VILLUPURAM: Irula community students sought to direct the attention of the district administration to the non-issuance of community certificates to them, which is coming in the way of pursuing higher education.
It is also the reason for many from the community opting for early marriage or working in the unorganised sector. About 200 Irula community students from Villupuram district, most of them first generation school-goers, have been unable to pursue higher education for the past three years due to the apathy of the Revenue Department.
The harassment faced by students of the community is evident from the plight of S Prakash, a first-generation learner from one of 35 Irula families in the Avadiyarpattu hamlet near Vikravandi, who obtained 425/500 in SSLC and 907/1200 in the HSC examination in 2012 but is still waiting for his community certificate in order to be eligible for the Scheduled Tribe quota at the Government Engineering College.