The long dangerous trek through thick reserve forests to write their board examinations has come to an end for tribal students atop Jawadhu Hills in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai, as new examination centres have been set up in their schools for them to appear for their Class X board examinations from this year.
Earlier, the students of government high schools in Peejamandai (Vellore) and Nimmiyambattu (Tiruvannamalai), had to walk down the hills through the forests to reach the examination centres at the government high schools in Anaicut and Guniganthur respectively.
Each school covers at least 40 tribal hamlets situated in the hills. These centres, on an average, are located around 10-15 km away from the hillock schools where the students were enrolled.
Prior to the establishment of the exam centre in the hills, students used to stay in a common boarding room on the plains until their examinations were over before returning to their village, as many of them, especially girls, found it difficult to walk to the centre for the exams every day. A few staff used to be deputed for their safety.
“Examination centres, away from schools, also resulted in dropouts as students did not appear for their examinations. The new road laid by the DRDA, from the plains to the hillock, was a major reason to get the examination centre,” said M. Gopi, headmaster in-charge, Government High School, Peenjamandai (Vellore).
Of the total 124 students in the school in Peejamandai, 15 students, including six girls, were appearing for their Class X board examinations this year.
At present, Jawadhu Hills in Vellore has three village panchayats — Peejamandai, Jarathankollai and Palayampattu — with around 90 tribal hamlets put together. Among them, only Peejamandai has a government high school. The new examination centre in the village will help to enrol more tribal students.
In Tiruvannamalai, Nammiyampattu village in the hills has got an examination centre for Class X board exams, taking the total number of centres in the hills to three. Of the 603 students who are appearing for their board examinations in the hills this year, 57 are from Nammiyampattu village. “We also have three such centres for Class XII examinations in the hills for 618 tribal students. Easy accessibility of examination centres for students also motivates them to pursue education seriously,” said Tiruvannamalai Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian.
In Tirupattur, centres for Class X board examinations are located in Pudur Nadu and Nellivasal Nadu with around 200 students having appeared for examinations. In Yelagiri Hills, Alangayam has had similar centres for tribal students over the past few years.
