THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Students and teachers were busy with last-minute preparations on Tuesday. The cultural programmes to celebrate harvest festivals was about to start.
For many, it was an uncommon sight – children dressed in colourful costumes, gearing up to perform skits to mark Lohri. However, for some students of Government UP School in Virakupurakotta, it invoked memories of their respective homelands.
As many as 79 of the school’s 139 students hail from other states, including Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. While the number of migrant school students is on the rise across the state, the Virakupurakotta school goes the extra mile, adopting unique activities like a mixed-language assembly, to ensure integration of all students.
The school has been the second home to migrant students since the early 2000s, said the teachers. School officials said the parents have different professional backgrounds – some are labourers and mobile shop workers in the nearby Thakaraparambu electric street, while some own hotels and bakeries in the city.
Since most of these children join the school at a young age, there is hardly a language barrier, asserted the teachers. “And some of us know Hindi very well,” said one.
Every day at the school starts with a 20-minute assembly attended by all students, with the language switching between Malayalam, English and Hindi weekly.
According to headmaster Vinayan V, children pay attention only to attractive activities, and hence, the creative assembly has segments like introducing festivals, cultures and occupations through placards.
“We have grouped students into teams, comprising both Malayali and migrant students, and tasked them with the smooth execution of the assembly,” he said.
Another initiative, Student Empowerment Program United (SEPU), provides children a space to showcase their artistic talents every day during lunch break. Tuesday’s Lohri celebrations was held under the initiative.
This apart, students are trained for youth festivals, and many have brought accolades to the school in extempore and literary events at the district youth festival. There are WhatsApp groups comprising parents and teachers who speak Hindi, to address any concerns of the migrant students.
Supplementing the school’s efforts, the state government has provided an educational volunteer – Shamna – to provide language and emotional support to migrant students inside classrooms. Though she initially thought hers would be a herculean task, Shamna said the children’s eagerness made her job easy.
The school’s efforts are not confined just to the students. A senior teacher said abuse of tobacco, paan and other substances had been a concern in the early days, but things were set right through systematic awareness sessions and anti-narcotic programmes.
“Even a parent who regularly consumed paan quit after we spoke to him. Now, he is our parent ambassador for such initiatives,” said Vinayan.
Adding another layer of inclusivity, the school also houses migrant children with special needs, who are looked after by a special educator from Samagra Shiksha Kerala.
Understandably, parents are thankful. A guardian from West Bengal said her children are now fluent in three languages, Malayalam, Hindi, and Bengali. “Our children have blended well with their Malayali schoolmates and share a good friendship with them. I cannot even compare this school to any from my state,” said a parent hailing from Bihar.