State ST panel seeks report on tribal kids’ school access woes

Visakhapatnam: Days after TOI highlighted the ordeal of tribal children from Solubongu hamlet in Ananthagiri mandal — who either walk several kilometres or cross the Raiwada dam by boat to attend school — the State Scheduled Tribes Commission has intervened, directing ASR district officials to submit a detailed report. When the schools reopened on June 12, tribal children from Solubongu travelled by boat to the school located in Tamarrabba, Devarapalli mandal. The ASR district collector has directed Venu Gopal, executive engineer of the tribal welfare department, to prepare a proposal for a 2-kilometre road from Veerabhadrapeta to Solubongu village via Boddugaruvu and Tamarrabba. Elders from the hamlet, Nandula Rajarao and R Rajarao, thanked to ST commission chairman DVG Sankara Rao for taking up the issue. They said students from the remote area attend the MPP School in Tamarrabba travelling via the Raiwada dam. "When there is heavy rainfall, the students are forced to stay at home, as there is no safe way for them to attend school. When the water level in Raiwada dam recedes, they travel to school by boat. But when the water is high, they hike four kilometres around the hill. We demand that a special school be established in our village," they said.CPM leader K Govinda Rao added that 21 more tribal children from villages such as Kadarevu and Goppala Palem walk 12 kilometres daily, crossing steep hills, to reach Bodugaruvu for their schooling. "In July 2024, villagers held a protest demanding a school, after which the Ananthagiri mandal education officer visited and promised to establish an alternative school. A proposal was submitted to the district collector and the district education officer of ASR district to set up a non-residential special training (NRST) school, but the government did not approve it," he said.
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