VIRUDHUNAGAR: Once you learn to read, you will be forever free — Frederick Douglass
At her arugamai palli (neighbourhood school), Jeyamary was reading out a children’s story to a group of tots and toddlers sitting cross-legged in front of her. There was pin-drop silence, punctuated by an exclamation from one of them every now and then. The carefully articulated words of their teacher worked wonders in their vivid imagination.
Jeyamary, a teacher at K Madathupatti Panchayat Union Elementary School, came up with the idea of setting up a ‘neighbourhood school’ at her Thayilpatti village, near Sivakasi, after witnessing the plight of workers at the cracker and matchstick manufacturing units.
With the units resuming operations, the workers were left with the options of either leaving their wards unattended at their homes or taking them to their high-risk work places. Some units, however, barred the workers from the latter recourse, source said.
During a discussion with her friends, Jeyamary presented the idea of helping these workers by taking care of their wards. “It started as story-telling sessions every Friday using some books donated to my school by a publishing house,” Jeyamary said. Along with some friends, she arranged a classroom near her house.
Her method of teaching struck a chord with both the children and parents and student numbers boomed over the past weeks. “The children are also asked to express their thoughts about the stories they read and hear through drawings, speeches, poems and other creative expressions,” she said.