Narikurava students get spl centre in Thanjavur school

TIRUCHY: A special training centre for students of the Narikurava community, who dropped out from the Mela Uloor Government Higher Secondary School, was inaugurated by the Thanjavur Collector in the same institution as a temporary arrangement on Monday.

As part of identifying and re-admitting the dropouts, a five-member team conducted a study in Thanjavur recently and found that as many as 83 students, including 46 from the middle and upper primary section of the Narikurava Colony at Mela Uloor, stopped attending school for various reasons, including mocking by classmates.

However, the 46 Narikurava students who dropped out were re-admitted to the Government HSS at Mela Uloor and were continuously monitored by the education department officials. Free uniforms, books and other stationery items were distributed to the students.

Since the primary school students faced issues during re-admission, the district administration planned to open a Non-Residential Special Training Centre (NRSTC) as a temporary arrangement. After learning the students’ difficulty, Collector Dinesh Ponraj Oliver instructed the officials to establish the centre at the school premises itself. Accordingly, the Block Resource Teachers (BRT) readied two classrooms to induct as many as 37 primary school students from the community.

As per schedule, the Collector on Monday inaugurated the centre. Two volunteers, one each for Classes 1 to 3 and Classes 4 and 5, were deputed to teach the students. “These volunteers will start teaching them from the fundamentals and will also assess their learning abilities,” an official told DT Next.

Meanwhile, the educationists appealed to the government to provide a permanent set-up to these students as the NRSTC is valid only for six months.