Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Wednesday, May 07, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Tamil Nadu
A new chapter: Classes in progress at a school for children of migrant workers on Rajiv Gandhi Salai. — TAMBARAM: The magnitude of construction projects currently under way off the Rajiv Gandhi Salai (IT Corridor) has to be seen to be believed. Massive IT parks, commercial complexes, hotels, Special Economic Zones, and apartments are being constructed on a scale never seen before in Chennai. And helping these projects shape up are several thousands of workers from backward districts in different parts of India. The families engaged in construction industry have also brought along their children most of whom are deprived of education, that too, in their respective mother tongue. But there are clusters of schools along this IT corridor where a few hundred children from Andhra Pradesh and Orissa are learning subjects in their mother tongues and through a method similar to the Activity Based Learning being followed in all government schools of Tamil Nadu. The Rural Development Trust, a voluntary organisation, has been organising Schools for Migrant Children at Kalavakkam, Vaaniyanchavadi, Kelambakkam, Egattur, Navalur, Semmancheri and Sholinganallur where 650 children — 560 from Andhra Pradesh and the rest from Orissa — are studying. “We started the first school for 60 migrant children from Andhra Pradesh at Egattur in 2004,” recalled T. K. Elumalai, managing trustee. Ever since the construction boom began, the demand for workers rose phenomenally and most of them came from States outside Tamil Nadu, he said. Mostly, construction workers are on the move, resulting in children being deprived of education. But in the case of IT Corridor where projects are aplenty, they are assured of work for a long period. This made the voluntary agency take the lead in providing education to children. The schools function at sheds that are provided by the project promoters or the contractors. With funds mobilised from friends and donors, the Trust has recruited about a dozen qualified teachers who train the students in Telugu and Oriya, Mr. Elumalai said. Students are given a full-fledged learning kit comprising stationery, play materials, snacks and meals. A near 100 per cent attendance is ensured as the schools are located close to the workers’ quarters. Parents who earlier used to take their children along to work are glad they are now going to school. A 26-year-old woman Keli from Kalipuda, Orissa, sends her elder daughter Gita (10) to one of the schools, while her two other children are below three. By sending their children to school, they are deprived of an additional income. “But we have no regrets. It is good for their future,” she said.
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