TIRUCHY: A Panchayat Union Primary School headmaster, who has been transporting 10 tribal students amidst all odds, was presented with a vehicle by the residents and the volunteers from the village in Thanjavur on Monday.
It is said that there are as many as 31, including 10 tribal students, studying in Madhanpattavur Panchayat Union Primary school near Peravurani in Thanjavur. Since the parents of tribal students have no proper educational background, they do not regularly send their children to school.
Headmaster Elamathiyan, who used to meet those parents to convince them to send their ward to schools everyday, arranged auto rickshaws to pick the students up from school and drop them back at their houses for the past six months.
The headmaster sometimes used to seek the support of the PTA president, Muthukrishnan and the village residents and get financial assistance for the transportation.
On coming to know, the efforts of the headmaster, Elamathiyan, Sakthi Foundation, an NGO, came forward to help out the headmaster. They purchased an Omnivan for Rs 2.75 lakh and presented it to the headmaster for transporting the tribal students.
On Monday, the vehicle was handed over to the headmaster by the NGO in the presence of the villagers.
“The students from the tribal villages have to travel for around two kilometres to reach the school, and their parents are hesitant to send their children to school on time, citing the distance. So, I took care of their travel and even used to go to their village by autorickshaw and take them to school on an everyday basis. And this vehicle would be very helpful to transport the students,” said the headmaster.
He also said that he, himself, would pick up and drop all the 10 tribal students, and he would also bear the fuel expenditure.