14 principals visit Gadchiroli, Chandrapur to study tribal life

Nagpur: A five-day programme organized by Gondwana University and Maharashtra State Faculty Development Academy, Pune, established under Rashtriya Uchhatar Shiksha Abhyaan (Rusa), last month exposed 14 principals and two professors from different parts of Maharashtra to tribal life and culture in Gadchiroli and Chandrapur.
Sources in the university said a team of 16 senior academics from reputed educational institutions, during the workshop ‘Tribal pride journey-Experiential leadership’, visited deep interiors of the two districts to observe tribal life, their indigenous culture and struggle to stay relevant in modern society.
The team was introduced to various issues of local health, education and other systems, like in the interior Nelgonda near Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border where tribal students learn through innovative techniques at their ashramshala. The academics also witnessed how teachers work here defying Maoist threat. The team also visited the Anandvan at Warora.
A brainchild of vice-chancellor of Gondwana University Prashant Bokare, the workshop aimed at enhancing the quality of education imparted by the academics after experiencing the unexplored tribal life in eastern Maharashtra. “The academics in turn would enlighten hundreds of others about the indigenous tribal people forgotten by society,” said Bokare.
Bokare said he was invited to the academy in Pune to train the academics but he opted to bring them to Gadchiroli and Chandrapur “so that they can get real-life experience”. “The academics interacted with the students, teachers, some of the parents and other tribal population,” the VC said.
University sources also stated the principals and professors also interacted with NGOs working with tribal population in Gadchiroli and Chandrapur.