Students look to athai for better futures

It isn’t unusual to see kids from Gomespalayam, a slum in Madurai, sitting on a slim lane, finding out through the mornings and evenings. They typically examine inside a group corridor within the space, and at different instances, contained in the cramped home of their 38-year-old instructor, R. Sankareswari.

Ms. Sankareswari, fondly addressed as aunt — chithi, periamma or athai — by the kids, has been holding free tuition courses for them for 9 years. Ms. Sankareswari, who has accomplished Class 12, says her purpose is to make sure that each youngster within the space graduates and takes up works apart from that of their mother and father. “Everyone from our community works either as a conservancy worker with the Madurai Corporation or as a manual scavenger. I want to ensure that no child is forced to be a conservancy worker, a job associated with our community,” she stated.

While her father was a septic tank cleaner, her mom was a conservancy employee. “Although I could not graduate due to financial constraints, I made sure that I did not take up conservancy work. I want to help others cross this boundary too,” she added.

Classes on the Dr. Ambedkar Free Evening Children’s Tuition Centre begins at 5 p.m. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, courses are being held each morning from 10 a.m. “There has been a fall in the number of students attending the classes due to the pandemic. Currently, students who do not have smartphones, use mine to attend online classes,” she stated.

While Ms. Sankareswari holds courses, members of the Dalit Resource Centre, of the Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary in Madurai, have been educating the scholars Maths and English, two days per week. This has been happening for a 12 months now, till the pandemic struck. Higher secondary and faculty college students additionally educate their juniors throughout their free time. “I repeatedly tell my students that as they grow up, they must simultaneously help out their juniors to succeed,” she stated.

R. Nanda Kumar, a first-year legislation pupil who studied on the tuition centre, stated that other than studying parts of the college curriculum, college students additionally study vital values and ethics from the centre. “Due to financial constraints and dysfunctional families, substance abuse is rampant among adolescent boys in our area. Going to the tuition centre has helped me stay away from these habits,” he stated.

Many mother and father in Gomespalayam prepare marriages for their daughters as soon as they full education, stated A. Akshaya Shree, a Class 11 pupil. “Citing financial constraints, some families even ask girls to stop going to schools, and work at confectionery factories or take up work as domestic helps. But athai [Ms. Sankareswari] explains the importance of education to our parents,” she stated.

Ms. Sankareswari used to work as a helper in a faculty van, selecting and dropping kids from their residences, for a month-to-month earnings of ₹3,000. She used to additionally take up election-related work at instances. “I have had no work since the outbreak of COVID-19. Although a few family members insist that I charge a paltry sum as tuition fee, I do not collect any amount as that should not become a reason for parents to stop sending their children to the classes,” she stated.

Children on the centre say they aspire to turn out to be legal professionals, lecturers, police personnel and naval officers. Ms. Sankeswari says the centre wants extra books and guides to assist the kids examine better.