PANEL ORGAN - KIIT University

PRAMANIK, Rashmi, Department of Anthropology, Sambalpur University, Odisha, India, E-
mail:
Behind the Walls of the School: Experiences from the Voices of School children of
Western Odisha
Childhood is a ‘golden age’ where a child is considered to be full of innocence, freedom,
joy and play. The school children in our study are largely denied of their rights. In reality,
they have little opportunity to develop their potentials as they are steamrollered into
areas which are not of their inclination and to levels which they have difficulty in
attaining. It is a matter of serious concern that children are not given due scope to voice
their views in matters affecting their own lives. The study critically examines the physical
and mental pressure of the school-going children in two different but related settings, i.e.
the school and the home. The teachers at school and parents at home force the child to
concentrate in academics under the plea “in the best interest of the child”. Thus, the
ever-increasing burden slowly but surely robs away the childhood from the school-going
children.
HAKALAISIN, Ingrid, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA,
USA, E-mail:
Learning to be Ethnic Students: Children’s Perspectives on Multicultural Classrooms in
Eastern Nepal
Tensions between democratic unity and cultural identity are often dramatically
emblemized by the lived experiences of schoolchildren. The purpose of this ethnographic
study was to probe how the increasing salience of ethnic identity in the unique context of
post-conflict Nepal intersects with the process this fledgling democracy’s young ethnic
citizens undergo in becoming “educated persons” by participating in formal schooling. In
sections of rural Panchthar district, a part of what the Limbu ethnic group considers its
ancestral territory, Limbu children now encounter their local primary school as a place
where Limbu language and culture have been formally recognized by being integrated into
their daily academic routines in the form of the “Anipaan” curriculum (developed by
ethnic activists). In practice, Limbu students experience their newly “multiculturalized”
schooling as a complex and often contradictory resource, both a source of empowerment
and frustration.
CHAUHAN, Mehul, Xavier Institute of Development Action and Studies, Jabalpur, E-mail:
Life from the Rural Classroom: An Indigenous Perspective from Central India
The present paper deals with the life of the indigenous children in the classroom during
their school hours. The paper is based upon study of children in two primary schools in two
tribal villages under Bijadandi block of Mandla district in the central state of Madhya
Pradesh in India. The paper aims to draw the time line and capture the educational as
well as non-educational activities of the children in the school. It has been observed in the
study that there is lack of substantial interest in the mainstream education among these
children and their families. The major cause of attraction to schools is the opportunity to
have free mid- day meals, clothes and bicycle for majority of the students. Poor
mentoring and regularity of classes give children to play and have leisure activities along
with a little bit of serious study.