Following reports that 10 tribal children from Nattakkal in Kengarai village in Kil Kotagiri were unable to attend school for almost three years due to lack of a road to the nearest school, the School Education Department in the Nilgiris has stepped in, offering to transport the children to another nearby school.
Students belonging to the Irula adivasi community were forced to drop out of school during the pandemic after a spell of heavy rains damaged the road leading to the nearest school, the Havoor Panchayat Union School. Vehicle operators were concerned that children being taken to school faced the threat of serious injury in case of an accident involving the vehicle.
However, after reports highlighted how the students had no chance of attending school, officials from the School Education Department, including the Chief Education Officer of the Nilgiris, visited Nattakkal and held discussions with parents.
“We held talks with the management of the estate where the village is located and convinced them to allow the vehicle that will take the children to school to use the estate road,” said an official from the Department.
Though the road cannot take the students to the Havoor Panchayat Union School, it can take them to the Government school in Kengarai. However, this increases travel time for the students, who face a more than 20-km round trip each day.
The Department officials said that demands made by the community to reopen the school at the Kootaada estate are being considered, and if the road is re-laid, the students can be admitted once again to the Havoor Panchayat Union School.
