ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to discuss the reasons why India’s phenomenal growth has failed to transform people’s educational decisions and expectations. It draws on several periods of field research carried out between 1997 and 2008 in Mohanpur, a village located in one of the more densely forested districts of Chhattisgarh, central India. The chapter considers the comparative educational experiences of Hindu and Christian Adivasis in Mohanpur. Poverty does of course play a central role in local people’s engagement in education. Central to their economic advantage is another important factor that underlies the Oraon Christians’ commitment to education and educational success: their reputation as people who migrate, or ‘go anywhere and do anything’ for work. Primary education, in contrast, generates a different set of skills: literacy, numeracy, and ‘proper speech’ being the most commonly cited. There are a handful of exceptions that are held up by aspiring youth as educational success stories.
