In Kerala's Ernakulam district, a programme is helping migrant children stay in school
Supriya Debnath, 24, a migrant from Odisha’s Kendrapara district, sat in a blue and white salwar kameez in one corner of the upper primary government school in Edappally, in central Kerala’s Ernakulam district. A thin vertical streak of vermillion reached the horizontal dash of sandalwood paste on her forehead. Beside her, Hasina Khatun, 27, a migrant from West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, sat listening in rapt attention to her colleagues who were sharing their teaching experiences, as part of a programme called
Non-native Malayalam speakers such as Debnath and Hasina are among Roshni’s 40 education volunteers helping migrant workers’ children learn the local language and perform better in tests in 38 government and government-aided schools in Kerala.
About 2.5 million migrants make-up 8% of Kerala’s population, according to a 2013 study by the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation for the Kerala labour department and about 38% of the total Indian population migrate for work or family, according to the 2011 Census. Children of migrants, whose families travel back and forth from their native land, are more likely to drop out of school, impacting their skills and opportunities in the future, according to experts.
In Kerala,...
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