In an effort taken by Service an NGO, Service Unit for Development Activities in Rural (SUDAR), as many as 60 schools dropped outs of three tribal settlements in Erode district were admitted back to the schools recently. They also arranged transportation facilities for 30 students from Vilankombai tribal settlement to the school.

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According to the sources, during Covid -19, nearly 15 special training centres, established under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP), were shut down by the central government and the district administration was asked to admit these students from these centres into nearby schools. However, students refused to join the new schools due to the lack of proper transportation facilities.

S C Nataraj, director of SUDAR  said, "Since Covid - 19, some of these students are working with their parents in estates, bakeries etc for livelihood. As the central government closed the special training centres without any reason, nearly 150 children from class 1 to class 8 were unable to continue their studies. For instance, children from Vilankombai need to walk at least seven to ten kilometres to reach a middle school at Vinobhanagar or a high school in Kongarpalayam. Due to lack of transport facility, nearly 40 students dropped out of the schools last year and their education was affected."

“We arranged a mini truck to pick up and drop the students from Vilankombai tribal settlement to two schools. On Thursday We enrolled 30 students out of 40  in two schools. After three years gap, they attended classes and we are spending Rs 2,000 daily only on transportation,” he said.

Further, he said that 20 dropout students from Gundri in Sathayamangalam block and ten students from Bargur in Anthiyur block are also admitted to nearby schools. A teacher J Periyasamy who worked temporarily at a special training centre at Gundri, said, “Ten students out of 30 are not going to the schools citing poverty and lack of transport facility.” He further urged the government to start residential schools in the tribal settlements.  

When asked about it, G Radhakrishnan, assistant project officer, Samagra Shiksha at Erode told TNIE, “We have forward a letter to the state project officer seeking transport facility to the tribal settlements under the transport-escort scheme for school children.”