COIMBATORE: About 400 tribal students in Karamadai and Periyanaickenpalayam receive uninterrupted education amidst the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to the efforts of the district administration and a non-profit organisation. Provided with nutritious snacks and food, they have a healthy reason to attend classes regularly.
Under the homeschooling concept, NGOs - Native Medicare Charitable Trust (NMCT) and Karl Kubeal Stiftung (KKS) - roped in volunteers from tribal settlements and started teaching the children in December 2020. Now, about 400 students from classes 1 to 8 attend classes regularly in 11 tribal settlements in Karamadai block and nine in Periyanaickenpalayam block. The class timing is from 9 am to 1 pm.
NMCT founder and managing trustee AS Sankaranarayanan said, "We earlier had a programme named Roja Kootam to provide education to deprived children. After the pandemic hit, we modified the programme to provide uninterrupted education to the tribal students. We selected qualified volunteers from the tribal settlements and trained them in teaching with experts. The volunteers are paid an honorarium of Rs 5,000 per month, apart from teaching materials, tabs and mat. The children have been given school bags, stationery, etc.
Apart from ensuring that their education is not disrupted by the pandemic, the programme has also prevented them from falling into the trap of child labour, Sankaranarayanan said.
R Valliyammal, a volunteer teaching at Kethaikadu tribal settlement, said before the programme started, many students in the settlement were involved in rearing goats and cows without showing any interest in education. "The NMCT created awareness among parents on the importance of education. Soon, the parents started sending their kids to the classes. Nearly 20 students attend the classes without fail. Based on the common syllabus provided by NMCT, we train the children on writing and reading and instil self-confidence in them," she said.
Another volunteer Kavitha in Korapathy settlement said many students had forgotten alphabets, numerals, etc. as they had not attended classes for a long time. "Though they initially struggled, I regularly taught them and gave them tests. Now, they have started improving gradually. Since we take the classes using the tabs given to us, the students attend the classes regularly," she said.
The homeschooling classes seem to have improved the education for V Beulah, a class 5 student. She said she had forgotten alphabets and numerals after a long gap in education. "After I started attending the classes, my learning has improved," the girl added.
The NGO has been serving healthy snacks to the children in the morning and lunch after the classes get over for six days in a week. A cook has been appointed in each centre to prepare food in a hygienic method.
District Educational Officer N Pandiyarajan, who visited 11 centres, said the students were getting good education from the volunteers. "In the assessment during my inspection, I found that the students' education had improved," he said.