In order to ensure quality education for the tribal students living in the forest of Pathanamthitta in the Central Travancore region in Kerala, the Kudumbashree programme has come forward with a novel project. The district's Kudumbashree mission has started special tuition classes for the students of tribal hamlets inside the forest.
A report by The New Indian Express states that the major goals of this project are to make the tribal students extremely good at their studies and ensure that they are not discontinuing their schooling midway. The project has been fashioned for students from Class I to higher secondary classes. The project has already been launched in Avanippara and Velimala tribal hamlets. Avanippara is situated in the remote forest tracts of Aruvappulam grama panchayat and it is on the banks of the Achankovil river, reported TNIE.
As many as 27 students belonging to the Malampandaran tribe are attending the classes at Avanippara here. Over 11 students of various tribal communities are in the classes in Velimala. The project is being executed by the Kudumbashree district mission with the help of the Community Development Society (CDS), which is the apex body of the Kudumbahsree programme.
According to a report by TNIE, Shajahan TK, District Programme Manager (Tribal), Kudumbashree, said that earlier they conducted studies in the tribal hamlets inside the forest before starting this project. "During our interaction with the students, we understood that the students in high school even did not know how to write their names. So, we have decided to start tuition classes to make them good at their studies. Our classes are on for the tribal students of Avanippara and Velimala and, this week, we will start classes for the Malampandaram students of Manjathodu tribal hamlet in Sabarimala forest," said Shajahan.
"We conduct the tuition classes without affecting their regular classes in schools. We have selected well-qualified persons from the tribal community itself to lead the tuition classes. The tuition classes will be held either in the evening time or on Saturdays and Sundays in tune with the convenience of the students. We will give Rs 5,000 as monthly remuneration to their tuition teacher. We are getting a good response from the students," he said.
"First we make them well aware of Malayalam and English alphabets. They are easily learning and grasping the classes. After learning the alphabet, we start to teach them their syllabus. We also ensure that they are not discontinuing their school education," Shajahan told TNIE.
