The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Lack of better schooling adds to their woes

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Monday, Nov 17, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Lack of better schooling adds to their woes

Vidya Venkat

Schools and anganwadis are struggling to cope with the large influx of students

— Photo: Vidya Venkat

MUDDLED: Children at the Slum Board Resettlement Colony in Semmenchery seen missing classes and playing about in murky waters.

CHENNAI: It has been two years since S. Sudha moved from a tiny hut along the Adyar river to a Slum Board tenement in Semmenchery, close to the much-touted IT corridor. But Sudha is not too happy. She says her 10-year-old son Vijay had better schooling back in Adyar.

Now enrolled in the Government Middle School in Semmenchery, her son Vijay refuses to go to school because he does not enjoy classes.

The school, she says, has only five teachers including the headmistress and with over 500 students enrolled, the child does not get proper attention in school. This adds to her list of woes which includes absence of a steady income, lack of water and other basic facilities.

Not only is the resettlement colony ill-equipped to cater to all their demands, the schools and anganwadis are struggling to cope with the large influx of students. The Government High School in Sholinganallur reportedly turned down admissions this year to several students as they did not have the capacity to absorb more students.

G.Adikesavan, who works as a security guard at an IT company, said his son was attending the Government High School in Semmenchery, but he was not happy with the quality of instruction. Adikesavan secured this job with great difficulty and could not afford to send his 16-year old to a private school. “And these days without clearing X Standard one cannot even qualify for a security guard’s job,” he grumbled.

Anganwadis

Most families living in the resettlement colonies such as Semmenchery and Kannagi Nagar depend on wage labour. Anganwadis become essential so that labourers can leave their children there before going for work. But residents here say the number of anganwadis is not sufficient.

T.K. Ezhumalai. who heads voluntary organisation Rural Development Trust, says there should ideally be one anganwadi for every 500 families. Semmenchery needs, at least, 12 anganwadis and Kannagi Nagar needs 20. But in both the places, the existing number of anganwadis is less than half the number. Women are forced to stay back to tend to their children.

“This could result in students dropping out of schools owing to poor quality of instruction and also encourage them to take up work at an early age to help the families financially,” says Ezhumalai. Already about 13 children belonging to kuravar families in Semmenchery were seen picking waste paper in nearby IT companies in order to support their families, he notes.

Also, absence of water facility in toilets in the government schools of Semmenchery and Kannagi Nagar is a deterrent for students. “Grown up girls are forced to return home during lunch hours. This also encourages absenteeism,” said Manimegalai, whose daughter studies in Class VI.

Also, with teenage boys cutting classes often, parents fear they would get into evil habits . It is a common sight at resettlement colonies to see boys in small groups playing cards and passing comments on young girls, says Mangaiyarkarasi, a social worker.

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