Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 3: Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation (TRCF) today organized a programme to discuss “Education among nomads and reasons of lowest literacy among Gujjars – Bakerwals”, wherein the speakers suggested that ‘Forced Schools” should be opened to educate the nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwal children as most of the parents are not ready to send their kids to School owing to migratory way of life and low tribal economy.
The programme was presided over by Dr Javaid Rahi, Secretary of Tribal Foundation. The speakers who were drawn from the Gujjar community stated that on the prototype of pre-1947 ‘Forced Schools’ started by the Maharaja in Kashmir, Ladakh and other parts of the State -the Government should start same type of compulsory free education for the children of Ajjhari (Shepherded Gujjars) and Manjhi (Cattle reared Gujjars) as the parents are deliberately denying education to their children and using them as human resource in their day to day work.
The speakers on the occasion said that extreme poverty, rough and tough living, early marriage system and Nomadic costumes were causing dark shadows over the future of lakhs of nomadic Gujjar and Bakerwal children residing in the most backward, hilly and border areas of Jammu and Kashmir and compel them for child labour mostly within their family.
While speaking on the occasion, Dr Javaid Rahi stated that the School dropout rate is highest among nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwal children as they leave their studies at Primary or middle level owing to various reasons which is alarming.
The speakers said that the 16 Gujjar hostels in the State and around 200 to 300 Seasonal and mobile schools are insufficient to provide basic education to them. They appealed the State and the Central Governments and their agencies to provide legal safe-guards to Gujjar children and initiate some special schemes for their education and social transformation.
Those who spoke on the occasion included Akram, Nawab Din, Gulshan Ahmed, Feroz Din, Karam Ali, Dildar Hussan Khatana, A H Poswal, Khaleel Dedhad and others.
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