Towards an improved involvement of parents in educating girls: a study on Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in India

ABSTRACT

Parental involvement in educating children remains a crucial first step in building an informed citizen. It becomes a routine matter for children to follow the footsteps of educated parents. However, for the first-generation learners, e.g. particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), it is an arduous task because they belong to the least developed communities in India, with poverty and illiteracy forming the base of their existence. This paper examines the extent of involvement PVTG parents have in educating their daughters and identifies ways for improvement. Findings based on this original study suggest that the parents realise involvement, but their knowledge of involvement differs from the general population and the Western context. Hence, the study proposes four types of Cs to integrate their involvement: Concern, Communication, Condition, and Cooperation.

KEYWORDS:

• Parental involvement
• education
• particularly vulnerable tribal groups
• girls
• India

Acknowledgements

This study is the outcome of the first author's Ph.D. research, which is funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) in New Delhi, India. We acknowledge the valuable suggestions of the Editor and Reviewers that improved the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics and consent

Permission was obtained from the local authorities i.e. PBDA and HKDMA for data collection. The aims were informed, and confidentiality was assured throughout the process. This paper does not involve experimental or intervention aspects, rather seeks to gather data through interactive means that poses no harm. We created a simple, short, and culturally appropriate consent form to overcome language and educational limitations among tribal respondents. Data were obtained from those respondents who voluntarily agreed to join the survey upon agreeing with the consent forms as explained in local language (also with the help of local interpreter). Respondents found this study harmless as it aimed to make parents realise about involvement in girls’ education. While the above approach suits the current study's objectives, it might not be the standard practice for research involving human subjects in every scenario. Researcher’s location has three key aspects: First, having an impression that parental involvement among indigenous communities is low, but was found to be lacking remediation. Second, researchers’ diverse setting (city, language, region) fostered a holistic awareness about the local context and minimised bias. Thirdly, researchers employed participatory data collection recognising the significance of knowledge embedded in informal learning of the respondents and local language.

Notes

1 In the West, the term “indigenous” means the victims of European colonial settlements; but its usage in Asian countries has caused conceptual problems. Instead, the Indian government used the term "Scheduled Tribes" (Béteille, 1998; Xaxa, 1999; James, 2022).

2 It is a flagship programme with an aim to universalise the Elementary education.

3 There are 705 recognised “Scheduled Tribes” in India. The Article 366 (25) of the Indian Constitution defines “Scheduled Tribes” as the groups that have been scheduled in compliance with the requirements of Article 342. Further, the Constitution states that in order to be acknowledged as a Scheduled Tribe, a community must be formally declared as such by the President by either a public announcement or an amending Act of Parliament (Ministry of Tribal Affairs;, 2022). In 2006, the Dhebar commission recognised Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), who rely on pre-agriculture technology, with shrinking population, low literacy, and a struggling economy (Bhuria, 2002).

4 Not all from PVTG community.

5 ST Proportion = District ST Population/State ST Population (/ = division).

Additional information

Funding

This study is the outcome of the first author's Ph.D. research, which is funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research [grant number RFD/2021-22/GEN/SOC/182] in New Delhi, India.