Once a child labourer, now a proud topper

MADURAI: Priya was an eight year old girl when she was spotted by the field workers of the National Child Labour Project at a fireworks unit rolling cardboard cases for firecrackers eight years ago. They enrolled her in a government school, and now she is one among the toppers with 1,068 marks.
More than 600 child labourers were identified between 2009 and 2010 in Virudhunagar under a project implemented in 1987.Now many have come through with flying colours, and are just a step away from achieving their dreams of entering government service. Priya, 18, daughter of Ravi, a daily wager, is one among them.
Priya and her two sisters had not entered school until the NCLP workers rescued them. They were earning around Rs 200 a day from the fireworks unit. They were admitted to the special school under the NCLP, where they were taught and entered the sixth standard in a regular school. Nothing stopped Priya from giving her best to studies. She scored high marks (English 137, Tamil 184, commerce 198, history 195 and economics 157) at the SNG Girls Higher Secondary School in Thiruthangal.
Now, she wants to enter a regular arts college and do her BA in history. She wants to enter the government service after clearing the group IV examinations. “Then I can help many children like me,’’ she said. R Muthukumar is also a rescued child labourer, who has scored 1,011. He wants to pursue CA now.
Project officer Narayanasamy said that all 26 former child labourers who appeared for the examination this year have cleared it with distinctions. NCLP teachers Ramalakshmi and Sebestine Mary said that they keep following the children even after they enrol in the regular school in the sixth standard. “When they go to the tenth and twelfth standard, we do it more regularly and keep motivating the children to give their best,” they said. Now, they are in the process of trying to find college admission to the 26 winners, who were once child labourers.