CHENNAI: M Aruna Sumathi buys one English and one Tamil newspaper at a shop in Periyanaickenpalayam, Coimbatore, every day. She then waits at a local shop for her jeep to arrive. In the next 15 minutes, the vehicle arrives, and she travels in it for 20 kilometres on a hilly terrain to reach Manguli Panchayat Union Primary school. As she alights from the jeep, a bunch of cheery tribal schoolchildren greet her in their mother tongue — Irula language. She settles down inside a classroom, opens both the newspapers and passes them on from one child to another. She sits with each one of them and helps them read out the news aloud.
Making choices
Aruna has been the headmistress of the school for the past ten years. She recently received the Best Performance Award from the District Collector K Rajamani for her service towards tribal children. “Earlier I worked in Naickenpalayam Panchayat Union Primary School as an assistant teacher for 10 years. I was promoted as headmistress in 2009 and was posted to Manguli Panchayat Union Primary School, which is located 20 km from where I live. As it is in the hills, there were hardly any buses to take me to the school in Manguli village,” says Aruna. This was one of the main roadblocks for Aruna to make a decision of working in the school. “Initially, I decided to go by bus to Palamalai, where I get down and walk three kilometres to the school. It started getting difficult.
So, I hired a private jeep to travel to school. The route is famous for attacks by wild animals. The driver knows how to protect us from these attacks,” she says. The school has around 14 children who come from tribal families. Most of their parents rear cattle. There are two teachers in the school, including Aruna, who handle all the subjects. “Initially, it was difficult to communicate with the children as they didn’t understand the languages I knew and I couldn’t comprehend what they were saying. I sought help from the local villagers for translation. Now, I can understand their language but I reply in Tamil,” she shares.
Creating possibilities
Tamil is the medium of instruction at the school. Not knowing the language, the students find it difficult to learn all the subjects. “Every day, I take two newspapers with me and sit with the children to help them read. Now, most of the students can speak in Tamil and read English,” she points out. Aruna insists on making children read the newspapers and trains them in basic computer skills. She uses videos and activities to teach Science and Maths. “After their primary education, the students can pursue their higher secondary in Palamalai. Then, they go to Periyanaickenpalayam Government School for high school. Lack of transport is one of the major hurdles for them, which stops them from pursuing higher education.
This is also the reason for a lot of dropouts in the high school. Adequate transport facility to reach the school will ensure the children complete their schooling,” says the 50-year-old teacher. The award that she received recently acts as a tool for motivation. “The Block Education Officer referred me for the award and it is an immense pleasure to receive the award from District Collector K Rajamani. It motivates me to work more for the empowerment of tribal and downtrodden children,” she says.
he school has around 14 children who come from downtrodden tribal families