as well as more specificresearch I did in 2001-2002 on schoolsin Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh. Ihave also drawn on writings by otherscholars on adivasi schooling elsewherein central India, such as Orissa orAndhra Pradesh. I regret that I have notlooked into educational processes in theNorth-East, as that would have provideda useful foil.

The educational context for adivasisin central India is primarily one of socialand political exclusion or discrimination.But there is a widespread desire foreducation, a need which is being filledby private schooling. According toNCERT (2007:15) there are over 40,000unrecognised private schools in ruralIndia. In many places, particularly urbanor semi-urban areas, this proliferationof private schools has exacerbated socialdifferentiation, with the poor beingconfined to vernacular governmentschools and anyone with the slightestability to pay sending their children toprivate ‘English-medium’ schools.

There is also a growing religious orcultural gap between those who go toprivate denominational schools andthose who go to government schools. Thebiggest organised players in filling theeducational gap are Christianmissionaries and Hindu chauvinistorganisations like the R.S.S.2 or softHindu organisations like theRamakrishna Mission, or the MataRukmini Devi Sansthan (followers of

2 As of March 2002, Vidya Bharati, a front of the R.S.S., had 17,396 schools across thecountry ( both rural and urban), 2.2 million students, over 93,00 teachers 15 teachertraining colleges, 12 degree and 7 vocational and training institutions.


Vinoba Bhave). All of them are interestedin ‘uplifting’ adivasi children, andmaking the experience of educationalsocial mobility a simultaneousexperience of cultural transformation.On the one hand, these schoolsprovide better education than mostgovernment schools (except CentralSchools and Navodaya Vidyalayas etc.)in the sense of getting children throughexaminations, but on the other hand,the extra-curricular activities theyengage in have significant consequencesfor adivasi self-understanding.Increasing class and communaldivisions, promoted through differentialschooling, thus diminish the promise ofa more meaningful common citizenshipheld out by higher literacy levels (seeVasavi, 2000; Jeffery, et. al. 2002).

The critical need of the hours is akind of education that enables childrenboth to compete on equal terms in theworld of formal employment and not justat the lowest levels, and to affirm theiradivasi culture, languages andknowledge.When the government talks of‘Mainstreaming’ it has only the formerin mind, but even the mainstreaming isaimed at integrating them only into thelowest levels of the market economy.

The State of Adivasi Literacy andEducationAs the following table shows, despitesome improvement between 1991 and2001, literacy rates among STs in Indiaare abysmally low. The figures are notdifferentiated by region and if we take outstates in the North-East where STs havehigh literacy rates, the figures will lookeven worse.

Literacy Rates

2001 1991

Rural female ST 32.4 16.0

Rural female non-SC/ST 50.2 35.4

Rural male ST 57.4 38.5

Rural male non-SC/ST 74.3 63.4

Source: National Focus Group onProblems of SC and ST Children, basedon Census of India 1991 and 2001(NCERT 2007: 32).

Much of the existing research onadivasi education in the central Indianbelt highlights the lack of educationalaccess, or the poor quality of educationreceived : the absence of convenientlylocated primary schools, teacherabsenteeism, abysmal infrastructuremanifested in leaking roofs, non-existenttoilets, furniture, blackboards andeducational materials such as textbooks,maps, etc. (Furer-Haimendorf, 1982;Ananda, 1994). In the early 1990s whenI lived in Bastar, I even heard of a schoolwhere liquor was sold from the premises.The exact nature of the linkage betweenpoverty and schooling is contested, withstudies by Tilak (2000), Jha andJhingran (2002) among others, arguingthat poverty, with its attendant hunger,malnutrition and ill-health, is a majorcause for low attendance. Other studiesby Dreze et. al. argue that it is not thecost of absent labour power that is theproblem but the cost of sending childrento school, as well as the poor quality ofeducation that makes it not worth theexpense (PROBE, 1999; FurerHaimendorf, 1982 : 134).


Although the central governmentand state governments have a numberof schemes for adivasi children, such asstipends, a book bank scheme, specialcoaching for entry into engineering andmedical college, and construction ofhostels (see National Commission forScheduled Tribes 2006, Chapter 5), theydo nothing to address the largerstructural inequalities which areresponsible for the poverty of adivasis.At an underlying level, literacy and thedenial of minimum educational provisionis clearly fundamental to the exclusionof adivasis from full-fledged citizenshiprights - displacement for large infrastru-ctural projects like dams is lubricated byilliteracy and having people thumbprintaway their land, an influx of outsidersfor skilled industrial jobs is facilitated bythe absence of trained adivasi youth, andexploitation by traders andmoneylenders is made easier by havinga population without even functionalliteracy in accounts. The low literacyrates also have implications for people’sability to make themselves heardpolitically since they cannot thendocument their own problems, write inthe media or send representations togovernment.

Educational DiscriminationBlaming the VictimMany of the supply problems regardingthe poor functioning of schools are sharedin varying degrees by non-adivasis inregions across the country (PROBE,1999), but there are also some issueswhich are peculiar to adivasi areas,such as the language gap between

students and teachers who do not speakany of the local languages, blatantdiscrimination or at the very leastunequal treatment by teachers comparedto non-adivasis or upper caste students,and general concessions which makesthe educational experience particularlyalienating. Adivasis are blamed for theirown lack of educational progress, suchas in the following extract from the ClassIX Social Studies Textbook in Gujarati,Chapter 9 under the heading “Problemsof the Country and their solutions:

“There is very poor socio-economicdevelopment among the ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes in India,although they constitute one-fourth partof the total population. They have notbeen suitably placed in our social order,therefore, even after independence theyare still backward and poor. Of course,their ignorance, illiteracy and blind faithare to be blamed for lack of progressbecause they still fail to realiseimportance of education in life”(reproduced in Patel et. al. 2002: 246).3

Contrary to this view, studies haveshown there is a great desire foreducation among both adivasis anddalits. A study as old as 1977, of 9 villagesin Utnur Taluk (Andhra Pradesh) byAbbasayulu (quoted in Furer-Haimendorf, 1982: 133) noted that whilea greater number of non-adivasis senttheir children to school compared toadivasis in the same villages, 98.46 percent of adivasis thought education wasa good thing compared to only 76.3 percent among non-adivasis. Adivasis wereoften more interested in education thannon-adivasis because they knew it was

3 Reproduced in Padel, A.–2002, (246)–3.


their only option for ‘advancement’, butdid not send their children to schooleither because of poverty or because theschooling process made their childrenfeel inferior, or as Nanda shows,schooling, as practiced, was a waste oftime. A study by Ranjit Tigga in 1991-92,comparing the background of childrenwho went to two Jesuit schools in thenRaigharh district – Loyola and Prakash– found that while over 80 per cent ofchildren’s families were agriculturistsand had incomes under ` 10,000 p.a.and in the case of Prakash, 90 per centof parents could not fund the educationof their children, the vast majority ofparents (90 per cent and 72 per centrespectively for Loyola and Prakash) senttheir children to school willingly. Thesample was 100 per cent adivasi (Tigga,1992).

Displacement is a major factor inlower rates of schooling among adivasis.4

Impending displacement often serves asan excuse for not providing schools andconversely, the lack of schools in adivasivillages has been cited as a justificationfor displacing them. The Supreme CourtJudgement dismissing the petition of theNarmada Bachao Andolan, 2000 stated:

“Residents of villages around BhakraNangal dam, Nagarjun Sagar dam, Tehri,Bhilai Steel Plant, Bokaro and numerousother developmental sites are better off

than people living in villages in whosevicinity no developmental project camein. It is not fair that tribals and the peoplein undeveloped villages should continuein the same condition without everenjoying the fruits of science andtechnology for better health and have ahigher quality of life style. Should theynot be encouraged to seek greenerpastures elsewhere, if they can haveaccess to it, either through their ownefforts due to information exchange ordue to outside compulsions.” (Maj.Judgement, pp. 172-73). “At therehabilitation sites they will have moreand better amenities than which theyenjoyed in their tribal hamlets. Thegradual assimilation in the mainstreamof society will lead to betterment andprogress” (Maj. judgement, p. 48).

In other words, adivasis in general,and not just their children, are seen aspeople for whom compulsion must beexercised in their own best interest.Inevitably, when it comes to children,then, the disciplinary and civilisingaspects of schooling take precedenceover the idea of opening them up to newintellectual experiences. The parallelswith the schooling of Native Americansand Australian aboriginals are striking.

Language5

There are several policy documents anda constitutional provision (350A)

4 A very conservative estimate indicates that during the last 5 decades approximately 21.3million people have been displaced in the country owing to big projects such as mines,dams, industries, wild-life sanctuaries, field firing range etc. Of this, at least 40 per cent,approximating 8.5 million are adivasis. Considering that adivasis are approximately 8.1per cent of the country’s population, this is an unacceptably high proportion ( Ekka andAsif, 2000)

5 Some sections, like this one, are taken from an earlier note on adivasi education I hadwritten, and which was replicated verbatim in NCERT (2007), the report of a a focus ofwhich I was a member.


recognising that linguistic minoritiesshould be educated in their mothertongue at primary level. However, evenlanguages like Bhili, Gondi or Oraonwhich are spoken by over a million people(Nambissan, 1994 : 2747-48) are notrecognised in the 8th Schedule of theConstitution, and Bodi and Santhaliwhich are spoken by 1.2 and 6.5 millionpeople respectively, were added only in2003. Correspondingly, there ispractically no education in adivasilanguages. Although states in India wereorganised on linguistic grounds, in theabsence of political power, none of themajor adivasi groups managed to carveout states for themselves. Consequently,these groups are distributed across stateboundaries and the languages they aretaught in, are those of the state in whichthey live, so that even if they share thesame customs and have marriagerelations across state borders, theeducated youth of these states do notdevelop a sense of oneness. Coupled withthe fact that only 6 per cent of primaryteachers are from adivasi communities,and several do not bother to learn thelanguage even after several years of beingposted there (Kundu, 1994 : 31, personalexperience), the general picture atprimary level in adivasi areas is often oneof mutual incomprehension for studentsand teacher.

In common with stories of indigenouspeople’s education in Australia andAmerica, adivasi children in India havebeen punished for talking in their own

languages (Saxena and Mahendroo,1993; Kundu, 1994 : 31). Quite apartfrom the pedagogic problems this creates–such as destroying the child’s self-esteem, and reducing the possibilities ofsuccessful learning in later years–thedenigration of adivasi languagesamounts to denigration of adivasiworldviews and knowledge.6 Even outsidethe confines of school, educated youthoften speak to each other in the languageof the school, perhaps also to markthemselves off from their ‘uneducatedpeers’. As one Halba student at Dilmilliashram school in Bastar said Jyadashikshit hote ja rahein hain to hindi boltehain. (The more educated we become, themore Hindi we use). Where Hindi is themedium of education, adivasi languagesare themselves changing to use moreHindi words, and Hindi grammar.

Even where adivasis are passionateabout their own language, they do notexpect schools to teach in them. Indeed,for many adivasi parents, the mainadvantage of schooling is that it givesaccess to the regional languages, andenables people to deal with thebureaucracy and non-adivasis (Grigson,1944 : 398; Patwardhan, 2000 : 82). Tigga(1992) notes that in his survey 58 percent of both teachers and adivasiparents saw tribal language as a barrierto their children’s education. On theother hand, if adivasi languages weregiven official recognition by the state andif they were connected to job prospects,there might be more people who would

6 Although there are 400 adivasi languages in India, several languages, especially thosespoken by small numbers, are dying out. Given that so much knowledge is stored in aparticular language, particular words for things that have no existence in other languages,(Geertz, 1983:88), loss of a language means the loss of a certain way of knowing the world.


want education for their children in theirown language (Nambissan, 2000 : 197).And indeed, wherever adivasis have beenpolitically mobilised to celebrate adivasiidentity, they have been more clear andopen in their demand for education inindigenous languages (Patwardhan,2000; Nambissan, 2000 : 213). One of thereasons why the Maoists are so popularacross the central Indian belt is that theyhave developed Gondi literature, andhave cultural troupes which performGondi songs and dances, which makestheir message accessible to the people.

There is a concrete problem, however,in determining which language will betaught in primary schools as the ‘mothertongue’, given the common feature ofseveral adivasi communities inhabitingthe same village but speaking differentlanguages. Using the local lingua franca–Sadani or Nagpuri in Jharkhand, Halbiin Bastar, etc. – is one option, but eventhis will not address the problem. Findingteachers who will teach in the locallanguage is another problem, unlessadivasi teachers are more heavilyrecruited. Currently, there is no politicalwill on requiring non-adivasi teachers tolearn adivasi languages. One positivefeature however, is the emergence of alarge literature in some adivasilanguages like Bodo and Santhali.Curiously, the growing commercialculture of music videos and low budgetfilms enabled by digital technology, haveled to a proliferation of media in adivasilanguages like Nagpuri, Santhali,Mundari, Halbi etc. Although the themesremain modelled on Hindi films, and theyare usually of very poor quality, populardemand has ensured a certainengagement with various vernaculars.

Many of these films also incorporatesome degree of ethnographic description.It is possible then, that where officialapathy has failed, market forces maycome in to atleast somewhat save adivasilanguages.

Curriculum and TextbooksAdivasi children are not only denied theirown languages, but also their culture andhistory. The curriculum is usually basedon the experiences of urban middle classchildren, and the kinds of objects theyrefer to, are often unlikely to be found in arural home (see Kundu, 1994: 61). Notonly is the knowledge and linguistic orcognitive ability that adivasi childrenpossess ignored e.g., the capacity tocompose and sing spontaneously, to thinkin riddles and metaphors and theirintimate knowledge of their environment-but schooling also actively encourages asense of inferiority about adivasi cultures,which persists into later life.

Adivasis rarely feature in textbooks,and when they do, it is usually in servilepositions to upper caste characters; or as‘strange’ and ‘backward’ exotica (Kundu,1994 ; Kumar, 1989 : 71). Nanda quotesfrom a second grade textbook that Bondachildren are made to learn: ‘Bonda life isvery strange indeed. They live in tiny hutsbuilt of mud. The entrance to these hutsis rather narrow. They enter the huts bybending forward. For the upliftment ofthe Bondas, the government has planneddevelopment programmes. Cash loansare being extended to the Bondas for thepurpose of improved agriculture andanimal husbandry. There is now a steadyimprovement in condition. Hunting in theforest is no more their primaryoccupation. There are changes in their


disposition and diet. Now they know howto count cash.’ (State Board textbookquoted in Nanda, 1994 : 173). In amarvellous essay titled, ‘Learning to beBackward’, Krishna Kumar points outthe cleft position that such texts placeadivasi children in. If children fail toanswer questions about adivasibackwardness based on readings fromthe text, they are judged educationallybackward. If they acknowledge that thetexts are correct, they accept an externaljudgement about their culturalbackwardness. Either way, ‘there is noescaping the label of backwardness. Asa social institution, the school has set upa situation in which the tribal willacquire responses that match hisdescription in society as a member of a‘backward community’ (Kumar, 1989: 68).

While the general problem is with theabsence or denigration of adivasiculture, in RSS schools, there is a morespecific problem with the use ofadditional textbooks that have acommunal slant meant to promoteHinduism and denigrate other religions.Among private religious schools, only theRSS seems to pose this problem.7 In theRamakrishna Sharada Sevashram,Jagdalpur, the Principal explained thatthere was no question of teaching outsidetextbooks because the students areunwilling to learn more than the bareminimum and even colleges useguidebooks. In the Gyanodaya school inJagdalpur, run by the Catholic

community, while the school has its owntextbooks for Classes I and II, these donot have any religious content and arechosen because of their large format andillustrations. Most of the Vidya Bharati(RSS) schools are affiliated to CBSE ortheir local State Boards. In general, theseschools follow the syllabi (and thetextbooks) published by the NCERT Butin addition, Vidya Bharati brings out itsown textbooks, which ‘supplement’ and‘correct’ the history that is taught in theofficial books, working as much byselective emphasis on certain figures asagainst others, as by crude propagandaagainst Muslims and Christians. Itihasga Raha hain (history is singing) forClass V blames ‘internal disunity’ for theinvasions by the Turks, Mongols andMughals, but notes that even in themedieval period the ‘freedom struggle’was kept alive (Singh, 1997 : 9). Whileprofessional historians point to thepresence of Hindu generals in Mughalarmies and the fact that Shivaji, thearchtype Hindu king had a Muslimgeneral, as evidence of the fact thatmedieval power struggles cannot beunderstood in religious terms, the RSSsees this as a betrayal of Hindus andreserves its greatest criticism for such‘collaborators’ (Singh, 1997 : 78).Christian pastors are described as oneof the main instruments of colonialism(Singh, 1997 : 27), thus strengtheningthe association in children’s mindsbetween Indian Christians and anti-

7 This observation is based on a survey I carried out among five schools in Bastar andJashpur districts of Chhattisgarh, including the Loyola boys school in Kunkuri; NirmalaKanya Unch Madhyamik Shala, Navatoli, Kunkuri; Mata Rukmini Devi Sansthan,Dimrapal and Chhindgarh; Ramakrishna Sharada Sevashram, Jagdalpur; Gyanodayaschool, Jagadalpur.


national activities and laying the rootsfor divisions between Hinduised andChristianised adivasis (for morediscussion of the content of thesetextbooks, see Sundar, 2004).

All students from Class III upwardsin the Vidya Bharati schools also takethe Sanskriti Gyan Pariksha, a culturalgeneral knowledge test once a year, forwhich they get certificates. Theexamination is, on the face of it, adisinterested test of knowledge about thecountry’s geography, history and culturebased on the Sanskriti Gyan primerspublished by Vidya Bharati atKurukshetra. The primer is in question-answer format, and has sections onpilgrimage sites, actual and mythicalHindu figures, events from theMahabharata, Ramayana etc., includingsome pure inventions such as the ideathat Christ roamed the Himalayas andthat Homer’s Illiad was an adaptation ofthe Ramayana. Needless to say there areno references to anything Christian,Muslim or adivasi, and the version ofIndian culture that is produced is thusan exclusively Hindu upper caste (mostlyNorthern) culture.

Hidden CurriculumIn all schools, however, textbooks are onlyone instrument for transmitting culturalmessages–most of this takes placethrough the composition of students andteachers, with both Christian and Hinduschools engaged in some amount ofboundary keeping,8 extra-curricularactivities like morning and eveningprayers, especially in those schools

which have hostels attached, and thegeneral atmosphere of the schools (seeSundar, 2004, 2006). The communicativefunction of schooling extends muchbeyond the actual curricular content,through what Corrigan calls a ‘repertoireof forms’ that include space, time andtextuality (Corrigan, 1990 : 160).

The fact that, even in regulargovernment schools, most teachers areHindu influences the manner in whichannual days or other school events arecelebrated. Breaking a coconut andlighting incense at the base of the flagpole on Republic or Independence Day iscommon practice. When teachers talkabout imparting ‘sanskriti’ to adivasichildren, they usually have in mindupper caste, non-adivasi practices, andthis is something that is internalised byadivasi teachers as well. In one scene atexamination time in a primary school inBastar, I was witness to this. Ranu Nag,one of the few Dhurwa school-teachers,and keen to revive the use of Dhurwa,was acting as external examiner. Heasked the children their names. Yet asthey called out each distinctive adivasiname, like Gagru or Aitu or Devli, heironed it out to standard Hindu nameslike Gagru Ram, Aitu Ram, Devli Kumarietc. On the other hand, governmentschools are not marked by the kind ofintense religious exposure that privateschools provide, and beyond one or twopictures on the wall of Gods or Goddesses,there is no strong effort to culturallytransform the children. It is true thatchildren who go to these schools comeout thinking for example, of Diwali and

8 For example, in the RSS schools the children were predominantly Hindu, while in theLoyola School in Kunkuri they were largely Christian.


Holi as more important than their ownfestivals, because they are ‘nationalholidays’, but this is as much due to theway the academic calendar is structuredand the wider media, as due to thespecific efforts of teachers.

By comparison, even in those soft-Hindu schools which see themselves as‘secular’, ideas of cultural change are soengrained that they seem synonymouswith schooling. At a school run by theMata Rukmini Ashram in Chhindgarh,the girls were taught to observe MakarSankranti, Ganesh puja, and so on, andthe money that was collected from theirsale of tamarind was used to buy theRamcharitmanas. Statements like thesefrom a school teacher from Uttar Pradeshare common: “If people hadn’t come fromoutside and taught them, how else wouldthey have progressed” or “earlier theirparents used to insist they come homefor the seed sowing festival – but now theydon’t. The girls have learnt all ourfestivals”.

In RSS organisations, we see themost conscious attempt to turn adivasichildren into Hindus. This is carried outnot only through the schools, butespecially through hostels. The RSS,following the Church before it, seeshostels as nodal points for Sanghextension activities in the villages:

We know that not all students of ourchhatravas (hostel) will become full-timeworkers. But all of them will havereceived our sanskars ...of all ouractivities, the most important one is therunning of the hostels. The rationalebehind our hostels is different from theusual ones. We want to make our hostelsthe focus or centre of attention for theregion. Through this medium we want to

bring about awareness in the wholeregion (Deshpande, 1990 : 17).

A handbook for the private use ofVanvasi Kalyan Ashram workers notesthat in addition to the hostel warden, anadditional worker should set up a centrein or near the chhatravas to keep in touchwith a circle of 20-30 villages around andorganise them through pre-schoolcentres, eklavya khelkud kendras, gramsamitis, dramas, etc. (A.B.V.K.A.; Sapre,1991). Children are trained to holdbhajan mandalis, satsang kendras,shakhas and other activities when theygo home for the long summer vacations.

The hostels are in much demand andeven some Christians apply. Although thesurroundings are shabby and food isbasic, there is a proliferation of Hinduvisual imagery–all of which is part of acarefully planned design to exposechildren to Hindu idioms. At the sametime, there is an attempt to integrate whatthey call ‘vanvasis’ into the wider Hindufold, by saying that the hostel should benamed after a famous vanvasi man orwoman. At the pre-school centres(Balwadis or Bal sanskar kendras)children learn the rudiments of reading,writing and sanskars, including learningto say pranam instead of their own adivasigreeting johar, and singing the SaraswatiVandana. Not every child understandswhat they are chanting, but sustainedexposure to these centres inevitablyinculcates respect for Sanskrit as alanguage worth knowing, and a belief that‘civilisation’ consists in Hindu markersof behaviour. More important than theactual information that children may ormay not remember is the symbolicmessage transmitted at the Eklavya khelkud centres for older youth. The sanghteaches the children ‘indigenous’ games


with names like Agnikund and Rama-Ravana. Here, as in the shakhas, thereferee calls out directions in Sanskrit.While local languages are not forbiddenin RSS schools and hostels, Sanskrit andHindi are glorified. Like the Catholicsbefore them, who set hymns to local tunes,the Sangh may keep in references to theSingbonga or local gods in their bhajans,but Hindu gods like Ram and Krishnainevitably involve pride of place. There isa real reluctance among Kalyan ashramstudents to admit to knowing Kurukh.

Much of what the RSS schools aredoing was done by the Christian missionschools in the early part of the 20thcentury. Now, however, the Catholicsconfine their religious teaching to theirown community. Non-Christian childrendo not have to attend Cathechismclasses, and can carry out their ownprayers or study during prayer time. Forthe Catholic children, however, theeducation is deeply Christian. The model,overall, is modern Western culture – whenchildren see fathers in Loyola school,Kunkuri, eat with forks and knives, thisbecomes something to aspire to.

Each type of school has its ownversion, thus, of what constitutessuitable culture for adivasi children tolearn, but there is very little attempt tofind out what adivasi culture itself is, andhow it can enrich the school curriculum.

School RegimenIn all private schools, whether R.S.S.,Christian, or otherwise, the hostel regimeemphasises discipline and prayer,creating a totalising and intenseexperience. Government schools are farmore relaxed. In these private schools,children normally wake up at 4:30 a.m.,

pray for an hour or so, then bathe andbreakfast, and attend classes. They maydo some exercise either in the morning orevening, but are bound to pray again inthe evening. So much prayer is in sharpcontrast to their homes, where there isno such practice of daily prayer, and lifeis far less regimented. The following twotimetables show how regimented andprayer filled the school day is:

Dainadin Karyakram (dailyprogramme) of the Vanvasi KalyanAshram, Jashpur, as pasted on thewall

Pratah (Morning)

4:00-4:30 Jagaran Prarthna;

4:30-4:45 Ekatmata Stotr;

4:45-6:00 Surya Namaskar;

6:00-6:30 Ramayan Path;

7:00-9:00 Swadhyay;

9:00-10:30 Bhojan;

10:30-4:30 Pathshala.

Sayan (Evening)

5:00-6:00 Khelkud, Vyayam;

6:00-6:45 Kirtan, Bhajan, Aarti;

6:45-8:00 Bhojan.

Ratri (Night)

8.00-8.30 Sawadhyay;

9.30-9:45 Prarthna Deep Nirvan.

Note1. On Sundays, children are given

information of national and socialhappenings, stories and lifehistories of famous people.

2. Children must maintain cleanlinessin the chatravas and its compound.


Daily Time-Table at the Loyola School,Kunkuri, as related by students

A.M.

4:45-5:15 Wake up and wash

5:15-6:00 Prayer in Church for Catholics(non-Catholics worshipseparately in classroom orstudy)

6:00-7:15 Study in hostel

7:15-7:30 P.T. drill

7:30-8:15 Cleaning hostel premises,collecting vegetables fromgarden

8:15-8:30 Bathing

8:30-9:15 Breakfast (dal and chawal)

9:15-9:30 Religion class (in classroom)

10:00-10:15 Assembly prayer

10:15- 4:00pm Classes (with three shortbreaks)

P.M.

4:00- 5:00 Hostel high school games

5:00-5:15 Washing up

5:15- 6:00 Dinner

6:00-6:15 Church prayer

6:30-10:00 Study (with two 15 minuterecess Breaks in between)

10:00 pm Sleep

In general, both Sarangpam andPadel point to the way in which theschool regimen of timing, discipline,hierarchy is alien to children socialisedin a world where individuality isrespected from early on and whereparent-child interaction are relativelyegalitarian(Sarangapani, 2001 : 24-27:Padel, 1995 : 224).

Kundu(1994) points out that testingprocedures too are based on urban

middle class values—the compe-titiveness and system of rewards thatexaminations represent is oftenculturally anomalous to adivasi childrenwho are brought up in an atmosphere ofsharing in classroom interaction too,non-adivasi children dominate, eventhey are in a minority, by virtue of theirgreater social confidence. In oneclassroom interaction I observed atLoyola school in Kunkuri, two of the boyswho were very vocal turned out to be fromthe local trader community, and it is theywho set the terms of debate,. One of themcomplained that it was impossible forchildren these days to go into medicalschool as seats are reserved. But when Ipointed out that this would not be aproblem for most of the children in theclass, who were adivasis, they againspoke up and said ‘but we are not’. Thecomplaint of the upper caste is thus usedto silence the experiences and claims ofthe rest of the children.

Learning among adivasi childrenis usually intimately connected to thework process - children learnt thenames and medicinal uses of manyplants and trees while accompanyingtheir parents on foraging trips in theforest (Sanrangapani, 200 : 41). Whenchildren are away at schools, they loseconnection with this world of labour andtheir capacity to learnt form it. Nandadescribes a walk in the forest with Bondachildren in eastern India. While somechildren wandered off to explore theforest and collect edible items, those whohad been to the residential schools, keptto the path and were indifferent to theirsurroundings (Nanda, 1994:177).Parents used to be reluctant to send their


children to school because they lostthe capacity to engage in agriculture(Nanda, 1994 : 173). However, with highunemployment rates, many hostelreturned adivasi youth have no optionbut to stick to agriculture or do manualwage work.

Given such a ‘demeaning educationalexperience’ (Kumar, 1989: 76) in a setupwhich privileges the ‘visions and meanings’of dominant groups in society and teachesadivasis subservience, it is hardlysurprising that drop-out rates amongadivasi children are much higher thanthose of other students and literacy ratesmuch lower (Nambissan, 1994 : 2747).

Education in a Time ofCounterinsurgencyThe logic of using education or the lackthereof, to justify displacement has alsobeen used in counterinsurgencyoperations in central India, wherevillagers have been herded into campsas a form of strategic hamletting. InChhattisgarh, since 2005, thegovernment forces in collaboration withcivilians whom it has armed andchristened the Salwa Judum,euphemistically calling it a ‘people’smovement’, has been burning villages,killing people and raping women.Officially 644 villages, comprising some3 lakh people, have been affected bySalwa Judum, and live under the dailythreat of attack and displacement. Some50,000 were forcibly herded into camps,similar to the regrouping that happenedin Nagaland in the 1950s and Mizoramin the 1960s. Those who escaped theregrouping – a lakh or so – migrated toAndhra Pradesh.

In 2006, all the children inDantewada were promoted for theacademic year 2005-06, because noexaminations could be held. Curiously,in 2007 while this mayhem was stillongoing, the Dantewada administrationgot the National Literacy Mission-UNESCO award for spreading adultliteracy. In 2007, I visited a Salwa Judumcamp on the border of Andhra Pradeshand Chhattisgarh at Maraigudem. Theteacher in-charge of the ashram schoolsaid that the population in the hostelkept fluctuating because their parentswould bring the children in whenconditions were particularly disturbed,and then take them back again.

One of the big casualties of this warhas been school buildings, in a regionwhere they were scarced to begin with.The security forces use schools asmilitary camps because they are the onlypucca building in the villages, and in turnthe Maoists blast schools to prevent thishappening. They bring in villagers fromneighbouring villages to destroy theschools, since they know people find ithard to break buildings they havethemselves built. In one place, a stronglocal leader prevailed upon the Maoistsnot to destroy the school in his village,but then the CRPF moved in and childrenwere moved out. In response to a courtordered investigation, the NHRCrecommended that the security forces bemoved out of schools, but theChhattisgarh government has doneprecious little on this.

But even where the school buildingsexist, the government has moved all theteachers and children from affected


zones to camps, ensuring that if childrenare not in camp, they have no access toeducation. In 2007, the government alsoissued directives that the children wouldnot be allowed to go home for the summer.Ostensibly this was for their own safety;but also worked as a way of forcing theparents to come to camp if they wantedto be with their children. Most of thepeople have now come back from thecamps to their villages, but schools andteachers continue to work only in thecamps, and not in the villages where themajority of children are now. SalwaJudum leaders refer to teachers as ‘theirproperty’: “These teachers belong to ourgovernment. We have kept them(teachers) all together in one place. Thosewho don’t join the Judum will get noschool or be allowed to go to school.” Asa further attempt to ‘capture’ thechildren, and wean them away fromMaoist influence in the villages, thegovernment is building 1,000 seaterashram schools. These, however, arenext to Salwa Judum camps and policestations, ensuring that their educationwill take place under the watchful eye ofthese Salwa Judum leaders. Thephysical space of the schools is alsorestricted, with rooms in narrow lines.

Even the UNICEF has colluded in theargument that children are better off incamps, with a UNICEF film made foreducational purposes noting how greatit was that these adivasi children whowere in Salwa Judum camps had nowlearnt to brush their teeth with foamingtoothpaste. At a time when thesechildren had lost their homes and inmany cases, seen their relatives or

co-villagers killed before their eyes,learning to brush with toothpaste whichthey can ill-afford, as against theirtraditional datun, would hardly seem likea big achievement for either UNICEF orthe Indian state. UNICEF tents, meantpurely for educational purposes, arebeing used for shooting cover and tohouse paramilitaries; and yet UNICEFhas been silent on these violations.

For the teachers themselves, alwaysreluctant to travel to interior villages, theSalwa Judum has been a period of paywithout work . Officially, the governmentclaims that it is the Naxalites who havedriven teachers and other governmentstaff away, but this is denied by manyvillagers. In December 2008, I was showna threatening letter written in red ink,in a purposely illiterate hand, ostensiblyfrom the Naxalites to the school principal,commanding him to shut the schooldown within two weeks or else! Onenquiring into the issue in the villageconcerned, we learnt that it hadoriginated from a disgruntled teacher,upset with the principal’s insistence thathe come to work on time!

Many teachers, who are eitheroutsiders, or educated tribals, who havegot alienated from the poor villagers whocomprise the Naxal base, have beenactive with the Salwa Judum and madeenough money to become contractors.The Salwa Judum leader in Kutru,Madhukar, was a middle school teacher,who by his own admission, rarelyattended school or only beech-beech-mein,whenever he could spare a few hoursfrom his Salwa Judum activities.Following court cases against Salwa


Judum,9 the government woke up to theneed to signal accountability. An articlein the Indian Express describes thebewilderment of one ‘leader’, SoyamMooka, who was served notice:

Soyam Mooka, a teacher in a schoolbeing run by the department, is amongthe frontline leaders of ‘Salwa Judum’,ever since the anti-Naxalite campaignwas launched in South Bastar in June2005 to isolate the Maoist rebels and tocreate awareness among the massesagainst the Naxalite menace. LikeMukka, a number of other schoolteachers of Konta and Bijapur regionsare closely associated with themovement.

The state Government, which hasbeen extending support to ‘SalwaJudum’ terming it as a spontaneousmovement by the locals againstbloodshed and violence in the tribalregion, had encouraged theseGovernment employees to activelyparticipate themselves in the movementduring the last three years…

Mukka told The Indian Express thathe had received a notice from hisdepartment asking why action shouldnot be taken against him for making‘political statements’ at ‘Salwa Judum’meetings and not attending to his duties.“The department knows of myassociation with Salwa Judum for thelast three years”, he added.10

Luckily for Soyam Mooka thegovernment was never serious aboutimplementing the notice against him andrecently has strongly defended him inthe Supreme Court on rape charges, adefence it has mounted by virtue ofsimply asking him to justify himself anddismissing the girl’s complaint on thisbasis. In other words, these SalwaJudum leaders have got rich ongovernment salaries, contracts, as wellas relief money they have siphoned offfrom camps, and it is they, rather thanthe government, who effectively run thelocal administration where then is thequestion of doing anything as mundaneas teaching?

Consequences of SchoolingBut dismal as this picture sounds interms of adivasi identity and indigenousknowledge, the consequences of formalschooling are often considerablycomplex. Even as residential schoolingcreates a certain ‘educated adivasi’identity that makes it difficult for ashramschool alumni to relate to the occupationsof their parents (agriculture or thegathering of forest produce), theinteraction with children of other castesand villages that residential schoolsmake possible, allow new networksor ‘new epistemic communities’(Bayly, 1999) to develop. It is interesting,for example, that many of the male youthactivists of the Communist Party of India

9 WP 250 of 2007, Nandini Sundar and others versus Government of Chhattisgarh, andWP 119 of 2007, Kartam Joga and others versus Government of Chhattisgarh and Unionof India.

10 Tribals see conspiracy in notice to Salwa Judum leader before election. Joseph John,Indian Express, 16 October 2008.


in Bastar came to know each other inthe residential schools, and it is thesenetworks that have helped them toorganise for land rights and in defenceof a particular adivasi identity. Again,although Christian missionary educationoften led to an initial loss of adivasiidentity, culture and religion, it is oftenin the areas where such education hashad a long history that we now see thestrongest movements for tribal autonomyand identity (e.g. in the North-Eastor Jharkhand). Educated adivasis takethe lead in such movements, whichin turn creates a demand for theinstitutionalisation of tribal languages inschools (Nambissan, 2000: 212-213;Devalle, 1992 : 175-176). Inevitably,however, the language they seek topreserve may not be the language as itis actually spoken, but a more ‘civilised’version that follows the structures andwritten codes of the dominant languages(Devalle, 1992 : 177). In short, formaleducation may both destroy and create‘indigenous’ identities and claims topossess indigenous knowledge.

Advocates of indigenous knowledgeand concerned educators argued that itis possible to combine formal schoolingwith a concern for the preservation ofindigenous knowledge, such as thecurriculum developed by the Maori inNew Zealand and the Inuit in Canadawhich draw on culture-specific learningexpectations, use local languages etc.(Michie, 1999; Bartels and Bartels,1995). In India, however, although therehave been some attempts, such as theDhumkuria school in Kanke, Bihar,based on the indigenous dormitory

system among Oraons and in whichchildren were taught both local crafts andprepared for state board examinations(Toppo, 1978) or the attempt by Kunduto use adivasi riddling practices todevelop curriculum–such efforts are stillrudimentary. There is also the dangerthat unless such efforts are part of apolitical agenda that is led by indigenouspeople themselves and aims to empowerthem, the transmission of indigenousknowledge through schools will amountto no more than the colonial model ofschooling in which crafts and agricultureor hygiene and applied sciences wereseen as the most suitable subjects fornative children (Grigson, 1944; see alsoSimon, 1998). While education was seenas essential to enabling adivasis to avoidexploitation, it was also felt that too muchliterary education would alienate adivasichildren from their own culture (Prasad,1994: 276-277). As Kelly and Altbachargue, in the absence of appropriatehistory and science education and bydenying native children skills foranything other than what s/he hadtraditionally done, such schooling‘represented a basic denial of thecolonised’s past and withheld from themthe tools to regain the future’ (1978 :15).To reiterate then, what I started with –the model for adivasi schooling that weshould aspire to is one where childrenare introduced to new skills andknowledge but in a manner that buildsupon their existing knowledge andculture rather than in a way thatdestroys it. And here, I must once againmention B.M. Pugh as the inspiration forsuch an endeavour.


REFERENCES

AKHIL BHARATIYA VANVASI KALYAN ASHRAM (A.B.V.K.A.). Keval Vyaktigat Upyog keLiye. Mumbai, A.B.V.K.A., New Delhi

ANANDA, G. 1994. Ashram Schools in Andhra Pradesh—A Case Study of Chenchusof Nallamalai Hills. Commonwealth Publishers, New Delhi

BARTELS, D.A. and A.L. BARTELS, 1995. When the North was Red : AboriginalEducation in Siberia. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press

BAYLY, C. 1999. Empire and Information. Cambridge University Press.Cambridge

CORRIGAN, P. 1990. Social Forms/Human Capacities: Essays in Authority andDifference. Routledge, London

DESHPANDE, B. 1990. Sanstha, Shasan aur Karykarta. Akhil Bharatiya VanvasiKalyan Ashram, Delhi

DEVALLE, S. 1992. Discourses of Ethnicity: Culture and protest in Jharkhand.Sage Publications, New Delhi

EKKA, A. and M. ASIF, 2000. Development Induced Displacement andRehabilitation in Jharkhand–1951-1955: A Database on its Extent andNature. Indian Social Institute, New Delhi

FURER-HAIMENDORF, C. Von. 1982. Tribes of India: The Struggle for Survival. OxfordUniversity Press, New Delhi

GEERTZ, C. 1983. Local Knowledges. Basic Books, New York

GRIGSON, W.V. 1944. The Aboriginal Problem in the Central Provinces andBerar. Government Printing. Nagpur

JEFFERY, R., P. JEFFERY. and C. JEFFREY. 2002. Privatisation of SecondarySchooling in Bijnor: A Crumbling Welfare State. Draft Mss

JHA, J. and D. JHINGRAN. 2002. Elementary Education for the Poorest and OtherDeprived Groups: The Real Challenge of Universalisation. Centre for PolicyResearch, New Delhi

KELLY, G.P. and P.G. ALTBACH. (eds.) 1978. Education and Colonialism. LongmanInc. New York

KUMAR, K. 1991. Political Agenda of Education: A Study of Colonialist andNationalist Ideas. Sage Publications, New Delhi

——— 1989. The Social Character of Learning. Sage Publications,New Delhi

KUNDU, M. 1994. Tribal Education: New Perspectives. Gyan Publishing House.New Delhi

LUYKX, A. 1999. The Citizen Factory: Schooling and Cultural Production in Bolivia.Suny Press, Albany


MICHIE, M. 1999. Where are Indigenous People and their Knowledge in theReforming of Learning, Curriculum and Pedagogy? Paper presented atthe Fifth UNESCO-ACEID International Conference, Reforming Learning,Curriculum and Pedagogy: Innovative Visions for the New Century. 13-16December 1999. Bangkok, Thailand

NAMBISSAN, G. 1994. Language and Schooling of Tribal Children: Issues Relatedto Medium of Instruction. Economic and Political Weekly, 29 (42): 2747-2754

——— 2000. Identity, Exclusion and the Education of Tribal Communities.In R. Wazir (ed.) The Gender Gap in Basic Education, pp. 175-224, SagePublications, New Delhi

NANDA, B. N. 1994. Contours of Continuity and Change: The Story of the BondaHighlanders. Sage Publications, New Delhi

NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCHEDULED TRIBES—2006. First Report2004-05 and 2005-06, New Delhi

NCERT 2007. National Curriculum Framework (National Focus Group onProblems of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Children). New Delhi

PADEL, F. 1995. The Sacrifice of Human Being: British Rule and the Khonds ofOrissa. Oxford University Press, New Delhi

PADEL, A. et. al. 2002. Rights and Wrongs: Ordeal by Fire in the Killing Fields ofGujarat. Editor’s Guild of India, New Delhi

PATWARDHAN, A. 2000. Tribal Perceptions of Education: A Case Study of Adivasisin the S.S.P. Region of the Narmada Valley. M.Phil. Dissertation. CentralInstitute of Education. Delhi University, Delhi

PRASAD, A. 1994. Forests and Subsistence in Colonial India:A Study of the Central Provinces (1830-1945). Ph.D. thesis, JawaharlalNehru University, New Delhi

PROBE TEAM. 1999. Public Report on Basic Education in India. Oxford UniversityPress, New Delhi

SAPRE, P. D. 1991. Hamare Vanvasi aur Kalyan Ashram. Lokhit Prakashan,Lucknow

SARANGAPANI, P. 2001. Childhood, Growing Up and Learning: the Baigas ofnorthern Kawardha. Report submitted to the Indira Gandhi National Centrefor Arts

SAXENA, S. and K. MAHENDROO, 1993. Politics of Language. Economic and PoliticalWeekly, 28 (45): 2445-2447

SIMON, J. A. Anthropology, Native Schooling and Maori: the Politics of CulturalAdaptation Policies. Oceania 69 (1): 61-78


SINGH, R. P. 1997. Itihas Ga Raha Hain, Part II. Textbook for Class V. ShishuMandir Prakashan, Patna

SUNDAR, N. 2002. Indigenise, Nationalise and Spiritualise—An Agenda forEducation. In International Social Science Journal, 173, pp. 373-383

——— 2004. Teaching to Hate : R.S.S’s Pedagogical Programme. In Economicand Political Weekly, 39 (16), 2004, 1605-1612

——— 2006. Adivasi vs. Vanvasi: the Politics of Conversion and Reconversionin Central India. In Satish Saberwal and Mushirul Hasan (eds.) AssertiveReligious Identities. Manohar Prakashan. New Delhi

——— 2006. Bastar, Maoism and Salwa Judum. In Economic and PoliticalWeekly, Vol. XLI, 29, pp. 3187-3192

TIGGA, R. 1992. Communication Barriers in the Development of Tribal Children(in reference to two tribal schools of Raigarh district in Madhya Pradesh).Communication Project Study for the Bachelor of Communication andJournalism. Rani Durgawati Viswavidyalaya, Jabalpur

TILAK, J. B. G. 2000. Education Poverty in India, Occasional Papers. NIEPA,New Delhi

TOPPO, S. 1978. Dynamics of Education Development in Tribal India. ClassicalPublications, New Delhi

VASAVI, A. R. 2000. Exclusion, Elimination and Opportunity : Primary Schools andSchooling in Selected Regions of India: Summary of Field Research. Mss


Christian Missionaries in Educationaland Social Change

A Critical Study on the Nagas LUNGTHUIYANG RIAMEI*

Abstract

The main thrust of the missionaries in India during the nineteenth and early twentiethcentury was education and spread of Christianity. The paper provides historicaloverview of Christian missionaries amongst the Nagas. Education at the missionfield reflected the dominant old humanist tradition. Christianity has always beenassociated with education during the colonial period. However, where mission’seducation acts as social control, it also tended towards as a social transformation.The article deals about the mssionaries activities in the Indian administered Nagaareas. The study brings about how the changes occurred in the Nagas’ societyafter the coming of the Christian missionaries.

Introduction: A brief History of theNagasThe Nagas live in Nagalim which literallymeans “land of the Nagas”. It is mostly amountainous region with some of themost beautiful scenery in the world. Thearea’s natural beauty is reflected in theircultural folklore and traditions. Nagalimis strategically located in between SouthAsia and South East Asian region. Nagaslive in the Indian states of Assam,Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagalandand Burmese North-West state of Kachin

and Sagaing sub-division. Ethnically,Nagas are an Indo-Mongoloid folk livingin the North-Eastern hill of India andNorth West of Burma, divided into adozens of languages and dialects,formerly notorious for head-hunting,which is almost the only thing mostpeople know about them, but todayawake and stirring, anxious to progress.They are fine people, of whom theircountry is proud, strong and self-reliant,with the free and independent outlookcharacteristic of highlanders everywhere,

* Doctoral Fellow, Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, JawaharlalNehru University, New Delhi-110067


good to look at, with an unerring instinctfor colour and design friendly andcheerful with a keen sense of humour,gifted with splendid dances and love forsong (Elwin V 1961:1). E. W Clark alsoreminisces of his early days among theNagas: “they were short, sturdy men;naked but for a small apron and to oureyes exceedingly drity.” His descriptionof the Nagas suggests that despite theirdirty looks and they wore bits of whitecotton symbolising their love of beauty(Bowers, A.C 1929:197-98).

Other than the occasional Britishcivil servant, the only outsiders withwhom the Nagas came into contact in theearly years were Christian Missionarieswho not only proselyted among thevarious tribes but also concernedthemselves with social welfare activitieswhich led to the rise of an element thatsubsequently played a prominent part inthe Naga nationalist movement(Ghokhale, B.G 1961:37). The Britishadministration left the Nagas un-disturbed except when they had to berestrained from over-indulging in head-hunting.

Advent of the Christian Missionariesin Naga areasMissionary urge for Christianisation ofIndia was fermented in England longbefore the 1813 Charter Act. In 1793William Carey reached in Bengal atSerampore, with missionary spiritwithout proper permission from theBritish Company. Originally he was acobbler by profession and turned out tobe a Baptist missionary and becameinstrumental to the general missionaryspirit that prevailed over England (Groverand Grover 1994). In between, the theory

of imperialism did not remain aninsulated political position in Britain; itbecame a religious and ethical theoryand an integral part of cosmology (Nandy1998). Education as a means ofevangelisation was chosen for pragmaticreason. The history of Christianity variedin the different regios of India. Themissionaries were never from the samedenominations or from the samenationality. In the same way, theirrelation with the British varied. In thecontext of Nagas, the British hadobserved that the introduction ofChristianity would be sine-qua-non forthe upliftment of the Nagas, whom theyportrayed as backward and uncivilised(Sema Piketo 1992:67).

Miles Bronson was the firstmissionaries designated for the Nagas.He visited the Naga areas for couple oftimes and established a mission amongthem. He moved his family to the NagaHills on March 13, 1840 and commencedhis work among the Nagas at Namsangvillage (now in Arunachal Pradesh) inthe Tirap Frontier Division of the NorthEast Frontier Agency (Gammell 1850 : 219;Downs, 1971 : 21-21). But his family wasafflicted with severe illnes an obliged toabandon the mission station, after whichthe work among the Nagas ceased.

The reopening of Naga mission fieldwas the work of two men- Godhula Brownand E. W. Clark. Clark had come toSibsagar to work among the Assamesein 1869. In addition to maintaining thestation activities he had, in 1871 becomeinvolved among the tea gardengardeners. During these years he hadbecome interested in the Nagas—mostlyAos—who frequently attended the

27Christian Missionaries in Educational and Social ChangeA Critical Study on the Nagas

Sibsagar bazaar. Clark soon discoveredthat it was difficult to maintain Christiandiscipline in the Naga village due toconstant raids (Downs, 1971: 63, 66).

The first missionary who came toNaga areas in Manipur was WilliamPettigrew. He came to India under thesponsorship of a private society, theArthington Aboriginese Mission. He firsttoured the Songson, Mao Naga village in1895 but couldn’t establish the missionfield (Hepuni 1976:3). Then, Pettigrewwent to choose the Tangkhul area tostart his mission work which seemed tobe the will of God for him and for thebenefit of the people (Lolly, 1985:24).

However, when the Naga politicalproblems in North East worsened in theearly fifties, the fate fell upon themissionaries’ activities in Naga areaswith the consequence of a suddenexpulsion. The troubles and sufferingfaced by the innocent people during thosedays were unspeakable. When the NagaHills were declared as the disturbedareas, free movement was extremelydifficult. The Church leaders often failedto continue with their mission activities.The normal life and progress of thechurch was often affected due to theunsettled Naga political problem whichcontinues till today.

Education as a Medium of EvangelismMissionary education in India played itspart in attempting to break the castehierarchy. The purpose of missionaryeducation was not one of social controlbut of social transformation. With anemphasis on ‘education for all’ withoutcaste or sex distinction- the missionarieswere more allied to a public educatortradition. They were prepared to admit

those of low caste and of high caste evenat the expense of losing many of theirpupils. Most saw advanced Christianeducation to be an indispensable part ofwhat needs to be done for theevangelisation of India. It become moreand more syncretistic in response to themissionary impact and thus was able toassimilate much of Christianity whichprovided a bulwark of conversion. For,instance when Pettigrew established hismission centre at Ukhrul, his workbegan by establishing a school. His chiefobjective in giving education to thetribesmen was to propagate Christianity(Luikham, 1948: 15). Various Missioncentres along with educationalinstitutions were established acrossNaga areas to propagate Christianity.The Mission centre which was opened atMolungkimong village in 1876 (latershifted to Impur on the Northern side ofNaga Hills in 1984) served the Nagatribes of the Aos, Sangtams, Changs,Phoms, Lothas and Semas, respectivelyof schooling, evangelisation and intraining the young natives of the regionin Biblical educations. The KohimaMission was mainly instrumental inimparting education as well as trainingto the Southern Naga tribes consistingof the Angamis, Chakesang, Maos,Zeliangruangs, Rengmas (Downs,1971:95, 137). However, Christianity hadbrought about education in the earlyperiod with their Mission PrimarySchools while the conservative Nagasrefused to attend schools run by themissionaries.

Missionaries witnessing therevolution of the literacy seem to havebeen vaguely aware of its enormousimpact. For example, in 1944, the first


literature ever printed in the RengmaNaga language (apart from the songbook)was printed in 400 copies anddisseminated among Rengma village. Thiswas the Book of Mathew, in large type.The few who can read and help recite thewords to the illiterate (Phillip 1983: 191).In this, we see the fusion of the religionand literacy- the youth coming as primaryteacher to the distant village, carryingwith him ‘the power-filled doctrine’ madetangible in the form of book and recitingto the villager the unchanging andunchangeable word of God. Educationalinstitutions were always the mainagencies for effectively transmitting thedominant culture. Schools act as agentsof both cultural and ideological hegemonythrough the process of selectiveinstruction (Scrase 1993: 56). The schoolswere considered the best means of passingknowledge and gaining the confidence ofthe people, as well as propagating thegospel. Christianity was the very core ofthe educational programme and schoolswere one of the greatest importances intheir endeavour in evangelising the Nagapeople.

Education as an Instrument of SocialChangeWith the colonisation of the Naga Hillsin the later part of the nineteenthcentury, the spread of Christianity andwestern education have influenced theNagas. Education emerged as animportant instrument that started off apolitical process of developing awarenessamong the Naga people about their rightsbut more importantly it brought themtogether to form a pan Naga identity.Education provided employment to theNagas that led to the formation of a new

class of education middle class whobecame concerned about the future ofdevelopment of the Naga people in theBritish Indian colonial system. This newclass educated Nagas emerged as animportant factor that moulded thepolitical history of the Nagas (Kikon,2003:263).

The Nagas did not have their ownwritten script. Modern education wasunknown to them. So, the most importantsignificant cognitive dimension to theintroduction of Christianity among theNagas was accompanied with literacy andthat the very first literature presented tothem was Christian scripture. It is in thissense that the missionaries act as anemissaries of high culture of the plainsbringing the written word to the Hillpeople. Even today the primary and majoragent of literacy and higher education inmany remote villages is the Christianchurch. Many local, regional andnational leaders have received theireducation and training in Churchsponsored educational institutions(Karotemparel 1994 : 17).

Through missionaries activitiesseveral schools were established in theNaga Hills and gradually the peoplebegan to understand the value of moderneducation. The missionaries’ tirelessefforts to educate the Nagas tribesbecame successful when the peoplerealized the value of modern educationand began to established schools by theirown effort and later asked thegovernment help (Lolly, 1985 : 85). Theignorant hill peoples’ eyes were openedto modern life through education as thenumber of teachers and schoolsincreased along with the growth ofChristians.


Education was seen as the first steptowards freeing the mind and was alsoconsidered the least obtrusive method ofevangelising as it did not cause any socialor political disturbances. The preparationrequired for receiving knowledge of theChristian truth required clearing themind of error and superstition whichrequired education for reasons ofprudence. Education therefore, was heldimportant to silently undermine the fabricof error, and restoring to the inhabitantsof Naga Hills for the use of reason, theaccomplishment of which constituted agreat moral revolution (Stokes 1959 : 32).

Impact of Christianity on the NagaSocietyThe spread of Christianity brought vastchanges in the social and moralconditions of the non-christian world.The contrast between conditions beforeand after the missionaries arrived withthe message of Christ was unmistakable.Wherever individuals were influenced bythe mission fields of Christians, changesin the social environment have alwaysappeared (Lipphand B, Esther, and etal,1929 : 147). The image of the Nagas aslegitimised by the Christian missionariesin their account is that of a peoplenoticeably primitive and apparentlybarbaric. With this in the background,the missionaries started employingstrategies that has given the Nagas anew meaning. The overpoweringportrayal of Nagas as a primitive, possiblydecadent people clearly overlooked thestrength and simplicity of Naga society(Rivenburg 1941 : 37). In the meantimethe assimilation of Christian God into thelocal one, the building of roads, schools,hospitals, and the knowledge of the world

purveyed through new maps of the world,and various other new developments inthe locality had decisively invaded theNaga cognitive realm (Eaton 1984: 52).And unlike the Hindu religious system,the Nagas have no caste system. Theyeat, work, talk and worship together. Thenon-caste base society structure of theNagas has been a blessing for thesignificant progress of the Christianmissionaries in Naga areas. For theNagas, they have a sense of equality. Insocial, political, cultural and religiousmatters, all have equal rights. Everyonehas equal opportunity to express one’sview in all matters of discussion. Thedistinction between the rich and poor,high and low is kept minimum(Puthuvail, 1983 : 173-174). Therefore,it was easy for such a society tounderstand and incorporate theChristian message of equality andfraternity at its face value.

Christianity was also associatedwith new, powerful techniques for dealingwith physical pain or disease. Thatmissionaries to the Nagas carried withthem the latest medicines Westerntechnology had to offer naturallyencouraged this association. SidneyRivenburg wrote: “When I go out topreach, a Scripture portion, hymn book,pills, quinine, chlorodine and painkillerare my weapons of warfare”. As a resultof this intrusion of Western medicine, thecredibility of the village shamans, whotraditionally dealt with those spiritsinflicting physical pain on individuals, wasseverely undermined (Smith 1925 : 189).Hence, the new religion became itself atechnique and sometimes a remedy forthe people.


The coming of the Christianitybrought a great transformation in thesocio-cultural life of the Naga people.Christians were taught the cleanlinessin their houses by keeping domesticanimals outside the village, especially thecows, mithuns and removal of the skulls.Missionaries thus, injected theknowledge of a better life and elevatedthe Nagas gradually from the old way oflife to a modern life-style. Previously alldead persons were buried in the yard nextto the house, which is no more a practice.Now every village or town has a commoncemetery (Lolly 1985 : 70-71).

Marriage in the tribal/indigenoussociety is a social institution with asolemn ceremony of religious rite withoutwhich no marriage is considered legal.During the time of pre-Christianitymarriages were mostly arranged byparents and frequent divorce prevailed.But the arranged marriage has graduallygiven way to the love marriage (Roy 1973:73-74). When there is love marriage, abetter relationship between the coupleis seen as a result, happier family life ismanifested.

The introduction of Christianity wasaccompanied by the erosion of good oldcustoms and culture (Sharma and Ao2000 : 53).Christian missionaries in theirmission to spread the Christianity triedto destroy the social and cultural life ofthe Naga people. Culture played asignificant role in stirring up doubts aboutthe contributions of colonial rulers in thelives of the Naga people. While it was truethat knowledge of modern science andtechnology benefitted the people, it wasalso seen as a way through by which thecolonial rulers also gained more powerand legitimcy in relation to the system that

existed in the Naga society. It became adomain political conflict where westernpower was equated with knowledege whilethe already existing system was seen as‘barbaric’ and ‘inferior’. Here, was systemintroduce by the colonial rulers that saidthat ‘progress’ was equal to western/modern way of life and ‘barbarism’ wasequal to the (traditional) way of life (Kikon2003 : 7). Culture became the basis ofpeople’s way of live, language, theirworldwide views and belief system.Culture became the basis of a struggle foran identity amongst the Naga people,which they felt was being drowned by thedirect intervention of the colonial powerstructure. This power sructure hadaltered an entire system and had tiltedthe balance against the Naga people.

Critical Perspective

The wrong western values were beingprovided as an infrastructure for thewrong western skills. This gap betweennorms and techniques may be called the‘techno-cultural gap’ of the westernheritage in Africa and parts of Asia. Amajor reason for the gap in the field ofeducation lays the paradoxical role of themissionary school. On the other hand,the missionary school was supposed tobe the principal medium for thepromotion of modern civilisationespecially in the underdeveloped world(Mazrui, 1979 : 32). The missionaryschool as principal medium for helpingthe Nagas towards a secular civilisationwas thus also the central medium for thepropagation of new concept of the devoutsociety. At the beginning, the Christianmissionaries showed unable towithstand the pressure from the locals.Outside the schools not only did the


Christians try to destroy the localcultures in the name of the new religion,but their manner of introducing the newfaith could only lead to its own declinewith substituting adequate alternativevalues (Ibid : 34).

An awareness of variations amongNaga religions and of their dynamic, fluidquality helps to suggest how Christianconversions took place in the Naga Hills.For just as it is incorrect to depict theNagas as having no religion at all, assome British administrators did, it isequally incorrect to see Naga religion asan unchanging structure whichChristianity simply replaced. Rather, onefinds that Naga religions, already in aprocess of evolution made furtheradaptations in their encounter withChristianity so as to incorporate it andin the process, to transform what hadonce an alien religious system been intoand an indigenous one. Naga religionswere not static but dynamic as we findthat cults change over time, and thatparticular deities or one Naga group wereoccasionally incorporated into thecosmology of other groups (Christianity).The chief reason for the high degree offluidity in Naga religions is related to thelack of writing system and hence of bodyof scripture by means of which a morestable religious system could haveevolved.

Today, majority of the Nagas areChristian. But there are some Nagatribes like Konyaks and Zeliangruangs(a congnate tribe consist of Zeme,Liangmai and Ruangmei) who continueto practice the indigenous form ofworship. For instance some of theZeliangruangs Naga worships their godcalled Tingkao Ravguangc or Tingwang

meaning god of heaven or heavenly god.Christian prayer was not regarded asuitable substitute for the customarypractices associated with the village.Despite the influence of differentreligions, at present mainly two types ofreligious practices are found among theNagas. Specifically, in the Zeliangruangsarea there was not much help from theforeign missionaries; the Christianmissionary movement was more or lessan indeginous effort (Kamei 2004 : 300).But Christianity outnumbers thetradition religion by 90 per cent. It is truethat different crises have occurredbecause of changing or conversion toChristianity from traditional religion, liketurning them out from the village andburning up their houses. In fact, it alsocannot be ignore that after conversionto Christianity, people has almostforgotten all their traditional customs,their dance and music, dress system andtheir folks songs etc., which could be animportant factor for the prevailingidentity crisis (Kamei and Satwanti2005:6). But gradually with moreawareness and enlightenment througheducation and globalisation, peoplestarted realising an important need ofcultural items to overcome the problem.

Westernisation in the name ofmodernisation and economic develop-ment should be brought over in tune withNaga indigenous culture, heritage, artsand crafts, customs and customary laws.Under the influence of western culture, ithas become the fashion to discard,dishonour and disown our own forefathersand condemn them as head hunters,naked, wild and pagan. In case of theNagas, outsiders do not identify the virtueof their forefathers and misguided and


condemn them as head-hunters. It is aconspiracy hatched by foreignmissionaries and British Government inconnivance with white writers to malignand undermine glorious Naga history(Zeliang 2005 : 1).

The Morung (dormitory for bachelors)was one of the social institutions ofNagas’ life. It was a place where theyoung people were trained, disciplinedand given instruction. The ‘Morung’institution has a similiarity with the‘Kibbutz’ of the Israelites where group ofyoung people live together and share allwork, and income. Nagas considered theMorung as an enormously powerfulorganisation with limitless fund(Mills 1937 : 49). Ursula Bowers, ananthropologist who lived amongst theZeliangruang Nagas gives an elaborateaccount of a Morung graduate: “they arethe tougher fibre and the rough cornershave been off. They are more self-reliant,with common sense and better disciplineand above all their loyalty and sense ofservice to a corporate body is well-developed”(Bowers 1952 : 75). However,with the coming of the Christianity thesignificance of the Morung wasconsiderably reduced. The dormitoryinstitutions was replaced by theChrisian youth society, schools, youthclubs etc. where youths have moreprivilesge to participate, learn, and sharein modern education and knowledge ofday-to-day life.

No one will deny the immensecontribution of the Christian mission-aries to economic development, socialprogress and enhancing people to a levelof enlightenment. Nonetheless, the viewof Naga practices as belonging to a“heathen” past has brought about a

dislocation in the traditional cultureamong the Naga people. The quest for therole of missionaries in distancingthe Nagas from their culture is foundhighly significant. Many authenticand Christian values such as honesty,simplicity, justice, democraticprocedures, dignity of the individuals etc,were already present in the tribal societyeven before the advent of the Christianity.Christianity has not always been ableto preserve and build on them. But underthe impact of the modernisation someof these values have been lost(Puthenpurakal 1996: 45).

Conclusion

Christian Missionaries working in theNaga Hills played a key role in theexpansion of modern education in thenineteen and twentieth century. It isseen that the modern education systeminstituted in the Naga Hills was a crucialelement in the process of evangelisationand the creation of a new culture(Bendanglila 2005 : 111). Many Nagasidentified the idea of progress withChristianity. Christianity wasunderstood to be civilised way of lifecompared the former way of life. Today,it has become a fashion in Naga societyto talk about Naga identity while cuttingthe roots of every component thatconstitutes genuine Naga identity. Withfrequent contacts between the Christianand foreign missionaries their world viewand mental outlook had been broadened.The Nagas have accepted modernity intandem with economic and socialdevelopment. Now, with the pace ofglobalisation and liberalisation thegovernment of India gives an emphasisin providing opportunities for various


educational fields such as commerce,culture and information technology. It isthe responsibility of the educationinstitutions to make proactivecontributions to the emergence of finervalues in the socio-cultural-political lifeof the people and take strong measuresto raise the performance and productivity

REFERENCES

BOWERS, A.C. 1929. Under Head Hunters Eyes. The Judson Press, Philadelphia

BOWERS, URSULA. G. 1972. Naga Path. Readers union, London

BENDANGLILA, 2005. The Nineteenth Century Christian Missionaries and theDynamics of the Expansion of Modern Education in the NagaHills.Unpublished. Master Philosophy dissertation. Zakir Husain Centrefor Educational Studies. School of Social Science. JNU, New Delhi

DOWNS, F. S. 1971. The Mighty Works of God — A Brief History of the Council ofBaptist Churches in North East India: The Mission Period 1836-1950,Christian Literature Centre, Gauhati

EATON, RICHARD. 1984. “Conversion to Christianity among the Nagas, 1876-1971”, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 2(11), 1-52

ELWIN, V. 1961. India’s North East Frontier in the Nineteenth Century, OxfordUniversity Press: Oxford

GAMMELL, WILLIAM. 1850. A History of American Baptist Missions in Asia, Africa,Europe and North America, Goul

Documents

JOURNAL OF INDIAN EDUCATION - NCERT · 2020. 3. 31. · 6 Journal of Indian Education August 2010 in terms of tribal, indigenous or adivasi education. In particular, I want to quote