Interdisciplinary Themes

In the ‘Ground Zero’ piece, we narrate the experiences gathered by four non-profits from India, who have community engagement at the forefront of their efforts. These NGOs are partnering with communities to bring about sustainable and systemic changes in the education system, so that it can productively cater to the most marginalized children.

In the interview of this issue, Anil Pradhan, based on his extensive work with tribal communities of Odisha, shares his insights about productively using the MLE approach while working on issues related to tribal children’s learning; he demonstrates how working with both communities and the governmental education system is needed as a part of this process.

In ‘Sahodaya: Ways of Sustainable Living and Learning,’ Rekha Kumari, Himanshi and Anil Kumar share their experiences of working with, and building, communities as salient aspects of the educational alternatives they are trying to co-create in a remote part of Bihar.

In an interview with Samuhik Pahal, B Ramdas shares his experiences of working with tribal communities in the Nilgiris on their educational needs. He shows that our educational interventions have to be sensitive to the unique context of tribal cultures and socio-economic milieus.

Anish Kumar examines the similarities and difference between CBOs and NGOs, and explores how CBOs might help us expand the civil society space in the country.

Civil Society and Education – A Post-Independence Trajectory,’ by Rahul Mukhopadhyay sets the context by providing a contemporary history of the civil society space in education.