Education occupies an important place in the social, cultural and economic development of tribal communities. The educational conditions of tribal communities in Telangana have historically been characterized by low literacy, inadequate access to schools, low enrollment of girls, absenteeism, stagnation, dropout and inadequate educational infrastructure. The educational facilities provided by the government included primary schools, upper primary schools, Ashram schools, hostels, scholarships, mid-day meals, free books, stationery, clothing and teacher-training centres. In 1961, the literacy rate of Scheduled Tribes in the State was 4.41 percent compared with 21.2 percent for the State as a whole. In 1971, the corresponding figures were 5.34 percent and 24.6 percent. The educational situation varied considerably among tribal areas and communities. The establishment of Ashram schools attempted to provide residential educational facilities to children living in remote and scattered settlements. District-wise data show considerable variation in the number of schools, student strength and literacy rates. Female educational participation remained particularly low. The 1991 data show that female literacy was considerably lower than male literacy in almost all districts of the Telangana region. The  educational facilities and welfare measures discussed in the paper indicate the efforts made to promote education among tribal communities, while the available data demonstrate the continuing difficulties of educational access, enrollment and retention.