Context: Recently, the Odisha government is coming up with three mega educational complexes exclusively for tribal students, where both academic and sporting skills will be harnessed.
About the Plan

• Under this the proposed educational complexes will be established in tribal dominated districts such as Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj.
• Santal and Bhuyan are two dominant tribal groups living in Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts.
• The campuses will have state-of-the-art facilities to improve educational and sporting skills of tribal students from Standard I to XII. Skill development centres will be an integral part of the projects.
• Funds required for the project will be sourced from Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBADC), which was formed for focused development of mineral rich districts. Incidentally, most mineral rich districts are tribal-dominated.
• Keonjhar, where other tribes such as Sounti, Ho, Juang, Kharwar, Mahali, Oraon Kolha and Kora reside, is the most mined district of the State.
• Keonjhar district itself contains more than 70% of the iron ore reserves of Odisha.
• These campuses will have state-of-the-art facilities to improve educational and sporting skills of tribal students from Standard I to XI. 

About Tribes and their population

• A tribe is a social division in a traditional society consisting of families linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect.
• A tribe possesses certain qualities and characteristics that make it a unique cultural, social, and political entity.
• According to the 2011 Census, tribal people constitute 8.6% of the nation’s total population i.e. over 104 million people.
• Odisha’s tribal population constitutes 9.17% of the country’s tribal population and the tribal population is 22.85% of the state’s total population.
• With 62 tribal communities, Odisha has the most diverse tribes in India and out of India’s total 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), 13 reside in Odisha.
• Santal and Bhuyan are two dominant tribal groups living in Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh district.
• In terms of percentage tribal population, Odisha occupies the third position in India, and the First and Second are Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra respectively.

About Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)

• In 1973, the Dhebar Commission created Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a separate category, who are less developed among the tribal groups.
• In 1975, the Government of India initiated to identify the most vulnerable tribal groups as a separate category called PVTGs.
•  In 2006, the Government of India renamed the PTGs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
• PVTGs are the most vulnerable among the tribal groups in India with declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are economically backward.
• They generally inhabit remote localities having poor infrastructure and administrative support.

Government Policies & Programmes for Tribal Education

• Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme: It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented by the State Governments and Union
• Territory Administrations, and provide financial assistance to ST students pursuing post-matric courses in recognised institutions.
• Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS): They are established to impart quality education to ST children in remote areas in order to enable them to avail of opportunities in high and professional education courses and get employment in various sectors. They are based on Navodaya Model.
• National Overseas Scholarship Scheme: The scheme provides financial assistance to 20 students selected for pursuing higher studies abroad for PhD and post-doctoral studies.
• Grants-in-Aid under Article 275(1) of the Constitution: This grant is utilized for socio-economic development of integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP).
• Prime minister’s research fellowship(PMRF): This facilitate 1000 best Btech students to do Ph.D in IITs and IIScs with a handsome fellowship.
• Adivasi Shiksha Rrinn Yojana: Under this scheme, financial assistance up to Rs 5.00 lakh at concessional rate of interest of 6% per annum is provided to ST students for pursuing professional/ technical education including Ph.D. in India.

Problems of Tribal Education
There are many critical issues and problems in the field of tribal education:

• Medium of language: Language is one of the important constraints of tribal children which prevents them access to education.
• The Location of the Village: The physical barriers create a hindrance for the children of a tribal village to attend the school in a neighbouring village.
• Economic Condition: The economic condition of tribal people is so poor that they do not desire to spare their children or their labour power and allow them to attend schools.
• Attitude of the parents: As education does not yield any immediate economic return, the tribal parents prefer to engage their children in remunerative employment which supplements the family income.
• Teacher Related Problems: In the remote tribal areas the teacher absenteeism is a regular phenomenon and this affects largely the quality of education.
• Lack of Proper monitoring: Proper monitoring is hindered by poor coordination between the Tribal Welfare Department and School Education Department.

Road Ahead

• Literacy campaign: Proper awareness campaign should be organized to create awareness about the importance of education. Extensive literacy campaign in the tribal-dominated districts may be undertaken on a priority basis to literate the tribal.
• The XaXa Committee recommended a greater focus on removing gender disparity in education.
• Attitude of the tribal parents: The attitude of the tribal parents toward education should be improved through proper counselling and guidance.
• Relevant study materials in local languages: Most of the study materials should be supplied in local languages of tribes.
• Appointment of Local teachers and female teachers: It is suggested to appoint more tribal teachers and female teachers in the tribal areas. The ecological, cultural, psychological characteristics of tribal children should be considered carefully by the teachers in tribal areas.
• Stipends and various scholarships: Since higher education among the tribes is less, special ST scholarships should be provided to the tribal students perusing higher education, particularly in medical, engineering, and other vocational streams.
• Residential schools: More residential schools should be established in each state and districts and extended up to PG level in tribal areas.
• Job opportunities: The more emphasis should be given on career or job-oriented courses so that they get the job and improve their socio-economic conditions.