Students from school for nomadic tribal communities pass exams, become inspiration

“Out of the six students who took up the exam this time, most of them belong to the Aadiyan community (boom boom maatukarar). The kids, especially Gurubalan, clearing the Class 10 exams are going to serve as an inspiration for the younger generations in the same nomadic clan,” she added. Most boys drop out of school and join labour work because of the dire condition of the families.

The school has observed that girls have a higher tendency of passing and they go on to study further. Revathi noted, “One of the girls, S Lakshmi, who cleared Class 10 this year is an orphan and another girl, Aarthi M is a Dalit and is being raised by a single parent.”

A major problem the students faced was in the Mathematics and Tamil papers. The questions were not out of syllabus but had been posed differently compared to what was taught in school, felt the children. “Gurubalan, for instance, scored 460 and above during the pre-board exams, but his final score was only 364. In government schools, children are only taught the most important questions that will be asked in the board exams. This time, the problems that were in the textbook weren’t asked and the kids were quite shocked. Luckily, we make sure they get holistic education so they geared up for it and completed the papers,” said the founder. All six students performed well in Social Sciences.

The students at Vanavil hail from extremely marginalised and historically nomadic communities, who would otherwise be living on the streets and begging, fortune telling, selling plastic, or worse. The school, apart from providing them with education and meals, houses homeless kids in a supervised hostel.