First Graduate Brings Classroom To Her Village In Tamil Nadu

Chinnampathy First Graduate: 20-year-old Sandhya Shanmugam, the first graduate of her village Chinnampathy in Tamil Nadu brought the classroom to her village to educate the children. She also mentioned the difficulties she endured while pursuing education.

Chinnampathy is an Irula tribal village which is situated in the hills of Coimbatore. In an interview with Indian Express, Shanmugam mentioned that studying beyond the primary section was very difficult for the children of their village as they had to pass through a dense forest full of wild animals to go to the school.

She further said that this scenario extends back to even before COVID-19 hit the country. The children have to take the one government bus or walking kilometres through forests full of elephants and leopards in case they miss the bus.

And after COVID-19, education was restricted to the online mode and with the patchy internet connection in the village, seeking education became tougher for the village children. Further, not all parents of the students have mobile phones with internet data to sustain the load of an online class.

Shanmugam said  that schooling is very tough in their village. She said, " We have never had proper transport from our tribal village to the nearest villages or towns. Our kids go to school in the morning on the government bus, which returns only in the evening."

She further added that she had endured many difficulties. She said that she understands the importance of basic rights. And hence she has taken the responsibility to educate other kids in Chinnampathy. Which is why she brought the classroom to her village.

Shanmugam has done a Bachelor's in Commerce Chartered Accountant degree from a private college in Coimbatore after she saved enough for her education. But she understood that not everyone is able to prioritise their education due to the prevailing pandemic.

She said that she wanted to breach the gap between the children and their schooling and hence she opened her own classroom where she takes the classes herself. Shanmugam uses a vacant space in the community centre to teach the children.