30 students of Vilankombai tribal settlement unable to go to school, flooding makes transport unavailable

The settlement is located in the midst of a forest in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve; a vehicle operated by an NGO to transport the children cannot run due to flooding of nearby streams; the government’s promise of a school has still not materialised, say residents

As many as 30 students of Vilankombai tribal settlement, located inside the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), are unable to attend school for the last two weeks due to flooding in the four streams that bring water to the Gunderipallam reservoir.

The hamlet, with 43 families, is located inside a dense forest at the rear of the reservoir, and falls under the Kongarpalayam Panchayat in Thooka Naicken Palayam (T.N. Palayam) Panchayat Union. The hamlet has no schools. A special training centre (STC) under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP), run by an NGO, Service Unit for Development Activities in Rural (SUDAR), which had been running from 2014, was closed down in March this year. As many as 20 students were admitted at the Panchayat Union Middle School at Vinobanagar (7 km away) and 10 students at the Government High School at Kongarpalayam (10 km away).

In the absence of transport and the students’ fear of trekking through the dense forest to reach their schools, they remained at home however, until, as a temporary measure, S. Natraj, director of SUDAR, arranged for a vehicle to take the children to school. However now, due to rains, water flow in the stream has gone up since the first week of October and the vehicle could not be operated.

“Schools reopened on October 13 after the vacation. But the vehicle could not be operated and the students continue to be in their houses”, Mr. Natraj said. The vehicle can be operated only after water recedes and the forest road is repaired for a stretch of 6 km.

Mr. Natraj said that The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009, mandates the presence of schools for classes I to V within one km of the neighborhood and within 3 km for classes VI to VIII. “Starting a primary school and appointing teachers is the only long-term solution,” he added. 

V.P. Gunasekaran, State Committee Member of the Tamil Nadu Tribal People Association, said that establishing a primary school in the hamlet is the only permanent solution to thisproblem. High-level bridges cannot be constructed across the streams. An alternative road should be laid to the hamlet so that students and workers are not affected.

Officials at Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) said that funds had been released for transport and escort services and vehicle operations would begin soon.