Square pegs in round holes: perceptions of hunter-gatherer school dropouts of Kerala, South India

Though education is considered as a fundamental right of all Indian citizens as per the 83rdConstitutional Amendment, inequality in this regard, prevails among the various castes/tribes/sections of the society. ‘Literacy achievements in India depend crucially on the social context: the gender division of labour, the kinship system, caste related norms, economic entitlements and so on’ (Dreze 2003). Realizing that Scheduled Tribes are one of the most deprived and marginalized groups with respect to education, a host of programmes and measures have been initiated ever since independence of the country. Education of tribal people is important not just due to a Constitutional obligation to equality of its citizens or special entitlements to Scheduled Tribes, but because it is a crucial input in the nation’s strategy of total development of tribal communities. However, despite the nation’s efforts to ensure constitutional equality, dignity and development that they themselves wish for, the tribal children continue to lag behind the general population in education and there is a wide gap between the dropout rate of tribal children and non-tribal children.