A day after The Hindu carried a report about A. Muthulakshmi, a 15-year-old Dalit girl suffering from partial hearing loss, who was forced to leave school after her hearing aid stopped working, the Education Department re-admitted her in Class X on Tuesday and offered to arrange counselling for her.
The girl was studying in the Government High School, Peravoor, near here. Her hearing aid stopped functioning after water seeped into the device. The school authorities asked her to leave on the ground that her performance was not on par with others.
On seeing The Hindu report, Chief Educational Officer (CEO) K Jayakannu swung into action and re-admitted the girl on Tuesday morning. Acting on the directive of Director of School Education from Chennai, the CEO took the girl and her parents to the school and left the premises only after completing the admission process, sources said.
“The girl was given books, notebooks and two sets of uniforms and advised to continue her education, though she was little reluctant,” the CEO told The Hindu .
The girl’s father, a sanitary worker in the local panchayat and mother, who is speech and hearing impaired, were keen on the girl completing her education, the CEO said. They were advised to ensure that Muthulakshmi attended classes regularly, he added.
The CEO replied in the negative when asked whether the department would provide her a hearing aid. “The department has no provision to buy her the aid,” he said.
Meanwhile, moved by the plight of the girl, many readers called The Hindu from Chennai, Bangalore and Maharashtra and offered to help the girl to get a hearing aid and support her education. A Chennai-based organisation offered to admit her in a residential school for such children in Chennai or Puducherry.
Those who wished to help the girl could contact Headmistress P Kanagarani at 94865 59888.
