15 January,2018 04:33 PM IST | Mumbai | Pallavi Smart
At the government school in Palghar district's Pargaon village, nearly 220 km from Mumbai, classrooms are packed with eager students. Once plagued by absenteeism, the school has gradually witnessed growing support from the tribal communities in the vicinity. All thanks to Rajan Garud, 29, a teacher who went beyond the syllabus to create a unique textbook in Warli, the local language.
No matter how fancy or colÂourful a textbook is, if it's not in the language that a child can relate to, he or she will eventually lose interest in reading the text," said Garud, who teaches at the zilla parishad school in Khoricha Pada, Pargaon village. It's one of the reasons, why Garud recently designed a Std I textbook in Warli. The concept has one favour among the locals, and authorities no longer have to go to individual homes to convince parents to send their children to school, Garud added.
Rajan Garud
The language problem
"Most children here speak Warli at home," said Garud. "After enrolling in school, when they are suddenly exposed to Marathi, it becomes difficult for them to make sense of what they are studying. They eventually drop of out school," he added.
In the academic year that began in June last year, Garud introduced a textbook, wherein Marathi vowels were taught with words from the Warli language. For instance, the first letter, pronounced as "a", is taught as "a for anuna," which means custard-apple in Warli, as opposed to "a for ananas," which means pineapple in Marathi. "Since students do not know what âananas' means, it will take time for them to understand the letter in Marathi. But, if they are given the reference of a word from their own language, they will be able to relate to it easily," said Garud.
Rajan Garud seen teaching the kids at the zilla parishad school in Khoricha Pada, Pargaon village
"Once they are introduced to letters, numbers and basic concepts through their mother tongue, it becomes easier to blend them into formal schooling in older classes," he added.
The idea, he said, is to teach them Marathi in their mother tongue, so that they can successfully complete schooling.
Moving beyond syllabus
Garud has also started incorporating tribal folklore into classroom activities. "We recently performed a small skit based on the popular tribal tale of âthe old lady and pumpkin'," he said. "For the first time, my students were so attentive in class. I have now started sharing more stories with them," he said. He has also started translating traditional Marathi poems into Warli. "Children enjoy reciting them in class as they know exactly what they are learning," he said.
The new textbook designed by Garud
Incidentally, Garud does not belong to the tribal community, but his enthusiasm to learn new languages has helped him connect with the students. "When I joined this school as a teacher in 2009, it was a challenge for me to keep the students interested in class. I then started learning the language on my own with the help of the locals. I have finally managed to get a grip on Warli, and this has improved communication," he said.
Other teachers from his school are also using Garud's study material to teach in their classes. Aryan Medha, a Std I student from Garud's class, shared, "It is fun to come to school. We learn so many new stories and songs."
Another student, Rutik Rumda from Std V, said, "If we had received the same kind of education when we were youÂnger, studies would have been more fun. Sometimes, we do attend classes of the primary batches to listen to the story-telling sessions."
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