Language barrier hinders education of migrant workers’ children in Erode government school

NGO READ helps migrant children in Erode overcome language barriers, providing education and empowerment opportunities.

Language has turned into a barrier for learning for 45 children of inter-State migrant workers, who were recently admitted to the Government High School at Mukasipidariyur in Chennimalai block in Erode as they could not write in Tamil or English.

A Sathyamangalam based NGO, Rights Education and Development Centre (READ), involved in children’s development and women’s empowerment, has identified 32 children at Mukasipidariyur village and 13 children in Kuttapalayam village, and admitted all the 45 to classes from 1 to 8 in the school in June and July in the current academic year. 

Most of them are from West Bengal and Odisha while a few children are from other North Indian States. Their parents work as daily wage workers in construction, textile and industries at SIPCOT, Perundurai, and children stay at home.

D. Annakkodi, Project Director, READ, said the children are in the district for over five years and they had never been to school in their native or here. “They were able to understand and converse in Tamil. But, they cannot write in Tamil,” she said. Most of the children know to read and write in Bengali and Odia while a few know Hindi.

READ Director R. Karuppasamy said the district has about 1.5 lakh migrant workers and over 4,500 children are still out of school. While the medium of instruction is Kannada in many schools in Talavadi Union, Tamil and English is the medium in other schools in the district. “This is a new situation and considering the future of the children, temporary teachers to teach in the language of migrant workers should be appointed,” said Mr. Karuppasamy. He said pacifying parents of migrant workers and admitting their wards to school is a challenging task.

When contacted, T. Sampath, Chief Educational Officer, Erode district told The Hindu that special classes would be conducted to teach them basics in each subject. “They can learn to read and write Tamil in a few months,” he said.