The struggle for education – Journeys of a Munda-Oraon and a Mahar
Children from the deprived communities continue to struggle to get through and go to the next level in their educational endeavours despite positive discrimination policies of governments. They face both economic and social hurdles from other communities as well as their own. It is support from family, youth groups, friends, and teachers that helps them cross these hurdles. In this article, we will read about the educational experiences of two young people, a Munda-Oraon woman and a Mahar man. Such stories will help us understand their lives and struggles better and also identify the support systems that help them so that we as teachers and society can put in place more such systems. Nora SamandI am a tribal from Jharkhand, an only child of Oraon and Munda parents. My father belonged to the Munda tribe and my mother was from the Oraon tribe. I was born in a small town called Manoharpur in Jharkhand. The Mundas had their homes in a locality of their own, away from where the Oraons lived. The churches of the Oraons and the Mundas were also separate. My father, though, was against all this and would mingle with everyone. A teacher drawn to the principles of Christianity, my father used to teach the children of the village during the week and preach on Sundays. My parents knew from experience that education is important for a good life. I was initially admitted to a local Hindi church school. Later, my father’s friend, a doctor, told him of a good convent school, where the fees were minimal. I studied in this school until I finished my matriculation. Neither my parents nor I were really aware of where I could go next. With little money and no information, the best I could do was get admission in a college in Ranchi, where I did my intermediate in arts. My father’s deep fascination for Christianity led me to the Theological Seminary or Bible school in Dehradun. There I understood that Christianity is embraced by people other than tribals also and that we were a minority in a minority religion. The Seminary helped me understand the need for service and that it is not easy to inculcate a culture of service in people. Studying in a Bible school was a refreshing beginning to a very different life. Though a lot of emphasis was on academic grades, people were kind. It was here that I learnt that within the Christian community, tribal Christian was a different