City to get its first mobile school soon

CHENNAI: Shabbily dressed children playing around debris and construction material near a construction site is a common spectacle anywhere in the city. The every growing need for space in this fast developing metropolis has led to an influx of hundreds of migrant workers from Orissa, West Bengal and their neighbouring states. While the parents work as labourers at construction sites, their children hang around the site playing. Being in an alien state with different languages and cultures, these parents don’t feel safe to let their children go out of their sight or send them to school. Keeping these factors in find, a soon-to-be-launched mobile school will go to various construction sites in the city and provide training in language, mathematics and art and craft to the children of these migrant workers. The initiative by city-based NGO, Udavum Karangal, is part of its many plans in celebration of its 28 years of existence. S Vidyakar, the man behind Udavum Karangal, says, “Construction workers are usually reluctant and afraid to let their children, who don’t even have access to basic education, off their sight. To stop the vicious circle of illiteracy, the mobile school has been planned. We are trying to get the builders and contractors involved in this.”A school bus with open space for children to play has been ordered. Besides, the mobile school would also provide audio-visual facilities, stationery, toys, and even lunch and snacks for the children.As the migrant workers hail from the north and east, initiatives are in place to get teachers who can converse with children in their local languages, such as Bengali and Orissa, says Vidyakar. He invited volunteers to participate in this noble cause.But, as every innovative concept finds hurdles, the mobile school is no exception. There has been a delay in getting permission for the project, as it is a first-of-its-kind model in the city, reveals Vidyakar. “The government has responded favourably to the project. We are expecting the formalities to be completed within a month or even sooner,” he says.Other projects that the NGO plans to introduce include tuition classes for children in Metupalayam village and a book bank-cum-activity centre for poor college students.