Excitement on the faces of Anjali and Ajita was palpable as they collected their tabs from officials of Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) on Saturday. Their friends Atulya and Haripriya too were among the three dozen children of the Palakkayam tribal colony who celebrated the arrival of high-speed Internet.
Thanks to JSS, many students from Palakkayam, Ambumala and Vettilakkolli tribal hamlets were introduced to online classes for the first time since COVID-19 brought about the lockdown in March 2020.
Lack of Internet had kept a large number of tribal students away from studies during the lockdown. Some of them could hardly remember the name of their school, as the long vacation had nearly erased their campus memories. As usual, their records with the government may be perfect. But their education has not progressed an inch since March 2020.
“Wow, we are getting 4G. This is amazing,” said Sandeep and Sunil, browsing the net on their phone. The children’s excitement on getting the Internet and tabs spilled over to their mothers, as they demanded that everyone be given a tab each.
As many as 60 Lenovo tabs were arranged by P.V. Abdul Wahab, MP. Mr. Wahab had adopted Chaliyar panchayat under the Centre’s Sansad Adarsh Grama Yojna scheme.
The condition of children in Ambumala and Vettilakkolli colonies is even worse. With no proper road access to the colonies, dozens of families in the hamlets have been living virtually a marooned life.
While the dual hamlets of Palakkayam have 36 families belonging to Muthuvan tribes and 16 belonging to Kattunaikar tribes, Ambumala and Vettilakkolli hamlets have 25 families of Paniya tribes. Vettilakkolli, with little access and hardly a safe house to shelter them, is one of the worst in the State.