MADURAI: A butting KK Nagar in the city lies a slum area called Karumbalai, where 2,000 families reside. In the morning, the residents make their way to work as domestic helpers, labourers and corporation workers. Meanwhile, their children go on with their work as usual but they make sure that they return for the 6-8 pm remedial classes run by five volunteers.
The mission of P Vinodha, K Muthumari, K Ramya, B Yamuna and D Divya is to transform education in this economically-deprived neighbourhood. The remedial classes also have sessions on social values, storytelling, games, drawing and psychological counselling.
P Vinodha, a graduate belonging to the Scheduled Community, has been regularly taking remedial classes during the evening hours, for the past two years. She also takes value education classes during weekends.
“The parents here want to educate their children but don’t have the knowledge or awareness to do so. I did my B.A. in Tamil from Thiagarajar Arts and Science College and completed my B.Ed. I am preparing for competitive examinations now. I got support from several people when I distributed forms for free tuition. I then decided to teach children in my community,” she said.
“After Class VIII, most of the boys start smoking or using drugs and other substances. Due to this, they miss their classes. All such activities make them live a short life. Girls here fall in love with these boys, elope with and waste their whole career. Anyone can come and see for themselves the young widows with children in Karumbalai. I go visiting them door to door and gather the children to attend remedial classes. The Association here allotted a house for classes. At present, 50 children regularly visit our centre,” she said.
K Muthumari, a college student and a volunteer, said the classes encourage them to go to school regularly and get good marks in all subjects. “At the end of the class, we narrate moral stories on how to follow traffic rules, honesty, and punctuality. We have a library on our premises inaugurated by Assistant Commissioner of Police Lilly Grace.”
“We have a library of books such as autobiographies, moral stories, science fiction both in Tamil and English. Inculcating reading habits in children takes time. For the past two years, we noticed a lot of positive changes in children below the age of 11 years. The teenage years are a bit tricky for us. Children listen to us but teenagers get influenced more by their peer groups and stop coming here. We need the support of others to impart lessons and offer refreshments so that the children keep visiting our homes,” she said.
P Naguvarsan, a Class 6 student, said he enjoys playing carrom, chess and outdoor games with the other students. “They offer us healthy snacks such as millets and cereals, when we visit the centre. Parents encourage us to visit the evening centre run by Vinodha akka’s team. The highlight of my day was to share my stories with Vinodha akka and other akkas. They have helped me complete my homework,” he said.
Nandhini, a class 9 student, said her mother used to go to work by 6 am. “My parents could not guide me with my school lessons as they themselves did not know how to do it. Here Muthumari akka and the other akkas always talk to us about the challenges of the teenage years and how to overcome them. I belong to a deprived community, and I have grand goals for my career,” he said proudly.
Food for thought as well as belly
Besides learning about traffic rules and honesty at the remedial classes, children also get to have healthy snacks such as millets and cereals while sharing their stories with akkas