KOCHI: Students, teachers and parents across the state are celebrating the start of a new academic year after two years of pandemic that disrupted the education system. However, it is the students belonging to tribal community who have been hit the hardest. The decision of the government to wind up 334 single teacher schools has pushed to the edge the children belonging to tribal families in remote forests.
While the tribal welfare department claims that a majority of the students will reach schools on Wednesday, activists are sceptical.
“The students staying in tribal hostels were sent back to the colonies during the lockdown and they started helping the parents in their routine. Though schools were opened in November last year, children were reluctant to return. The closure of single teacher schools will force parents to send children studying in primary classes to tribal hostels. But many pre-matric hostels in the state lack basic amenities. Children studying in primary classes to Plus II live in crammed hostels,” said Adivasi Aikya Vedi president Chitra Nilambur.
The tribal welfare department in association with panchayats have arranged vehicles for transportation of students from colonies to schools under the ‘Gotrasarathy’ scheme. “Though the alternative learning centres have been closed, the government has made arrangements to ensure that no student is denied opportunity to attend schools. Children who want to stay with their parents can avail the Gotrasarathy scheme while those in deep forests can stay at tribal hostels.
There were no dropouts in tribal areas during the lockdown period as the government had arranged learning centres in all colonies. Besides, we provided laptops and digital learning facilities,” said tribal welfare department deputy director K Krishna Prakash.
According to Chitra Nilambur, bringing back children to the classroom will be an uphill task. “The attendance will be low in the initial days. The tribal promoters and teachers have visited the colonies and tried to encourage the parents to send children to schools. But bringing children living in deep forest areas to the schools is a challenge. High school students may return, but parents are reluctant to send primary class students to hostels,” she said.
“Denying parental care to children at such a young age is cruelty. This will detach them from families and with no one to share their feelings the children will develop depression. The staff at pre-matric hostels are mostly non-tribal and they cannot understand the emotional state of tribal children. As many as 10 students in the age group of 15 -19 years have died by suicide in Malappuram district alone last year,” added Chitra.
Meanwhile, the tribal department has not been able to open the hostel at Idamalayar as 11 families from Arakappu colony are staying there. They had left their colony last year fearing landslide and were provided temporary stay at the hostel. They are demanding allocation of land at Panthapra colony in Kuttampuzha panchayat.
106
No. of pre-matric hostels for tribal students
20
No. of model residential schools