A large number of tribal students from hamlets in the Nilambur forests are yet to reach their schools even a week after the campuses reopened on November 1.
The vehicles that carried tribal students to schools and back under the Scheduled Tribes Development Department’s Gothra Sarathi scheme are not running any more.
The department has stopped funds for the Gothra Sarathi scheme and asked local self-government bodies to meet the expenses for the transportation of tribal children. But the panchayats seem to have ignored the matter.
When this reporter visited the Vennakkode hamlet of Kattunayakan tribes on November 1, the children there had been waiting. “I thought the jeep would come, and I waited till afternoon,” said Rahul, a Standard 6 student at Government LP School, Edivanna Estate, Chaliyar grama panchayat.
So were Ammu, a Standard 9 student at Government Higher Secondary School, Eranhimangad, and Ganga, a Standard 7 student. Ganga said she did not want to continue her education.
Like them, dozens of tribal children in remote hamlets in Karulai, Pothukal, Vazhikkadavu, Moothedam and Chaliyar panchayats in the Nilambur area are continuing their wait for the jeep. “If the panchayats or the Government does not act now, it is going to severely affect the education of tribal children,” said Aju Koloth, chairman of Mithra Jyothi Tribal Development Foundation.
The Scheduled Tribes Development Department had introduced the Gothra Sarathi scheme a few years ago for arranging transportation facilities to students living in the interior forests and inaccessible areas in association with the Education Department, local bodies and parent-teacher associations.
Now that the ST Development Department has stopped giving funds for the scheme, the onus is on panchayats. Chaliyar panchayat officials said the governing council would have to meet and take a decision on sanctioning funds for the scheme.
According to Mr. Koloth, shifting the affected students to tribal hostels will be the best option. “Instead of waiting for the vehicles and continuing the same old style of education, shifting them to hostels in different places will go a long way in ensuring better education for tribal children,” he said.
