Children of mahouts and kavadis of Dasara elephants, who will camp in the city till the conclusion of the festival on October 5, will not face disruption in learning.
For, the Department of Public Instruction has arranged for a ‘’tent school’’ as an ad hoc measure on the palace premises to ensure the continuity of their education.
An annual feature in the run-up to the Dasara, it is reckoned to be useful as children tend to join their parents on their long sojourn from the jungles to the city and stay in Mysuru for nearly 45 days. The officials perceived that such a long sojourn and break from school could create learning gap that could be difficult to bridge and hence was introduced more than 10 years ago.
The tent school, which was already functioning since the last few days, was officially inaugurated by district in-charge Minister S.T. Somashekar here on Monday and the children clad in fancy dress took time out to present a dance and the Minister joined in and jived to the tune of folk songs. The officials too joined in.
Deputy Director of Public Instruction Ramachandra Raje Urs said that in all, 26 children will benefit from the tent school arrangement this year and five teachers have been deputed to cater to their requirements.
‘’Many of the children have left behind their school uniforms and texts as if it was a vacation and hence text and notebooks have been provided to such children. Besides, school uniform too has been provided and the tent school will function from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,’, said Mr. Urs.
Though the atmosphere in the tent school will be informal, children will be clubbed into small groups based on the classes in which they are studying and teachers will impart lessons to them.
‘’Though a bridge arrangement, it is useful as children will receive individual attention when required,” according to senior officials in the department. In addition to tent school, a tent library with books to cater to the children is also in place.
The teachers will impart the same lessons as prescribed in the syllabus. The children are from various ashram schools established in tribal belts that is run by the Department of Social Welfare and moved into the city along with their parents who take care of the elephants participating in Mysuru Dasara.
In addition to conventional learning, the children will also participate in extracurricular activities. The second batch of five elephants will arrive from various jungle camps during the week and the children of the mahouts of these elephants too will be accommodated in the tent school.
