Paper short abstract:

The paper examines and analyses the subjective experiences and perspectives of children of Kattunayakan and Cholanaickan (forest dwelling PVTGs of Kerala, South India), towards formal education, during Pandemic and post Pandemic periods by employing in-depth fieldwork with mixed methodology.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the educational experiences of the children of Cholanaickan and Kattunayakan, the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of Nilambur Forests of Kerala, South India during Pandemic and post Pandemic situations. When the Government had launched online classes for the students across the State in order to tide over Covid-19 crisis, tribal children, who came back to their hamlets from residential school during lockdown, experienced digital divide owing to various reasons. Later, when the schools were re-opened, though the children went back to school, the issues related to learning persisted with them. It is observed that the support systems extended by the State during the Pandemic and post Pandemic periods could not address the issues of the children as expected. By employing in-depth fieldwork with mixed methodology, this paper tries to explore the educational experiences of the children of Kattunayakan and Cholanaickan; and their encounter with the unwell world from an emic perspective.