The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Tribal employees launch `student adoption' scheme

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Tribal employees launch `student adoption' scheme

By S. Harpal Singh

ADILABAD, FEB. 14. Choosing education as a means to help post-SSC tribal students, tribal employees in Adilabad district launched the `student adoption' programme. In order to make the effort organised, about 150 tribal employees comprising mainly Gonds and Kolams recently formed an outfit called the Gondwana Employees Association (GEA).

Each of the 150 employees will `adopt' two post-SSC students to monitor their educational progress and provide them help, which is not available to them from the Government.

The GEA work will also serve the purpose of weaning away tribal youth from things like extremism. The GEA plans to launch its website in March, which will serve as a guide to those seeking help in their education.

Several problems

Explaining at length the working of the new organisation, GEA president and in-charge of the TB Control Department, Adilabad, Thodsam Chandu, said "Tribal students face many difficulties forcing them to drop out of education. Government programmes do not have any scope for attending to these problems. For example, many tribal students do not return to college after a vacation due to non-availability of bus fares. Many do not pass their exams because they do not have textbooks. Such things will be taken care of by respective `guardians' of the adopted students."

The GEA, which has the task of meeting on the last Sunday of every month, conducted one meeting so far in January. Over 200 students attended the meeting and stated their problems. The experience made the GEA approach the District Primary Education Programme's (DPEP) State Coordinator Usha Bala, who sanctioned test papers for 100 tribal girl students of degree final year.

Test papers

Similarly, the Additional Project Coordinator of the DPEP, Adilabad, Vishwanath Rao, sanctioned test papers for girl students of degree first and second year. "In order to prepare the tribal students to select proper post SSC courses the tribal teachers will take up counselling of students of classes V and VI and classes IX and X in two phases. This will also reduce the dropout incidence drastically," Dr. Chandu opined.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh