6 tribal students to study in Kerala city schools, thanks to school alumni

We all have heard about the phrase ‘Giving back to my alma mater’ and maybe some of us have used the phrase in essays or speeches. Here is a story of a bunch of people who have given back to their alma mater in a very different way. They have actually tried to bridge the gap between the school and children who desperately want to study.

6 tribal students from Kerala’s Attappady region, the tribal zone in the state known for malnutrition and poverty, have weathered all odds and made it to the Sainik School at Thiruvananthapuram.

The credit goes to a unique handholding exercise launched by the 1991 alumni batch of the school, this is for the first time that children from the most backward tribal communities of Attappady have secured admission in Class VI at the school under the Defence Ministry. A total of 24 tribal children were selected from various schools at Attappady region to undergo a 6-month special preparation to participate in the All-India Sainik School examination held earlier this year. Out of the 24, 6 made it into the final list when the results were declared last week.

The 1991 batch took up the initiative to mark the silver jubilee of the batch and named the idea “Project Shine” in memory of a batch mate Shine Baby, who died in 2006. “Every batch takes up some project in their silver jubilee year. We thought about something innovative and meaningful to demonstrate our social commitment. Hence, we decided to prepare tribal children for the All-India entrance exam. In the long run, we want to groom defence officers from the tribal community,” said Babu Mathew, convener of the project.

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The coaching, that began in July, 2015, was held every Saturday for 6 hours and was based on socio-emotional learning approach, which imparts mental skills to understand and manage emotions and help build relationships and show empathy for others, Mathew added.

“After every class, each student was assessed individually and further course of the coaching was designed accordingly. The project also involved a socialisation process for the tribal children,” he added. Dr Sunil Rajendran, another alumnus of the 1991 batch, said the emphasis was all-round development of the children. “The transformation has been visible: their body language and the attitude have undergone a sea change. The key is making the tribal children and their parents realise that there are unlimited possibilities beyond what they have been led to believe,” Dr Rajendran added.

Mathew pointed out that the responsibility of the batch doesn’t end with the children securing an admission , in fact the alumni batch would continue to support the tribal students to ensure that they complete the course. “6 of our batchmates would function as local guardians for these children, to give necessary financial support until they complete Class XII. In the past, students from ST communities, who had got admission at the Sainik School, had not completed their classes at the school.”

While it is indeed a sign of the times to come when tribal children make it to good schools. However, these developments carry a social and mental cost with them for the parents as well as children. The reason being the same lack of exposure and motivation which is hard to come by in the tribal belt. R Sathi, whose son R Vishnu is a recruit, said none from her Vannanthalamedu colony at Attappady had gone outside to study. “My son is worried about what would happen at the new school,” said Sathi.

Project Shine is a remarkable example of what can be achieved with determination and a spirit of giving. We hope many more alumni across the nation will take a leaf from the alumni of Sainik School and do something similar and give back to the nation.

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