For 31 students of Vilankombai tribal settlement, education is a distant dream

At a time when students are preparing for their final examinations, 31 students of Vilankombai tribal settlement, located inside the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), are spending their time playing, cooking, washing utensils and clothes and rearing cattle. This is their routine for the past three years as their hamlet has no school nor transportation available to traverse the forest road to reach the government school located seven km away.

The hamlet with 43 families is nested inside the dense forest and falls under the Kongarpalayam Panchayat in Thookanaickenpalayam Panchayat Union in Gobichettipalayam Taluk. In the absence of a government school and children accompanying their parents to work, a special training centre (STC) under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) was run by the Service Unit for Development Activities in Rural (SUDAR), a Sathyamangalam-based NGO, from 2014. But the centre was closed from April 1, 2022, and 21 children were admitted to Panchayat Union Middle School at Vinoba Nagar (7 km away) and 10 children to the Government High School at Kongarpalayam (10 km away).

The forest road iat the rear side of the Gunderipallam reservoir and wild animals, especially elephant herds, visit the reservoir to quench their thirst. “How can we risk the lives of our children by sending them to schools in this situation,” asks a resident, Maadhan. Due to COVID-19, they were without education for over two years now and after the pandemic, they were unable to reach the school for almost a year. “Studies remain a dream for our children for the mistake they did not do,” he expressed.. He wanted the forest road to be re-laid and a mini bus be operated for the students to reach their schools.

In September 2020, the then Minister for School Education K.A. Sengottaiyan announced that a primary school would be established in the hamlet and the Forest Department had also demarcated 50 cents of forest land for the school. “But nothing materialised so far and we don’t know what is the status,” said another parent Mavakka. With contributions from philanthropists, a vehicle was operated for three weeks in October 2022 to transport the students to the schools. But, due to rain, water flow in the four streams had gone up and the temporary arrangement was also stopped.

A Standard III student was unable to write his name while their school books were lying idle as the present batch of Standard 9 students were the highly qualified persons in the hamlet. “Who will teach our children? We fear their future is ruined,” said Kannamma, who wanted the school in their hamlet. After completing their work, students continue to spend their time under the tree shades for three years now, said another parent, Mavakka. Parents said that they are tired of submitting petitions and staging protests and wanted a permanent solution.

V.P. Gunasekaran, State Committee Member of the Tamil Nadu Tribal People Association, said that arranging a vehicle will only be a temporary solution. But, establishing a school in the hamlet is the only permanent solution. He said that the problem has been highlighted many times and the future of the children remains bleak. “If the situation does not change, the entire generation will be illiterates,” he warned. 

S.C. Natraj, Director of SUDAR, said that The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009, mandates the presence of schools for Standards I to V within one km of the neighbourhood and within 3 km for Standard VI to VIII. “These children were not attending schools from 2020 till now,” he said and added that starting a primary school and appointing teachers is the only long-term solution.