Asha woke up early in the morning and prayed for her children. She was confident that they would score well in the Class X examination and was also planning to move them to a private school. But both her children failed to clear the exam.
“They scored 118 and 115 out of 500 marks. I can’t believe this because they have always studied well,” said Ms. Asha. Most children of families who were relocated to the Navalur Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board tenements last year have either failed or scored very low marks in the SSLC exams.
“My daughter failed too. I don’t know what to do now,” said Rukmini, who was moved from Arumbakkam seven months ago. The two women, along with hundreds of other families from across the city were shifted 55 km away from their houses to make way for the Integrated Cooum River Eco-Restoration Project.
Families had objected
Before the resettlement drive, these families had held protests and written to the authorities urging to stall the move until the children wrote the public exams. They had feared that the mid-academic year eviction would affect their studies.
Families blamed the authorities. They alleged that the resettlement had badly affected the children, who had to travel five hours and change at least three buses to go to schools daily. This forced many to miss classes or drop out and take up odd jobs to support their families.
Even those who were moved to the tenements in Gudapakkam, near Thirumazhisai, complained of the same. Auto driver Raghurajan’s son too travelled would travel for four hours every day to attend school. But unlike many others, he managed to pass. “I need to move him to my brother’s place next year so he can study well,” said Mr. Raghurajan.
Several activists had taken note of the issue and written to the State authorities including the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Protection of Child Rights to look into it.
“It is high time that they probe into this issue seriously and ensure that these children don’t miss out performing well in the supplementary exam,” said Andrew Sesuraj, State convener, Tamil Nadu Child Rights Observatory.
