IDUKKI: She didn’t have a gadget to attend online classes, her area lacked mobile network connectivity and her house had no power connection. However, Divya K, who hails from a tribal settlement in Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary in Idukki, braved all odds to secure A+ grade in all subjects in this year’s SSLC examination. Her achievement assumes significance as she is the first tribal student in the area to come up with full A plus.
Divya is the daughter of Kannappan-Velankanni couple, who resides in the Alampetty tribal settlement inside the sanctuary. Marayoor tribal officer V Suresh Kumar said the students in the area use solar lights and kerosene lamps for their studies.
Divya said she was mainly dependent on the television set at the multi-grade learning centre (MGLC) at Alampetty and the mobile phones of her father and uncle for her studies. “Due to the absence of a proper mobile network I had to visit areas where network is available and download the classes,” she said.
After passing out with flying colours, Divya plans to choose science group for her higher studies; her aim is to become a doctor. “My teacher at MGLC Sunitha Manoj is the force behind my achievement. She had been providing me with all the assistance since Class I,” Divya said.
Sunitha is a proud teacher today. “Divya started her primary classes at the MGLC here and later from Class V she continued her studies at the Model Residential School, Ettumanoor, in Kottayam. But due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and subsequent lockdown the school hostel was closed and she had to study from her home,” she said.
In the absence of proper education facilities, the students from the tribal community in the sanctuary begin their primary education in the MGLCs inside the forest areas. The single-teacher schools, mainly female teachers, provide primary education to the tribal kids in Edamalakudy, including tribal areas, from Class I to IV.
Proper online education is a distant dream for the students of tribal and plantation areas in the district. Over 14,000 students are deprived of online education due to the absence of proper network coverage.
