Tribal children from Sabarimala forests step outside with English on their lips

The Hindu

13-05-2025

For 13-year-old Rajith, summer has always meant living inside the Sabarimala forests near Moozhiyar.
This April, however, this youngster from the Malaipandaram tribe, walked away from the woods for an experience that would take him and his peers a step closer to the outside world. Over the course of three days, Rajith joined 35 other children from his community for a residential camp where they interacted, played and performed together—but only in English.
For a tribe that has lived inside or close to the Sabarimala forests for generations, it marked the first spark of a movement called Communicore. Launched by the Kudumbashree District Mission in Pathanamthitta, Communicore is a full-throttle push to train Malaipandaram children in communicative English. Designed as part of a micro-plan for the community, the initiative aims at providing 300 hours of training in communicative English to selected children over 10 months.
Three residential camps will be held this summer, which will be followed by classes on all second Saturdays and Sundays once the schools reopen. Since most of these children stay in tribal hostels, special permissions have been secured from the authorities to enable their participation during weekends.
Interactive activities
'The key aim of the project is to improve their basic communication skills through a series of interactive activities,' says Shahjahan T.K, programme coordinator. The participants, aged between 12 and 17 years, come from the tribal settlements in Ranni, Vadasserikkara, Thannithodu, and Aruvapulam.
To ensure effective learning, specialised trainers have been roped in. The sessions focus on building confidence and fluency through engaging formats like debates, presentations, English drama, group discussions, anchoring, and storytelling. The learning modules have been developed in collaboration with the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).
At the end of the training cycle, a convocation ceremony will be held. The grand finale, however, will be the Indian International Tribal English Conclave 2k26, a State-level event where these students will showcase their communication skills and do stage presentations developed during the training.
Semi-nomadic
Officials underscore the significance of Communicore in the unique context of the Malaipandaram community. Traditionally semi-nomadic, they have long lived in the Sabarimala forests, largely disconnected from the mainstream society. Their livelihood continues to depend on the forest ecosystem, and their hesitance to integrate into wider society has made them one of Kerala's most socio-economically marginalised groups.
As per official estimates, there are just 837 Malaipandaram tribespeople living across 12 settlements in Pathanamthitta. Smaller groups also reside in the extended forests of Idukki and Achencoil in Kollam district.