VIRUDHUNAGAR: Five happy faces are shining bright with a few shabby tin huts in the background amid the noise of spinning mills. The scene of the five tiny tots getting ready to visit their school might not seem extraordinary, if they were not children of migrant workers, who have not been to schools continuously for generations.
The children have the headmaster of Padikkasuvaithanpatti Government Primary school, K Jayakumar Gnanaraj, to thank as it was he who took the initiative to enrol them in his school.
Speaking to TNIE, Prakash* (22), a native of Uttar Pradesh, said it was risky to send their children to the schools. "I have been in Tamil Nadu for 12 years. There is a chance of our kids to go missing or be bullied at school or being kidnapped, as we are 'others' here. So, we keep our children with us," he said, adding the children usually go to school for a brief period of time when the families visit their hometown.
Jayakumar said out of the 27 children in the school this year, 10 are admitted in the academic year 2021-22. "Among them, six are children of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam. I had to convince the parents about their safety and had to take the responsibility for it before they were enrolled. I have a strong belief that other parents will follow suit," he said.
Cut to the reality.
According to the data available with Department of Industrial Safety and Health, there are 3,219 (approx) migrant workers in the district as of September 2021. This apart, the labour department has identified 60 migrant labourers working as roadside vendors and in shops, hotels, other establishments a week ago.
However, there is no data available to identify neither the number of children of migrant workers nor how many of them are being educated. "These children do not go to school because they have to take care of their younger ones. As the entire family goes to work at the mill or other establishments, the little ones are left alone. So, none of the children goes to school,"said Jayakumar, who in a bid to encourage them to come to school has given Rs 1,000 each to those children who got enrolled in his school. He has also arranged an autorickshaw to pick up and drop them.
An official with the district administration, who preferred anonymity, said while Jayaraj's incentive and the auto facility have earned the trust of parents to send their wards as of now, there is no guarantee that the children will stay in the school for the entire academic year. "What active system can be put in place to ensure that the children get educated?" he asked. Further, Jayaraj has been requesting the education department for a Hindi teacher for his school to facilitate easy learning.
However, General Secretary of Platform for Common School System Prince Gajendra Babu said it is a constitutional mandate under Article 350A which states 'It shall be the endeavour of every State and of every local authority within the State to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother-tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups' and that it is also a constitutional mandate that the government should take care of the child's education.
He also cited a provision under Tamil Language Learning Act, 2006: 'Students who do not have either Tamil or English as their mother tongue can study their mother tongue as an optional subject' - which is a right of the child - and the management has to make necessary arrangements. If it is a government school, the government is responsible.'
Speaking about the fear of the parents who have migrated from other states, Ganjendra Babu said trust-building should be carried out collaboratively by the local bodies, schools and the government.
Meanwhile, the education department data say there are no Hindi or other language teachers in any of the government schools in the district apart from one Hindi teacher appointed by National Child Labour Project (NCLP). "However, as of now, there is no migrant child studying in the district," said Project Director Narayanaswamy.
*Name changed
Number speaks
Unicef report titled 'Understanding Child Migration in India' released in March 2020 says four states with the highest percentage of in-migration of children (0-19) include Kerala (55.7%, 5.81 million), Maharashtra (37.2%, 15.08 million), Tamil Nadu (34.4%, 8.01 million), and Andhra Pradesh (33.5%, 10.01 million)".