KANHANGAD: Robins is 12 years old and should have been in Class VII from the next academic year. He dropped out of school two years ago. His elder brother Prince, 14, too rarely goes to school. Both cannot read and write. But the government does not count them as dropouts. They occasionally come to school, said a teacher. Their nearest school, Government Higher Secondary School at Maloth Kasaba in Balal gram panchayat, is located 8 km away.
For Robins and Prince - both are from a Scheduled Tribe (ST) community — going to school means taking a steep treacherous trek. In a day, they will have to walk 16 km to study. “We want to study, but we cannot walk that long,” said Robins, as he aimlessly catapulted stones into the air from a hilltop.The brothers live in Edakkanam colony, which borders the Karnataka forest. The colony has 13 children of school-going age. “But only three are regular at school,” said the teacher.
There are around 50 children from ST communities who rarely go to school. “For all practical reasons, they should be considered dropouts. The government should be doing more to ensure they come to school regularly,” said the teacher. Making them walk is a denial of human rights and a violation of the Right to Education Act, said another teacher.
The students enrolled at the school are from inaccessible colonies at Thumbattattu near Konakkad and Mandila; and also from Pamathattu and Vazhathattu, which are 9 km away, said the teacher cited in the first instance. Parents would have to shell out Rs 600 per month only on transportation to get their child to school. “Imagine the financial burden if they have more than one child. Most of them are daily wage labourers,” he said. Students also come from Mudanthanpara, Pungamchal and Kodiyankundu from neighbouring West Eleri panchayat.