Tribal hamlets in Pathanamthitta are yet to realise the changes induced by COVID-19 in the outside world. Many of the tribal families residing along the forest fringes of Gavi, Attathode, Thannithode, Laha, and Aruvappulam are even unaware that the pandemic has gripped the world, says Uthaman, a tribal activist at Laha.
When the Education Department decided to launch online classes for students in schools across the State on June 1, the children of these forest-dwellers in Ranni and Konni taluks found themselves at a disadvantage as they have no access to electronic devices or the Internet. The First Bell that heralded the beginning of the new academic year laid bare the digital divide at least in remote and hilly areas of the State.
“The government is talking about e-learning, laptops, and online classes to these forest dwellers who do not even know about electricity,” says Mr. Uthaman.
Lacks facility
As per a survey conducted by the Samagra Shiksha, Kerala, the strength of schoolchildren in the district (from Classes I to XII) during the previous academic year was 1,02,341. The survey says that 4,819 children, including tribal children, in the district do not have online education facility. Mr. Uthaman says there was an attempt to make the tribal children computer literate three years ago. “The instructor in charge of the programme got a laptop. That was the only achievement of the State-sponsored programme,” he alleges.
What is needed is basic infrastructure, along with a proper environment for learning, for the tribal children, says Mr. Uthaman.
The district houses 726 tribespeople from 228 families, the majority of them belonging to the Malampandaram clan.
Nomadic
Ninety-seven of these tribespeople are nomadic, living in makeshift tents made of plastic sheets in the forest areas of Ranni-Perinad, Aruvappulam, Seethathode, and the Thannithode grama panchayat limits. Earlier, the Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department used to arrange vehicles for taking their children to the tribal schools at Kisumom and Attathode.
