PREAMBLE:

We the participants of the Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ Consultation on “Education” affirm our vital role in strengthening knowledge capacity of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) in advancing the struggles for tradition, culture and social justice through self determination in bringing about peace and stability for the IPs/Tribal community (Adivasi), who for ages, have been under the clutches of colonization with suppressive and discriminatory policies of the ruling society that belong to the communities other than the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi). Further, the so-called globalization and liberalization policy accompanied by militarism and aggressive development policies have violated the basic human rights of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi).

The participants of the Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ Consultation on Education held on 26 Feb-1 March 2005 in Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, Panjabari, Guwahati, Assam, North-Eastern India recognize the importance of education in empowering Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) deliberated widely covering the existing education system of various Asian Nations. It brought to light many problems that many Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) face. There is a serious crisis in realizing their potentials through this system consequent upon which the mother tongue of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) is on the brink of extinction. The prevailing systems have been found to be serious lacking the essence of IPs needs and aspirations. In consideration of the factual phenomenon, the Consultation considered to make the following recommendations befitting to the needs of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi), taking into account the ground reality. The Consultation reached the consensus to make the following recommendations for a holistic development of the potentials of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi), which would enable to benefit the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) community as a whole both in terms of quantity and quality.

The declaration thus reads:

• UN should provide space for the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) to exercise right to make their own education policy, design their own community-based curricula in totality and manage their own educational institutions to ensure Indigenous and Tribal Peoples ownership and partnership in facilitating their own education systems. This will ensure facilitating appropriate education systems. Curricula designed without input from the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) will not benefit the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples community;
• The education system should help bring about confidence building in IPs beginning with mother languages as medium of instruction at least for the period of five years. The medium of instruction in the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) education system should be in their mother tongues with possibility of instructions of other languages as well. At all levels women education should be on an equal basis;
• States must establish centers to conduct studies and do research in Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) languages, scripts where necessary, write Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) history, develop and promote culture, customary law, literature, traditional values, philosophical and traditional social and political institutions;
• Scholarship should be provided to Indigenous and Tribal (Adivasi) students for general higher studies including traditional religion, law, technical and vocational trainings;
• There should be reservation of quota for Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) in national education institutes, and increase of quota where already existing;
• Resources and expertise should be made available for development of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) education;
• International level University for study and research for IPs should be established; Creation of International Multicultural University under the aegis of UN at the respective Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) region to study and promote the Indigenous/Tribal worldview, traditional knowledge, folklore, values, knowledge on health etc;
• States must recognize the need to carry forward oral traditional of IPs/Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) to ensure that the transmission of oral knowledge is not disturbed or even distorted. The use of convergence media, audiovisual technology should be promoted for the transmission and dissemination of Oral knowledge and Oral History and its documentation for future generation;
• States must provide training and special education for Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) elders, leaders, traditional experts and make adequate funding available to help support them to share their expertise and knowledge of concern with the mainstream;
• To have access to all national institutions for Indigenous and Tribal Peoples;
• States must promote special exchange and exposure programme for Indigenous and Tribal Peoples;
• State must recognise all privately set up Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) cultural and traditional educational institutions for obtaining official support like funding etc. for sustainability;
• States must promote creation of study materials, curriculum on Indigenous histories, cultures and linguistic information for the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) community of the various countries/states;
• States must provide equal access to world/state for all languages/cultures;
• States must promote the right to have mass media in all Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) languages;
• The Consultation recognizes that the atrocities meted to the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) and rampant miniaturizations in the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) areas need the intervention of the central governments of the concerned states and the UN in the interest of safety and security of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. And also promote peace education including education on Human Rights;
• States must promote awareness of all UN instruments for Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) by providing the means for translation and dissemination to IPs everywhere in their own language;
• United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) should be adopted at the earliest;
• States must reinforce capacities to enable the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) to coexist with other communities in peace, territorial integrity and brotherhood;
• Adult and non-formal education must be made available to Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) to counter illiteracy advancement;
• States must make efforts towards restoration and promotion of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Adivasi) technologies.