A mission to bring more tribes to school

With hardly two weeks left for the school reopening on June 1, Government Tribal Lower Primary School at Attathode, the State’s second largest tribal settlement, is gearing up to attract more children for the ‘Praveshanotsavom.’

The Praveshanotsavom will be organised at all primary schools across the State in the first week of June as part of the ‘School Chale Hum’ project of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan aimed at generating greater interest among students in learning.

The headmaster of the Attathode tribal school, Jayachandran, told

The Hindu that the school that started functioning at the literacy centre of the grama panchayat a year ago had been receiving very good response from the tribal folk in and around Attathode.

37 students

Though 50 children had joined the school on June 1, 2015, the present student strength of the school was 37 and the staff strength was four, including the headmaster.

Mr. Jayachandran said the school staff were planning to visit the tribal families at the Attathode tribal settlement as well as other hamlets (‘Oorru’) in the surrounding forest areas of Nilackal, Chalakkayam, Pampa, Rajampara and Laha on May 23 and 24, in an attempt to bring more tribal children to the school in the new academic year.

Makeshift tents

He said there were reports that as many as 30 nomadic tribal families had been staying in makeshift tents in different parts of the Sabarimala forests and the school authorities would explore every possibility to attract the children of these families to the school.

As many as 22 children studying at the school belonged the to nomadic Malampandaram families.

The school authorities used to pick them up from the tribal hamlets at Laha, Nilackal and Chalakkayam in a jeep to the school and drop them back to their homes on all working days.

The school faced closure threat last year owing to financial crisis.

However, the issues were resolved following the intervention of District Collector S. Harikishore, who made arrangements to ensure feeding of the children thrice a day, besides arranging payment of transportation charges (Rs.1,400 a day) to the jeep driver, bringing him under the Gothra Sarathi scheme.

He said the Tribal Welfare Department officials here had been extending support for the welfare of these children.