RTE benefits a distant dream for alternative schools

Class 1 to 4 students often accommodated in a single classroom

While a colourful welcome was given to tiny tots in public schools in the State on Friday, hundreds of children who study in alternative schools are deprived of many of the rights under the Right to Education Act. Alternative schools are multi-grade learning centres set up at remote areas and classes from 1 to 4 are handled by a single teacher.

While free uniforms are given to students in public sector schools, those in alternative schools in the district have been denied the same for the past two years.

Teachers meet expenses

Even the expenses for Pravesanotsavam at alternative schools in Thirunelly grama panchayat were met by the teachers themselves.

“Six of the 38 alternative schools in the district are functioning in Thirunelly grama panchayat and two of them are still functioning from makeshift sheds,” says M.P. Pravitha, district president of the Kerala Alternative School Teachers’ Welfare Association (KASTWA).

At the alternative school at Edakkode, a remote and backward area in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS), 20 students, all belonging to the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal group, are accommodated in a makeshift bamboo shed.

Many such schools function with single classrooms. Amenities such as child-friendly classrooms, smart classrooms, scholarships, computer, and playground are a distant dream for them.

No extracurricular activities

“There is no scope to nurture the innate talents of the children or to make them participate in extracurricular activities. No opportunity is available to them to participate in science fairs, sports events, and art festivals,” says P.P. Benny, a teacher at Ponkuzhi alternative school on the fringes of the WWS.

“While teachers in government schools handle five books a day, we have to handle 18 books,” says K.V. Leena, teacher of Valluvadi alternative school. Despite all this work, the teachers have not received their monthly honorarium since March.

According to data available with the KASTWA, more than 6,000 students study in 350 alternative schools in the State.