Every morning, T. Latha from Alapakkam wakes up at five so that she can get her six-year-old son, Abhinav, ready to leave for school by 7.30. Since Abhinav’s school is around 15 km away, they need to leave home early to reach in time for the prayer bell.
Abhinav is not the only child in the city who travels long distances. Even though the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act emphasises the concept of neighbourhood school and a Supreme Court order directed schools give priority to children who live within 3 km of the school, several children travel over 10 km a day just to reach school.
Latha used to live in Mylapore and her son started studying there. When they shifted, she was reluctant to change schools. “It is very difficult to get into a good school. Now that my son is happy with the school, I don’t mind the extra distance,” she said.
S. Shanti, a resident of Senthil Nagar, travels 8 km to drop her daughter who studies in class IV at an Anna Nagar school.
“There are a couple of schools near our house but they are not of the standard we expect. We wanted our daughter to have quality education, so we don’t mind travelling the distance,” she said.
In schools that are on the fringes of the city, there is a greater demand from people who live far away.
Parents are reluctant to send their children to government or Corporation schools and want to enrol their children in top schools, educators say.
“Our school has stopped school bus and van services for children who stay far away, but the children continue to come here,” one school principal said, adding that one in 10 students lives more than 5 km away.
“The problem is when there is an emergency, and the parent needs to be called to the school, or the child needs to go home urgently,” he said, adding that when there is a bandh or another kind of emergency where the children are unable to get home with private transport, the school arranges transport.
Activists feel that both the parents and the schools are to blame. Educationist Vasanthi Devi said,“Making a four-year-old child sit for over an hour in a van, especially on an empty stomach after school is cruel,” adding that peer pressure is a big problem for parents, especially when it comes to their child’s school.
Many children travel over 10 km to go to school despite there being many institutions nearby
