A 26-year-old who began a neighbourhood class for tribal kids in Chengde village of Rania block during the pandemic continues to engage them using local and natural educational materials like sticks, stones and leaves.
Life in the tribal Munda community in Jharkhand is synchronised with the changing rhythms of nature, the seasons, the rising and setting of the sun, and not by the time on the clock. Members of the community, which lives in close harmony with nature, are often not educated and face the social evil of alcoholism. They now see education as a necessity for progress. In Chengde village of Rania block, they have found a potent means in mohalla classes.
Chengde is nestled in the mountains bordering Khunti as well as West Singhbhum districts of Jharkhand. Here, songs have been one of the means to keep the young ones engaged while teaching them the necessary curriculum. And making a big difference in the process is Vijay Kandulna, a local young man who conducts classes for the children so that they are inspired to attend school.
As with many other rural areas of the country, the Covid-19 pandemic brought several changes in Chengde as well. In 2021, the issues were brought to the attention of Emmanuel Topno and Gautam Singh, team members of Torpa Rural Development Society for Women (TRDSW) – an organisation that works on empowering tribal communities. The team had been making regular visits to Chengde village and meeting community members as part of their work.
At one such meeting with the community, villagers appealed to them to support their children’s education. They could see that the kids’ learning levels were at an all-time low after the pandemic.
During the pandemic, the village children had got used to running around, playing or grazing animals the whole day. Learning or even the atmosphere for learning was lacking. But the interest was palpable. So TRDSW asked the gram sabha to select a village animator.
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The villagers identified Vijay Kandulna, a 26-year-old youth from the same village. Kandulna attended school at Rania, after which he completed his matriculation from S.S. College, Khunti.
TRDSW trained Kandulna so that he could teach children aged 5 to 12 years.
And so the mohalla or village school began. Kandulna conducted classes for 30-odd children for two hours from 4 to 6 pm under a tamarind tree.
He had earlier been helping his father in farming. The family owns livestock, mainly goats.
After the villagers identified him for his teaching and related activities, Kandulna sold a goat and bought a motorbike for ease of transportation to go to the block office. With the remaining money, he bought plastic sheets and covered an open space adjacent to his house. He bought some bamboo mats and created the much-needed classroom space and atmosphere for the children. With a roof over their heads, he could hold classes even if it rained.
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At the class, the children learned maths, Hindi and songs in Hindi and Mundari.
The first stanza of one of the songs goes:
Huding-huding daru lena
Marang-marang daru lena
Odè ko pampalad ko
Lip-lip tana
Huding-huding sakam lena
Marang marang sakam lena
Odè ko pampalad ko
Lip-lip tana
Huding-huding bahaa lena
Marang-marang bahaa lena
Odè ko pampalad ko
Lip-lip tana
Huding-huding jo lena
Marang-marang jo lena
Uru ko pampalad ko
Lip-lip tana
Bahaa teyo chabaa janaa
Jo teyo chabaa lena
Uru ko pampalad ko
Lip-lip tana
In Mundari, daru means tree; sakam means leaves; bahaa means flower and so on. The complete song translates as:
Small-small trees grew
big-big trees grew
birds and butterflies
are flying
Small-small leaves grew
big-big leaves grew
birds and butterflies
are flying
Small-small flowers grew
big-big flowers grew
birds and butterflies
are flying
Small-small fruits grew
big-big fruits grew
birds and butterflies
are flying
The flower season is over
the fruit season is over
birds and butterflies
are flying.
The children sang the selected Munda song to rhythmic folk tunes at school, communicating their close association with nature.
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The growth of small and big trees is associated with a school full of growing children. The flowering and fruiting seasons may come and go, but the birds and butterflies are always flying. The children understood that no matter what the season was, they should not only learn, excel and grow, but fly higher like the birds and the butterflies.
Since the school is attended mostly by the local tribal students, the lessons borrowed heavily from their culture and traditional knowledge.
The mohalla class came to an end after the pandemic got over. But Kandulna has continued his involvement with the community.
Though Chengde Primary School is functional, only eight children have rejoined the school. The older children go to Khudbir Middle School, which is 3 km away, or to Rania High School, which lies at a distance of 7 km.
Though the school in Chengde has got teaching and learning materials from the government, TRDSW insists on using local materials like sticks, stones, leaves and other natural things, thus binding the students to nature. The government-supplied materials are mostly made of paper and plastic.
“Though we don’t have the mohalla class now, I continue to engage with the children at the government school in Chengde,” said Kandulna. “Earlier the school didn’t begin or end on time. Today, the two teachers, Prem Dahanga and Agatha Dahanga, and I follow a schedule.”
TRDSW pays Kandulna a stipend of Rs 2,500 per month. Though he is unable to save money, he is happy to help the children.
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“Many of my students from the mohalla class still ask me for private tuition,” said Kandulna, who likes watching detective series when he is not teaching or working at his farm. He aspires to join the police department.
Unlike Kandulna, half of the youth from the area have migrated for work. With huge gaps between reality and aspirations, young people often find themselves helpless in rural Jharkhand. But Vijay Kandulna of Chengde village has proved otherwise.
The lead image at the top shows Vijay Kandulna teaching the village children. (Photo courtesy TRDSW)
Mariaelena Figueredo is the director of TRDSW. Shveta Jadhav is the team lead at TRDSW.
