Education And Socio-Cultural reproduction: Development of tribal People In Wayanad, Kerala

Abstract

This paper discusses how schooling reproduces socialinequalities and cultural asymmetries in contemporary India byexamining the experiences of two tribal communities (the Paniyas andthe Kurichiyas) in the Wayanad district of Kerala. There are notablesocio-economic and cultural inequalities between these two tribalcommunities. The Paniyas are more backward and disadvantaged thanthe Kurichiyas. This social differentiation is reproduced through thepresent schooling system. The Paniyas experience discrimination inschool and lag behind the Kurichiyas in educational achievement. Animportant pedagogic problem faced by the Paniyas in school is theirinability to cope with the schooling provided through a language thatis not their mother tongue. Land ownership, and the cultural and socialcapital resulting from it place the Kurichiya community at acomparatively better position than the Paniyas, who have a labour.class and slave caste identity. Access to land is critical for the socioeconomicand educational development of tribal communities