A teacher of the Government Primary School in Pasmarapenta, a tribal village near Pernambut town in Vellore, is driving his new share auto rickshaw to pick up primary class students from nearby tribal hamlets and drive them back to their houses after school hours every day.
M. Dinakaran, 39, has taught classes I and II at the school for over a decade. He has been driving rickshaw since June 14, when all primary schools in the State were reopened after summer vacation. “I felt sad when students told me that they got hurt by thorns while walking to school. They sleep in the classroom sometimes due to tiredness after walking for a long time,” he said.
Formed in June 1962 with around 30 students, the school now has over 100 students, including 60 girls, and four teachers, including the headmistress, R. Thirumalai Selvi. Most of the students are from Pasmarapenta, Samaneri, and Kollaimedu tribal hamlets.
Villagers, who are mostly tribals, work in poultry farms and brick kilns in the neighbouring Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The school remains a safe haven for students as many parents go to work and return late in the evening..
Bus service
A lone bus service (Route No: 84; Pernambut to Aravatla village) operates three times a day but does not go to remote tribal hamlets like Samaneri and Kollaimedu due to rugged terrain. Students, in small groups, walk along paddy fields and pathways to reach the school in Pasmarapenta, around 3 km from these hamlets, every day.
Now, Mr. Dinakaran drives his auto rickshaw from the school campus around 7.45 a.m. to pick students from Samaneri and Kollaimedu hamlets.
The school begins at 9 a.m., and he ensures that students arrive on time. The school ends at 4.10 p.m., and he drives them back to their houses. Students who attend special classes under the Illam Thedi Kalvi scheme will be dropped later in the day. He returns to his house in Kothapalli village, which is around 15 km away from the school campus, where he parks his autorickshaw.
Block Development Officer (BDO), Pernambut, S. Hemalatha, welcomed the initiative by the school teacher and said that Pasmarapenta village also has a government high school for students to continue their higher classes in the village. Efforts are also being made to provide easy transport facilities for school students in remote tribal villages in Pernambut Block.
