Now, Std I-III textbooks available in Gondi, Madia languages

 

 

 

Some dreams take time to become a reality, but they do with consistency and hard work. One such dream, seen by officials and teachers and students in Gadchiroli district, has come true. For the first time, the textbooks of Marathi and English for Std I to III have been translated into Gondi and Madia languages. The books published by Balbharti have been made interesting with colourful images, English text with Madia translation. For example, in Std I book of English subject, Chapter 1.1 titled ‘Welcome Song’ carries the Madia translation ‘Johar Paata’ alongside. Greetings have been explained through images and some sentences just like comics.

 

As reported by ‘The Hitavada’ earlier, a young IAS officer Ashish Yerekar, the then Sub-Divisional Officer and Project Officer of Integrated Tribal Development Project, Gadchiroli, had taken the initiative when COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted the normalcy last year. Yerekar hails from Nanded district, and cleared his IAS examination after getting trained at Pre-IAS Coaching Centre, Nagpur. “We are glad that we have completed a project under which we have translated Marathi and English textbooks for Std I to III in Gondi and Madia. We have printed 13,000 such books at the cost of Rs 8 lakh under the head of Innovative Scheme. Now that the books have been released, those will be distributed to students in Ashramshalas,” Yerekar told ‘The Hitavada’. The textbooks in Gondi and Madia were released at the hands of Eknath Shinde, Guardian Minister of Gadchiroli district, a couple of days ago. Sandip Patil, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Gadchiroli Range; noted social worker Devaji Tofa; Ashish Yerekar, and other officers were present prominently on the occasion. Yerekar had taken the initiative to get the school textbooks for Std I to III into Gondi and Madia languages to enable the tribal students to understand the syllabus well.

 

“The influence of mother-tongue is more on students in Std I to III as they are of tender age. These students face problems in understanding the content in Marathi and English. Besides, the teachers who do not know Gondi and Madia also face difficulties in explaining the textbook content to the students,” Yerekar said. A lot of preparation went into getting the textbooks translated into Gondi and Madia. Even during the pandemic time, a group of teachers expert in Gondi and Madia languages was formed in Ashramshalas. In several rounds of meetings, they translated the content in Marathi and English, into Gondi and Madia.

 

The teachers who translated the textbook content in Madia included Dulsa Gasiji Rapanji, Government Secondary Ashramshala, Ghati, Kurkheda tehsil; Kalidas Ganpat Ghosare, Government Secondary Ashramshala, Murumgaon, Dhanora tehsil; Chanda Chamraji Korcha, Government Secondary Ashramshala, Regadi, Chamorshi tehsil; Nirmala Dasaru Hedo (Usendi), Government Secondary and Higher Secondary Ashramshala, Karwafa, Dhanora tehsil. The officials involved in the project were Chanda Magar, Assistant Project Officer (Administration); Prabhu Sadamwar, Anil Somankar, and Pramod Wargantiwar, Assistant Project Officers (Education); and Wasudeo Kodape, Education Extension Officer.