JANGCHUB CHOELING NUNNERY SCHOOL, LHOU Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh (A NOBLE VENTURE OF B.C.P.S., MON- BOMDILA) 1. Background The present State of Arunachal Pradesh sprawling over an area of over 83,743 sq km (of which around 70,000 sq km lies in the lap of the Himalayas) is a unique region of India - situated at the far end of India’s North-East, touching the borders of Tibet, Bhutan and Burma. It is inhabited by a large number of tribal ethnic groups – 110 by one counts, of which some 25 are considered major tribes. Monyul, comprising of Tawang and West Kameng districts is situated on the western fringe of Arunachal Pradesh. This area had remained almost a forgotten land during the entire period of the British Raj, isolated from the mainstream of the country. Situated in the outer belt of the state the Monyul has remained quite isolated and thus, self-contained till the recent times. Its interaction with the mainstream of the nation has been very nominal. Cultural tradition and lifestyle of this region has been shaped by the mountains and other natural elements and physiographical features acting as barriers in contacts with the outside world. The growth and development of traditional education in these areas have been under the aegis of monasteries where very few got the opportunity to have little bit of education with female folk having no chance to get any. Things changed fast after India attained Independence and concern was felt for those of our brethren who had remained in backwaters because of geographical isolation under the isolationist policy of the British. After Independence, the administration was extended and serious attention given to the welfare and upliftment of the isolated communities in remote areas, as was done for the weaker sections of society all over the country. In this transitional phase, these isolated tribal communities with their rich cultural heritage, but primitive economy of subsistence; abounding in wisdom but lacking in letter, found their age-old contentment giving way to feeling of deprivation and unrest as their horizons expanded. Preliminary steps were taken thereafter in the erstwhile North East Frontier for administration and development during the Nehruvian era. Accordingly the educational aims and objectives in Arunachal Pradesh (the then NEFA) were enumerated as follows: The entire NEFA Administration might by called a tribal University with the Governor as its Chancellor. For in any part of the world which aims at guided and scientific progress, every official must be an educationist… It is essential that education in the more specialized sense should be integrated with this wider education. The schools must also aim at inspiring a love of India, at teaching cleanliness, better ways of cultivation and preservation of wildlife, at spreading the ideals of justice, equality and humanity… The aim of education in NEFA is twofold… We have first to discover and develop boys and girls of exceptional promise, and train them up to the highest standard possible so that they can in time take their place as leaders and administrators of their own people. But… for the great mass of the tribesmen… a simple and elementary type of schooling is required… a combination of ordinary and basic education suitably adjusted to tribal needs. But in both cases it is essential to guard against the dangers of de-tribalization. Under the above watchwords the schools for imparting elementary and basic education were opened in different parts of NEFA with very few Secondary and Higher Secondary schools and later on an undergraduate college in its central eastern parts. However, in the then Kameng Division the traditional system of imparting theological education through Buddhist monasteries remained to be a reckoning force and hence, the formal education system experienced a slow growth rate. As a result, there was no Higher Secondary School here till the nineteen sixties. By late1980s the old Kameng District (traditionally known as Monyul) was having 03 Higher Secondary schools along with an undergraduate college at Bomdila and by the end of the 20th century the situation has not improved significantly. Situation at present is still gloomy so far as the educational development in the area is concerned. Gloomier situation of literacy is among females of Tawang district, who are lagging far behind their females of other districts of Arunachal Pradesh. About 20% of villages in the district do not have any Primary schools and children of those villages are required to cover up to 2 kilometers in the undulating rugged hilly terrain for access to Elementary education. Further, for Secondary Education children are required to cover up to 10 kilometers to get to a Secondary School. A large chunk of population here is poverty-stricken and hence, they undertake hard manual labour to earn two squares of meal. Once a girl child attains the age of 6-7 years, they are generally assigned the task of looking after their younger brothers and sisters so that their parents could do manual labour for subsistence. And, after attaining the age of 12-13 years the young girls are sent by their parents to perform menial works in construction of roads and buildings. Owing to the aforesaid barriers most of the female kids of this border, tribal and hilly area have no access to education. It is needless to mention that without educating the womenfolk we cannot have a good family and a good society and hence, empowerment of women through proper education and life-skill formation is essential for inclusive growth of this backward, hilly, tribal and border area.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 06:23:58 +0000