The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Transit schools set up for children of labourers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 08, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Transit schools set up for children of labourers

J. Malarvizhi

Brick kiln owners, government departments join hands "We have insisted that no child labour be used at any stage in the process"

CHENNAI: Some 20 bright-eyed children are busy learning mathematics in their transit school at a brick kiln near Cholavaram on Thursday morning. They have spent the last few months learning the names of national leaders, fruits and vegetables, making vases and a life-size bullhead mask made of papier-mache.

The INDUS (Indo-U.S.) project to eradicate child labour in five districts in the State, with the support of the Labour Department and the International Labour Organisation, has been co-ordinating with the school over the last two years.

The story of the school begins in the villages of Villupuram and Virudhunagar. After Pongal, agricultural labourers move to Chennai in search of work, children in tow. More than 150 brick kilns in the city are entirely dependent on migrant labour.

The brick-making `season' is between January and August. Children assist their parents in collecting mud and sifting gravel.

Most brick chambers provide rudimentary housing for their workers on their premises. Access to government schools is rarely available from these locations.

"We have insisted that no child labour be used at any stage in the process. But we are powerless to stop the children from helping their parents after regular working hours," said Pandurangan, owner of Vinod Chamber and president of the Red Hills Brick Kiln Owners' Association.

He was among the earliest to volunteer to set up a school for the workers' children at his chamber.

The number of enrolments has fallen this year to 20. Around 35 children left school last month alone.

Transfer certificates

The INDUS project has coordinated with the School Education department to provide transfer certificates, which would enable them to rejoin school in classes appropriate to their age.

With good rain in their native villages, parents find work available closer home and return, often without telling the teachers here.

Kalpana and Vani of Aarani, who teach at a school in Solar Chambers, Panapakkam, said more than 30 children migrated without taking a transfer certificate.

Twenty children study in a school meant to cater to five chambers. They are mostly from Villupuram, some from Thiruvannamalai.

The schools, estimated Mr. Pandurangan, cater to around 90 per cent of the chambers in his association.

SSA and NGOs

Eight are run by INDUS, several others function under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme and non-governmental organisations.

Similar schools are being run at the chambers of the Poovai Brick Kiln Owners Association and rice mills in Red Hills under the INDUS project, said Ramesh, field officer for the project.

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

Tamil Nadu