Teacher Uses Santali Mother Tongue to Bring Education Home

When Malati Murmu arrived in Jiling Sereng village in West Bengal's Purulia district, she found children disconnected from education. The COVID-19 pandemic made things worse, with online learning impossible in a remote tribal area lacking smartphones and electricity.

Starting in 2020, Malati began teaching children for free from her mud house. Her key innovation was teaching first in Santali, the children's mother tongue, making learning less intimidating. Only after students became comfortable did she gradually introduce Bengali and English, preparing them for formal schooling.

What began with a handful of students has grown into a community school serving around 45 children from Classes 1 to 5. The village built a modest mud structure with tin roof and blackboards, though students still sit on the floor.

Malati's mother tongue-based approach addressed a crucial barrier: children could grasp concepts in their own language before transitioning to others. Her husband noted that with formal schools 18-25 kilometers away, her hyperlocal, linguistically accessible teaching filled a critical gap for tribal children who might otherwise never receive education.