“There is a silent exclusion of migrant children [from schools] in the absence of measures to bridge the language barrier between children and teachers,” a rapid study on the educational prospects of migrant children enrolled in three schools in Ernakulam has observed.
The study was carried out by the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development at the request of the district administration in August this year. It has prompted the administration to roll out Project Roshni, which seeks to erase the socio cultural ‘otherness’ of migrant children in the district. The initiative will be launched on October 19.
As suggested by the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), CMID focused on three schools — Government UP School, Kandanthara; Government HSS, Elamakkara, and SNHSS Thrikkanarvattom — with a fairly high ratio of migrant students. In the school at Kandanthara, where migrant children (106) outnumbered those from the locality (94), a good 91% of migrant students are from West Bengal. If children from Rajasthan (52%) are more in the school at Thrikkanarvattom, children from Tamil Nadu (40%) together with those from the Lakshadweep (29%) constituted a chunk of migrant students in the Elamakkara school.
While the job profile and economic status of parents of children in each of these schools varied slightly, the medium of instruction (language) drove a wedge between children and teachers. “There is a crying need to have bilingual teachers conversant in Malayalam and the language of the majority of migrant children in these schools,” Benoy Peter, who piloted the study, ‘Giving Every Child a Fair Chance’, said.
While language erected a wall between teachers and students in higher classes, it was a lot easier for children enrolled at young ages, especially in pre-primary and primary classes.
Periodic absenteeism and dropping out midway through the year were found to be interfering with the schooling of migrant children, thanks to trips made by migrant families to their native places — most of them up north or in the eastern or northern States. The study highlighted the need for supplementary teaching coupled with the need for a comprehensive plan for the inclusive education of these children.
It recommended that there be a district-level committee to monitor and review the educational, health, digital, legal and financial inclusion of migrant workers in the social mainstream.
The study also suggested that migrants learn Malayalam for better social integration and that there be no separate school or classroom for them.
