Education makes one aware of the environment and possession of one’s rights as an individual to access the provisions that have been curated for them in that environment. Being educationally backward is being ignorant of one’s environment and ignorance breeds persecution. This project would help in the holistic development of the indigenous people through empowering and educating them. The objective of the project includes developing a comprehensive plan for the holistic development of the indigenous people and design a culturally appropriate educational curriculum suitable for indigenous children, so as to increase the level of education amongst the children.
Project Background
The term indigenous or aboriginal refers to something that exists naturally in a particular region or environment; hence, Indigenous peoples, communities or nations are the ‘first people’; the inheritors and practitioners of their unique cultures who have retained the historical continuity of their social, cultural, political and economic characteristics till date!
There are approximately 370-500 million indigenous peoples worldwide in over 90 countries making up 5% of the global population. Their natural way of existing and keeping distance from the other modernized and ever changing sectors of the societies has helped safeguard 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity.
Although their ancestral knowledge and possession of vast natural resources and property, models them as an asset, their detachment from the globalized world makes them more vulnerable and sensitive to the changing times. Being educationally backward is one of the major reasons for having this downcast. Education makes one aware of the environment and possession of one’s rights as an individual to access the provisions that have been curated for them in that environment. Being educationally backward is being ignorant of one’s environment and ignorance breeds persecution. Something of similar sort is being experienced in Niger, a country located in West Africa.
Niger is a developing country which ranks 189th of 189 countries in HDI (Human Development Index) 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara Desert and the non-deserted portions of the country are threatened by periodic drought. The largest indigenous tribes here (Hausa, Zarma Songhai and Kanouri) consists of sedentary farmers and the remainder are nomadic or semi-nomadic livestock raising tribes (Tuareg, Fulani, Toubou and Diffa Arabs).
Moreover, the rapidly growing population here has now led to consequent competition for meager natural resources thereby leading to conflicts in recent years! 49% of the population here is under the age of 15 and even though education is compulsory between the ages of 7-15, the school attendance marks at just 37% thereby succeeding generations living the same life of poverty. Though the practice of slavery was outlawed in 2003, almost 8% of the population are still slaves and this descent-based slavery is traditionally practiced by at least 4 of Niger’s 8 ethnic groups. Though the government and various organizations continue to work on their protection and upliftment, their ignorance, due to the lack of education and self-induced detachment has led to their exploitation. They lack formal recognition over their own land, territories and natural resources and even when they are recognized, protection of their boundaries and natural resources is weak.
Project Description
The project would help in the holistic development of the indigenous people through empowering and educating them.
Project Objectives and Activities
Objective 1. To develop a comprehensive plan for the holistic development of the indigenous people in Niger.
Situation Analysis: The primary purpose of conducting the situation analysis is to critically examine the internal and external factors affecting the indigenous people in Niger. It will help us in developing a better understanding of the current opportunities and challenges that the indigenous people in the area face and thereby will help in developing a suitable strategy for the upliftment of the indigenous people. The situation analysis will help in achieving the following:
- Understanding the problems and challenges that the community faces
- Knowledge of current programs, schemes and policies for the welfare and development of people
- Understanding the stakeholders and their perceptions
- Mapping resource availability
- Identification of gaps in existing plans
To conduct the situation analysis, we shall undertake a combination of primary and secondary review. The following steps will be carried out as part of the situation analysis:
- Desktop Review– collation and analysis of existing literature available on indigenous rights, status and policies for indigenous people in Niger.
- Stakeholder Analysis– we shall systematically gather and analyze information for the various stakeholders, in this case indigenous men, women, elderlies and children. We shall conduct a thorough research to understand the needs, interests, challenges etc. of the various stakeholder groups.
- PESTLE analysis– to get a better understanding of the external factors that may affect the project, we shall undertake a PESTLE analysis, to understand the following factors:
- Political factors
- Economic factors
- Social factors
- Technological factors
- Legal factors
- Environmental factors
Community planning and Development: The project is built on the premise that the indigenous communities will be involved in the planning phase of the project and all the suggested interventions will be culturally appropriate and respectful of the traditional beliefs of the community. Community planning is a process in which the communities identify problems and solve them on their own. The following steps will be part of the community planning exercise:
- Awareness- Before we step into the planning stage, we will have to make the community aware about the exercise and steps involved. Our team of experts will meet different stakeholders and ensure that they actively participate in the planning process. We shall conduct awareness sessions for the leaders of the groups, so that they motivate all the people in their respective areas to participate in the community planning.
- Community Mapping- The elders and the leaders from the indigenous groups will draw a community map. The community map will help us in understanding the unique needs, assets, and perspectives within the community. The primary purpose of the community map is that it ensures that the needs and perspective of the indigenous people are at the center of the plan.
- Discussions and Inquiry- To get the most out of the communities, we will ensure that our teams conduct several rounds of discussions with them on various issues. Our teams will discuss the various problems, the uniqueness of their culture, traditional knowledge, cultural beliefs, their needs, interests etc. These discussions will ensure that the communities become more comfortable with us and are able to share their views on various aspects.
- Historical trend analysis- An important way to ensure participation of the elders of the community, is to engage with them and get their views on historical events and trends. We will be discussing with them how things have changed over the years and how they perceive the future.
- Problem Mapping, Prioritization and Analysis- After the communities feel comfortable discussing their issues and challenges with us we shall initiate problem prioritization, considering we will not be able to solve all the problems, we shall prioritise on the most pressing problems. Once we have 4-5 problems that are prioritised, we shall be conducting Cause and Effect Analysis for the given problems.
- Solution Identification- During this step the community will identify potential solutions to their problems. There will be various solutions for a particular problem but to identify the most feasible solution, we will conduct a ranking exercise. Some of the tools that will be used to prioritise the solutions will be:
- Resource Mapping
- Ten Seed Method
- Voting
Developing the Community Plan: Once the problems and solutions are all identified and agreed upon, we will be moving to the next step which is the development of the action plan.
- Drafting the Plan– The plan will provide details to the following-
- The suggested intervention/activity
- The people/person responsible to carry out the activity
- Timeline for carrying out the activity
- Step by step actions/process to be followed
- Resources to be used for carrying out the activity
- Agreements with the community members- To formalize the action plan, it will be important to develop a Memorandum of Understanding or a community covenant. This will ensure that the community abides by the action plan to accomplish the overall goal of the plan.
Capacity Building of Leaders: Community leaders will be trained on implementing the plan effectively. They will be trained on ways to manage conflict, ensure participation, collective action, mobilization etc. Also special sessions will be conducted for the leaders, where they will learn about global provisions to safeguard their culture and their traditions. We shall sensitize them by providing basic knowledge of their rights, the rule of land in their state, the country’s and international organisation’s arrangements and provisions for them and how they can access them when in need, the subsidies and other monetary benefits they have been provided with.
All this will be facilitated by setting up campaigns, workshops and awareness programmes to initially help them realize that the state wants to protect who they are and what they have, not by invading their personal space but providing them with the much needed protection and empowerment to better what they have and continue their legacy without being negatively affected by the changing times in all aspects.
- Objective 2. To design a culturally appropriate educational curriculum suitable for indigenous children, so as to increase the level of education amongst the children.
- Baseline Study- We will be conducting a baseline study to understand the current level of education among the indigenous communities, the existing schooling system, the gaps in the curriculum etc. This will help us in getting an understanding of the current level of education and also about the reasons because of which there is a lower level of literacy in the area.
- Awareness on Importance of Education- Our teams will conduct awareness sessions on the importance of education and how educating the children can help in improving their lives. Through the proposed awareness sessions we would sensitise and make these indigenous tribes aware of the importance of education and ways through which education can offer protection, empowerment and assistance to them and their future generations.
- Develop culturally appropriate curriculum- Our teams will be creating a safe and child-friendly learning environment for the indigenous communities. The culturally appropriate curriculum will ensure that the children remain closely connected and respectful to their culture. Some of the features of this curriculum are as follows:
- Developed after consultation with community elders and leaders
- Have set of standards for the protection of indigenous children
- Facilitate innovative learning practices without disrupting their relation with culture
- Classes will be conducted in Bilingual and multilingual local tribal languages
- Enable cultural connections with tribal life, art and culture
- Training of teachers- We shall conduct a teachers training program on using the new curriculum and also in adopting child friendly responsive teaching. The training will help the teachers in the following:
- Acting as a bridge between the student, school and the cultural communities
- Developing trust amongst children that the education is for their welfare
- Building their self-confidence and self-knowledge
- Respecting diversity and uniqueness of each child
- Using strategies that reinforce higher order and critical thinking
- Incorporating learning objectives for affective and personal development
- Making education accessible to the children- The trained teachers will take classes for the children within the community area itself. Considering many parents will not be very comfortable to send their children to schools outside their community, we shall ensure that regular classes are conducted within their community premises itself. This will build confidence amongst the parents and they may in the future send their children to schools outside their locality also.
Project Outcome
- Indigenous community plan developed in consultation with the community.
- Communities sensitised on various aspects of community planning and development.
- Improved awareness of communities on rights, policies and national and international provisions for their welfare.
- Culturally appropriate curriculum developed.
- Teachers trained on imparting education to the indigenous children.
- Regular classes held for children within the community premises.
