Kerala: 'Gotra Vahini' launched to take children from remote ST colonies to school

District administration launches 'Gotra Vahini' to take children from remote ST colonies to school; students from difficult background or tendencies to skip schools admitted to pre-matric hostels.

KASARGOD: Even if I have to wield a cane, I will ensure that boys are in school this year. That was District Collector Jeevan Babu K reacting to an 'Express' report on the plight of schoolchildren of Edakkanam colony in Balal panchayat, where they used to skip school because of the long arduous walk back and forth.

Yes, the top administrative officer of Kasargod has kept his word; and no, he did not use the cane.The district panchayat will launch jeep services to 14 colonies to take children to school on Thursday; and several students, likely to skip schools, have been admitted to pre-matric hostels.

On May 21, 'Express' had carried a report, We want to go to school, but we can't walk 16 km every day', highlighting how schoolchildren stay away from Maloth Kasaba Government Higher Secondary School, because of the long trek. The report had particularly highlighted the story of Robins, 12, his elder brother Prince, 14, and Sudeesh, 18.

On Thursday, the school will launch jeep services to 14 remote colonies with no public conveyance, to bring the children to school, said the Department of Scheduled Tribes Development. The service is provided under the Gotra Vahini Scheme of the district panchayat.

This year the district panchayat had set aside `60 lakh for the scheme. Therefore, we will be able to provide service to several schools, said A Babu, tribal extension officer, Panathady. The scheme was launched last year with a budget of only Rs 16 lakh.

Last year, there was a delay of four months in rolling out the service because of getting the necessary approval, he said.

The delay, however, encouraged several students to stay away from school for the rest of the year, said a teacher of the school. Most of such students had poor literacy skills despite being enrolled in higher classes.

Robins, Prince admitted to hostel

The Tribal Development Department said there were more reasons at play than transport for the children of Edakkanam colony to stay home. Our promoters visited every house in all the colonies to identify children who were not regular in schools, said Babu. They found that transport was just one of the reasons. In several cases, the children did not have an encouraging ambience at home, he said. So we found an alternative and lasting solution, he said.

The extension officer said the department took transfer certificates (TC) of Robins and Prince from Maloth Kasaba School and admitted both of them in class VII in Government Higher Secondary School, Balathode. We did that so that we could admit them to a pre-matric hostel run by the department, he said.

An officer said they convinced their mother Bindu to allow them to be admitted to the hostel. Babu said another student, Vinu Mani, from the same colony has been admitted to the Balathode pre-matric hostel because of a similar reason. His sister has been admitted to the government's Ashram Residential School at Kundamkunzhi in class I.

We took her parents to Ashram to win them over, and they were impressed by the facilities and the care provided for, he said. Special attention He said the department hired three part-time tutors to teach English, mathematics and science to the inmates of Balathode hostel.

The hostel has 42 students, and most of them need handholding and special attention to make them par for course, he said.An officer said promoters identified 42 students from difficult background, and who were likely to skip schools, and admitted them to pre-matric hostels in Kannur and Kasargod districts.

Last year, we put 72 children in hostel from Balal panchayat alone, he said. 14 jeeps to pick children To ease the travel ordeal of students of Maloth Kasaba, 14 jeeps will be pressed into service from Thursday, the official said.

The vehicle will go to colonies in Nambiarmala, Kottachery, Vazhathattu, Mantila, Punja, Edakkanam, Kammadi, Pammathattu, Modanthapara, Kinnattadi, Chullithattu, Kannirvadi, Karyottuchal and Kappittattu to pick students of Maloth Kasaba School. The children of Edakkanam will now have to walk only 200 m to the anganwadi, where they will be picked and dropped by the jeep, said Babu.

More schools to get Gotra Vahini

This year, the department is planning to launch jeep service in Balal Government High School to cater to children in two remote colonies; and also in Government Welfare High School at Panthur to cater to children in seven colonies.

The Gotra Vahini will be launched in GHSS, Parappa, to cater to Malurkayam and Mundathadam colonies; and at GHSS, Panathady for children in six colonies adjacent to Ranipuram forest, Babu said. The increased budget of `60 lakh will help us bring children from all these remote colonies to school, he said.

The scheme will be extended to schools in West Eleri, East Eleri, Kinanur-Karinthalam, and Kodom-Belur grama panchayat.

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