Educating for Inequality: The Experiences of India's “Indigenous” Citizens

This report deals with the contradictions and dilemmas concerning education faced by adivasis, the preferred local term for 'indigenous people,' in central India. Adivasis constitute some 84 million people, making up over eight percent of India's population. The adivasi are officially known as scheduled tribes (ST), since under Article 342 of the Indian constitution, these communities are listed in government schedules or lists for the purpose of affirmative action. Many of them also inhabit areas of India which are meant to enjoy a degree of constitutional autonomy.