PALAKKAD: Forced by the demise of his parents, Manikandan had to swap his studies for a job after ninth standard. He had to meet the family’s expenditure and the education expenses of his younger brother. The story of the tribal youth from Kollapadi ooru in Attappadi, however, is not a tear-jerking solo. There are numerous such examples. A novel initiative has now started to get such dropouts back to the schools. As part of it, Manikandan has been enrolled into the Bridge School and he has been lodged in a rented hostel in Goolikadavu.
“Manikandan has written 23 poems and also about the history of Attappadi. We intend to publish his poems. It was the circumstances, many of the students had only single parent, that made students like Manikandan skip the school. We have identified such students and brought them here so that they are not distracted from studies by staying at their home,” said Sindusha K, in- charge of the Bridge School in Attappadi. The Bridge School, set up as part of the Integrated Development Project of the Kudumbasree-NR LM programme in 2015, has picked up 80 drop outs. They have been lodged in two hostels in Goolikadavu and Moolakada in Attappadi.
“Absenteeism of teachers and inability to focus on quality of learning are also reasons for lack of retention,” said Seema Bhaskar, manager of the NRLM. “Of the 80 students, 26 had passed the SSLC exam. They have been sent for the 6-month CNC lathe course at the Netoor Technichal Training Foundation, Thalassery, with assured placements after training. The remaining 56 children will be appearing for 7th, 10th, 11th and 12th equivalency exams,” added Seema.