Educational Advancement of Scheduled Tribes in West Bengal (1947-2011)

Abstract

The present paper focuses on the educational advancement of Scheduled Tribes in West Bengal. The Government has taken up various welfare schemes for the educational advancement of Scheduled Tribes. Literacy rate of STs of West Bengal significantly increased from 6.55 per cent in 1961 to 57.93 per cent in 2011.The literacy rate of ST females is substantially lower than that of ST males. The fact is that even in 2011 more than fifty per cent of tribal women were illiterate. Only 0.6 percent of tribal females in rural West Bengal obtained graduation level education in 2011-12. In rural West Bengal the attendance rate of STs increased from 32.6 per cent in 2004-05 to 47.4 per cent in 2011-12. But the attendance rate of STs has not progressed much. The attendance rate of tribal females was also lower than that of the tribal males. The school drop out rate of ST students was alarmingly high. Specifically, for Classes I-X the drop out rate was more than 80 per cent upto 2010. On the whole, the educational advancement of STs in West Bengal is not satisfactory.