This report is a result of a site visit undertaken on 23^rd of July to the offices of the Bharati Trust in Thiruvallur. Thiruvallur is about 40km west of Chennai. The B’lore – Chennai railway line runs past Thiruvallur. The best way to reach is by boarding a suburban train from Chennai Central heading for Arrakonam. The journey takes between one hour and one and half-hour. I reached the offices of Bharati Trust at about 10 AM. The phone at Ms. Siddamma’s residence had been out of order and so I could not inform her in advance of my arrival. As I had reached Thiruvallur on a Sunday the staff at Bharati Trust office was on leave and I could not meet them. Ms Siddamma however was present in her residence. After the initial introductions, I explained that I was from Asha and I was interested in finding out details about the motivational centres that are being funded by Asha. It was decided that prior to lunch we could have a discussion about the projects and after lunch I could visit some of the project villages and assess the project and its impact.

Ms. Siddamma came across as a very committed and capable lady. She seems to be completely dedicated to the cause of educating and empowering the Irulas. She has been trained in alternate education methodologies and is quite familiar with the deficiencies of the existing system of education. She is convinced that although the present system does try to encourage children from among the Irulas to enroll in government schools, it offers very little by the way of motivation and encouragement for the students to pursue their education. The result of this arrangement is that there is a high drop out rate among the Irula children. Ms. Siddamma faced an uphill task convincing government schools. She was able to convince the education department of the need for motivational centres. Some headmasters in government schools have welcomed the idea and promised to participate in admitting students from motivational centres into government schools. The rationale behind establishing innovative motivational centres is to enhance awareness of both parents and children about the need for education. They must realize that education is not all about a crowded classrooms and books and beatings, but it is a place where the child can be transformed into a mature adult who is capable of thinking for himself.

The methodology, as described by Ms. Siddamma, of education at the motivational centres is very interesting. For the first three months, students in the centre are not taught anything. They are allowed to play with playthings in the centre, sing songs and generally have a good time. It is only after the three-month phase that the learning process starts. The first three months ensure that the students are made comfortable with the classroom environment. According to her, during the first year the students are not made to study regular books but are made familiar with a few words having common usage in their respective backgrounds. Visual images are provided to better establish connection with the words. Students who live in rice mills are exposed to words like rice, soak, pound etc. These students can relate to these words and so the learning process is speeded up. They are taught how to read and write these words. Gradually they are introduced to the Tamil alphabets. The books used in the first year do not conform to the state syllabus but are designed specifically for the motivational centres. By the end of the first year it would be possible to separate the students into groups according to the level of proficiency in learning the Tamil alphabet. Students in each group are then taught at a rate compatible with their natural aptitudes. In the second year the books used for different groups of students conform to the state syllabus for that level. Consequently by the end of the second year the students are brought to the same level as government school students. They are now ready to be absorbed into these schools. At the end of the second year they are admitted into different classes in government schools. This selective procedure helps students to begin learning according to their own abilities. This method allows them to perform in their studies and so maintaining their interest in learning and so motivating them to continue their studies. This is the objective of each motivational centre. Ms Siddamma is confident of the success of her innovative program to motivate the Irulas to join the mainstream.

In the already established motivational centre at Gandhigram, positive effects on the students are evident. Teachers in government schools feel that children who come through the centres are brighter and better equipped for government schools. Although some government school teachers (about 25%) are enthusiastic about the improvement these centres have brought, but the remainder of the teachers are either disinterested about or prejudiced against the Irulas. Irulas face a lot of discrimination and scorn in society. Realizing that such a problem could arise in the motivational centres, Ms. Siddamma has attempted to staff local tribal girls as teachers in the motivational centres. Except for one centre, teachers in all other centres are locals. She is of the opinion that local teachers are better able to establish a rapport with the students, inspire the students and also understand the special needs of the children.

Ms. Siddamma believes that successful running of the centres is dependent on involving the village community. The community has to design the structure, purchase materials and provide labour for construction. Masonry wages are paid for by the Trust. A three-member village committee is formed to oversee the day-to-day administration of the centre. The villagers deal with the teachers and ayahs directly. The successful running of the Gandhigram centre by the village committee has convinced Ms Siddamma to follow a similar approach with other schools. Ramapuram school that is located 50km from Thiruvallur is almost completed and awaiting formal inauguration by the District Collector. Senjiagram centre (25km from Thiruvallur) has also been completed. Jagampalli centre (30km from Thiruvallur) is in its initial stage. The land for the centre has been selected and construction materials purchase. Mullainagar (about 50km from Thiruvallur) centre has been completed and is awaiting formal inauguration. Due to some problems, the Perandur school had to be shifted to Mullainagar. Rajapalaya (15km from Thiruvallur) centre has also been completed. Kottamkulam (18km from Thiruvallur) centre is not yet completed. Although the structures of the motivational centres are in various degrees of completion, the centres have started functioning.

All the centres started in the May-June period and right now are in the three-month play period. So it is still premature to decide on the ability of the students and its impact on the village society. Within six months it would be possible to separate the students into different groups. By the end of the second year a few students would be ready for joining government schools. BT has long-term plans for the motivational centres after completing the second year. The District Education Officer has suggested that if each village has a minimum of 25 students, it is possible to convert the centre into a single teacher school. But a cost sharing agreement would have to be reached where BT would have to pay the salaries of the teacher. BT has not faced any major obstacles during the construction of the centres. The remoteness of some villages has made transportation of materials difficult. Some opposition to the centres has come from government run balvadi ayah’s who resent villagers running their own schools. Some resentment exists among landowners also. The village committee has been empowered to solve any problems the centre faces.

After lunch, Ms Siddamma and an assistant took me on a tour of three of the motivational centres. I was taken to the motivational centre at Senjiagram that is located about 30km from Thiruvallur. Senjiagram village is a collection of thatched huts. The centre is located at the far end of the village and when I reached the village, work was on to complete the centre. The walls and roof of the centre were complete. A mason and a few villagers were laying the floor. The centre consists of a single big room with a half wall running all around. The roofing is made of thatch supported by a truss of stout bamboo poles. The construction seems to be quite simple but sturdy. Photograph 1 shows the centre with the children gathered in front of it. Ms Siddamma is the lady with the red sari in the photo.

As it was a Sunday, no classes were in session and the bigger children had gone hunting and fishing. I got to meet some of the younger children who seemed to enjoy the idea of a place to learn songs and listen to stories. Personal body hygiene seemed to be lacking in most children and a majority of the children seemed to have running noses and coughs. I hope the centres will address personal hygiene among students.

Jagampalli was the next village that I visited. This village is close to Senjiagram. All the houses in this village were of uniform pucca construction (the houses were constructed by the government under a housing scheme). The centre has not been constructed although the site for the house has been selected and construction materials purchased. These materials were stored in one of the houses that was also being used as the temporary centre. Photograph 2 shows the temporary motivational centre with the children standing in front of it.

As in Senjiagram, the teacher had gone to her home and I could not meet her. The children seemed very enthusiastic and they sang me a couple of songs (which I recorded). I talked to one of the parents about the school and she was very much in favour of the school. She felt that the center prevented the children from loafing around and taught them a few things. She was happy that the meal provided, a cereal ‘kanji’ in the morning and a mid-day meal of rice and sambar, were nutritious for the children.

The last centre that I visited was far off from the other two. Mullainagar is located north of Chennai in Ponneri Taluk off the Calcutta – Chennai Highway. The construction of this centre is almost complete. It was evident that the villagers take a lot of pride in their centre and they had paid a lot of attention to the small details. After the three visits, Ms Siddamma wanted to show me a rice mill and see for myself the poor living conditions in which some of the workers live. Rice mill workers are mostly from among the Irulas. Ms Siddamma took me to a rice mill in the Red Hills area just off the NH. The rice mill was built like a fortress with only a dark corridor leading to the living quarters. The workers and families are made to live within the premises of the mill. The end of the corridor opens up into two adjacent quadrangles. The living spaces are located along the far wall of the quadrangles. One side of the quadrangle is occupied with large soaking pits in which the paddy is soaked and then boiled in large boiling vats. The rice is laid out to dry on the floor of the quadrangle. Although most of the children we met did attend school, Ms Siddamma was of the opinion that in the more remote areas, illiteracy and almost bonded child labour was the norm. Rice mill owners resent educating these children as he stands to lose a source of cheap labour. Ms. Siddamma is of the opinion that in the near future, BT will be launching a program targeted at educating young rice mill workers. BT would be preparing a proposal for such a program and she requested ASHA for Education’s continued support in her new endeavor. By the time we finished our visit to the rice mill it was getting late and I boarded a bus back to Madras from Red Hills bus terminus.