Slum children egged on to continue their studies

On the eve of a new academic year, with a view to discouraging poor children from dropping out of school, Olirum Muhangal, a city-based organisation, conducted awareness programmes on the importance of continuing education among children in the slums of the city on Sunday.

Members of the organisation said that they were able to complete their education with the assistance of ‘Sakthi-Vidiyal’, a non-governmental organisation based in Madurai, and that they were working while pursuing higher studies.

“Since all of us received support and encouragement to complete our studies despite many hurdles, we decided to give back to the community by propagating the importance of education through folk dance and skit,” said K. Kalidass, president of Olirum Muhangal.

The group performed traditional dances such as ‘Maattu kombattam,’ ‘Kaliyal’ and ‘Oyilattam,’ and put up a mime show in the slums at Kalmedu, SMP Colony, Thathaneri, Manjalmedu, Karumbalai and Melavaasal. “After the performance, we visited houses in the slums and conducted a survey to assess the number of dropouts. At SMP Colony, we found 20 school dropouts and 30 at Kalmedu,” said R. Venkateswari, a volunteer. Mr. Kalidass said that in most of the cases, the children had either dropped out owing to poverty or a mental block about school and were reluctant to continue their studies.

“After a detailed survey of all the slums, we will hand over the data to the District Childline officials who will contact the children and help them continue their education,” he said. N. Surya, another volunteer, who is studying ninth standard, said that in many places they visited, the parents approached them with an appeal to encourage their children to get back to school.

“In many cases, children drop out because they do not want to study or they are scared of something that might have happened at school. We talk to them about the importance of going to school and motivate them,” he said.