The children belonging to Korku and Gond tribal communities are reported to have low learning levels and very high drop-out rates as compared to the state and national rates. Various researches and studies suggest that the reason for it is the difference in the language used by the children at home and the language used in the schools, to which they are completely unfamiliar.

The project “आले इठू (Hamari Shiksha)” will work towards ensuring quality education in the government schools where Korku and Gond children are enrolled. The project has adopted a pedagogy which finds its roots in the belief that a child going to either pre-primary or primary school should be first taught in his/her mother tongue or home language before they are introduced to the medium of instruction in schools, when different from their mother-tongue. We believe that it is important for a child to acquire fluency in language that will then provide support in learning other subjects. A child starts schooling with knowledge of & mother tongue or home language; and when teaching continues in the mother tongue, they learn faster. We also believe that a child has the capacity to learn multiple languages and hence transition from mother-tongue to medium of instruction is possible in the primary school.

The project will work with thorough involvement of local community institutions i.e. School Management Committee (SMC), Village Education Committee (VEC), Mothers’ Committee (MC) and Community Collective (CC). These institutions will be strengthened and made fully functional to ensure quality education in schools. The program is currently operational in three education clusters of Timarni block.