National Service Scheme volunteers of Model Residential School (MRS), Munnar, supported by the teachers, are on a mission at Edamalakkudy, the remotest tribal grama panchayat in the State, to bring all dropouts back to school and provide support to continue their education. So far they have identified 22 children who had dropped out of schools or colleges owing to various reasons.
Braving inclement weather, the team, led by school principal M. Rajan, trekked all the way to Edamalakkudy, 18 km from Pettimudy, on Friday. The NSS volunteers talked to the children and elicited the reasons for their discontinuing studies.
The team divided into two groups and visited six settlements. There are 23 settlements at Edamalakkudy, which is inside the Munnar Forest Division.
The students from Edamalakkudy wanted admission at MRS at Marayur and Munnar after their preliminary classes at the single-teacher school. Most of the dropouts are from the upper-primary school to the high school level. The dropouts also include those in degree classes and some professional courses.
Interaction with parents
The team also interacted with the parents of the dropouts and told them about the need for continuing their children’s education. A list will be prepared to identify all dropouts from the grama panchayat.
According to a team member, the children and parents told them about their financial problems and the difficulty in getting admission outside the settlement.
Another reason cited was early marriage that is a common practice in the settlements.
Mr. Rajan said that their aim was to draw the attention of the Education Department and the State government to the plight of these students.
