HELLO! It‘s a wake-up call

It's just another village in the periphery of Tirunelveli district. The dawn witnesses the chirping of birds as the sun’s rays kisses good morning to the morning dew on the vast farm- lands. A handful of thatched and tiled houses dot this place. The morning is busy with the men and women preparing to go to work, mostly labour.

They work in the farmlands or go to the nearby places for construction work. Some work as labourers in businesses. Some women roll beedis at home. All for a daily wage that one would call these days a pittance.

what about the children?

Well, they used to go to the local primary and middle schools run by the TDTA, CSI Tirunelveli Diocese. They had quality education that was inexpensive and affordable by their parents. Those were their beautiful days, with dreams of a better future and a twinkle in their eyes.

what happened?

We need to go back to time to understand thebig picture.

These schools were built way back in the early 1900's by the Christian Missionaries in these region. Thier mission was to impart education to the population as they saw that this was the only way they can bring in social and economic empowerment.

Yes, they were right. Schools were built one by one and their untiring efforts saw local people realizing the importance of education and beginning to send their sons and daughters to school instead of the fields for labour and a menial earning.

Soon the seeds the missionaries sowed gathered roots and started to grow manifold. Over the following decades, the number of schools increased over a hundred. Hundreds of children from the local churches started attending classes regularly.

As the children grew, higher classes were introduced with highly qualified staff recruited by the diocese. Gradually, the literacy rate in these villages started climbing up and the people started witnessing some of their sons and daugthers graduate and get employed and earn a steady income.

The domino effect

The increase in literacy and financial empowerment did have its effects. The quality of life improved. The population even saw a few doctors, engineers, teachers and corporate professionals blossoming out of the hinterland that was hitherto only dreamt of what it is like to have a financial empowerment.

The vanquish of a noble mission

As years progressed, with increasing student strength and need for more teaching and non-teaching staff increased the financial outlays of these schools manifold. However, the fees remained the lowest as ever and the monetary support from the church was inadequate and this had a time bomb ticking.

The schools missed the forest for the trees!

While the staff were paid and adequate money was spent on learning resources to impart quality education for the students, these schools never had money to maintain and upgrade the school civil infrastructure and upkeep.

The domino effect

This was an opportunity in waiting for the private schools in the nearby towns and the city. They preyed on these schools with a crumbling infrastructure.

Extensive public presentations by nearby private schools with promises of better infractructure, English as a medium of education and the works slowly lured the people and encouraged them to pull their students frome these church run schools and enroll them into the private schools albeit at a higher fee structure they can barely afford out of their meagre daily wages.

Today, a visit to these villages will allow you to see the line up of school buses and vans from the nearby private schools traversing the dusty roads of these villages with the village children up and down every working day.

Alas! The wheels have started turning backwards.

While the student population of these village schools have dwindled drastically to alarmingly low levels, the additional tuition fee and the money charged for notebooks, textbooks, co-curricular activities and much more has set the villagers back to a financial nemisis.

We need help and we have come to you.