Keralam’s community study centres for tribal students must be evaluated beyond numbers

A community study centre of the Scheduled Tribes Development Department at Thalathutthakavu in Vithura panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram.

Samoohya Patana Muri or Community Study Centres (CSC) is an initiative of the Keralam government started in 2018 to support the learning needs of children from tribal communities. In a tribal hamlet in Kasaragod district, CSC can be inventoried quite easily: a few computers, learning materials, a room that is open even after school time, and light refreshments for ₹20 per day for a student. What cannot be inventoried is what matters the most: whether a tribal student who has failed an exam feels confident to walk in the next day and ask for help or are they pushed away?

Our education policies speak the fluent language of inventories. It counts enrolment, sq ft. of buildings, equipment, and pass percentages, among other things, and these are not trivial. But access does not ensure achievement unless there is active participation of the students in the process of learning. Policies usually consider only access, not participation. A child can be enrolled in school, given basic learning resources, and still be unable to use what is on offer. Persisting after failure and believing that school wants us to progress are not merely individual acts of will; they are social acts. They are promoted, or suppressed, in the social space through relationships.