Within the thick forests of Ranni in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, education is arriving at the doorsteps of students despite all odds. With the pandemic shutting schools, education had all but stopped for the tribal students in the area, who had enrolled in the Government Tribal LP School. 

“The school has 40 students and 38 of them hail from tribal communities. Most of them belong to the Malampandaram tribe and 27 students do not have mobile phones. So, we decided to visit their ‘ooru’ (tribal hamlet) and teach them," says Biju Thomas, who is the Headmaster of the school. 

Five teachers from the school visit the hamlet and spend two hours from 10 am teaching the students. The school first discussed the importance of education with the hamlet's Chieftain before embarking on this project. "We brought the students to a common area in the tribal hamlet and taught them. We received a good response from the students. We started this initiative on Wednesday and we will continue this effort till the state government decides to resume regular classes," adds the Headmaster.