- Dr. Sonajharia Minz teaches computer science at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi
- To make a name for herself in the higher education sector, she has surmounted many obstacles
- Dr. Sonajharia is now a Co-Chair of UNESCO
Dr. Sonajharia Minz, an Indian tribal professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, has been named the first UNESCO Co-Chair. She is a trailblazer in higher education, overcoming linguistic, social, and gender barriers in higher education.
Sonajharia, a member of the Oraon tribal community of Jharkhand, will co-direct the UNESCO Chair in Indigenous Knowledge, Research, Governance (IKRG), and Transformative Reconciliation with Dr. Amy Parent of the Nisga'a Nation in Canada. The four-year position is the first joint collaboration between Simon Fraser University of Vancouver and JNU of New Delhi. They will work to enhance the rights, knowledge systems, and self-determination of Indigenous peoples in India, Canada, and globally.
Since UNESCO set up its Chairs program in 1989, more than 1,000 appointments have been made worldwide—including a few in India—but never before has an Indian from Scheduled Tribes been chosen. Dr. Sonajharia is also the first tribal woman to be appointed to this prestigious position. In 2020, she had made history as the first tribal woman Vice-Chancellor of Sidho Kanho Murmu University.
Born in December 1962 in the Gumla district of Jharkhand, her life began there. Because she was Adivasi and her father was a Protestant pastor, she was turned away from a Catholic school that used English as a medium of instruction when she was five years old. "I didn't know discrimination, but I felt deprivation," she recalled the incident. I made the decision to disprove their exclusion because I knew it was due to my identity.
She was set on becoming a teacher from an early age. A first-grade teacher once remarked that she would be teaching when she grew up, and because of this, she fixed her goal on mathematics—a subject which she enjoyed and for which language was no hindrance. She struggled with Hindi but was excellent at math, even earning full marks. When a non-tribal instructor once informed her she wouldn't be successful in the subject, it only made her more determined.
Today, Dr. Sonajharia is a strong testament to perseverance and achievement, as India's tribal community on the international stage. It is not just an individual victory but also a good stride towards hearing and empowering marginalised voices in academe and beyond.
