Palaiya Sarkarpathi, a tribal settlement under Vetaikaran Puthur municipality in Anaimalai taluk, with more than 450 tribal people belonging to the Malasar tribal community, lacks a proper transportation facility and has led to more than 30 students dropping their school education and picking up strenuous jobs.
According to the villagers, the road from the village to the nearby bus stop, which is in Sethumadai, is five km away and from there to the school is another five km. "There are many ways in between the forest to reach the school, but I don't want to take the risk of letting my daughter go alone and that costs me around more than Rs 100 a day," said C Saritha, a 37-year-old mother in a chat with TNIE. She is a daily-wage labourer who runs the household with the Rs 300 she earns. "Almost all the people in this village are daily-wage labourers and to spend so much only for travel is too much for us," she added.
Since the number of girls going to high school exceeds the number of boys, it is girls who drop out of school in the fear of travelling every day through the forest. So, it prevents them from getting their opportunity of pursuing higher and college education. Speaking to TNIE, C Radhika, 16, said their opportunity for education was very uncertain as at any time they can be stopped from going to school by their parents citing safety reasons. "Without a proper transportation facility and not much money to spend, even I have a thought of stopping my education," she said.
Apparently, the money they earn as a daily-wage labourer is insufficient to run their family as they don't get the assurance of regular pay. So, to spend a considerable amount only on their children's transport makes them back off from the idea of providing them with education. Some of the parents residing in the village said that even though they have the benefit of reservation to get a college admission, they were not able to enjoy the fruits of that because they are forced to discontinue before their school education completes.
I Nagarajan, a Malasar tribal community member of Panthakkalammanpathi, which comes under Kottur municipality and Anaimalai taluk, said in a chat with TNIE that his three children were stopped from going to schools at different grades due to unavailability of transport. "It's almost 9 km to reach Kottur, which has a school. How is it possible for a person like me to take my three children to the school and bring them back?" he asked. He added that there is a school in Aliyar and it is three km away. However, the path to that school runs through the forest and, therefore, people prefer Kottur to Aliyar. Marimuthu, a parent of two girls, said he stopped his children after he found his earnings were almost getting lost in arranging the children a transport facility to their school. "It's not only for children. Even when one is sick and has to go to a hospital, the auto fare is unaffordable," he told TNIE.
The villagers shared that the auto fare was almost Rs 600 for a round trip to Kottur. That is worth two days of their salary. Also, autos cannot be reached during emergencies. Thakare Shubham Dnyandeorao, Sub Collector, Pollachi, told TNIE that he was unaware of the issue and assured that he will look into it. When asked about the scheme to provide transport facility to school students till Grade VIII under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Sethumadai Government High School Headteacher, Ramesh, told TNIE, "We have sent a request letter asking for the transport facility for the students residing in that village. We have not received any response yet."
An official at the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan in Coimbatore told TNIE that he had not received any letter for such a facility from the school and said he will check with the officials regarding that. Speaking to TNIE, E Pugazhendi, Pollachi forest ranger, said, "The Forest Department is taking steps to employ battery-operated vehicles for the students." "With more than 30 students dropping their school education, this should have been the primary concern of the officers," said tribal body president VS Paramasivam to TNIE. He added, "They should have done something years back taking into consideration all the petitions and requests the people have given to the officials."
