Andhra Pradesh: Tribal children skip school to avoid trekking 8-km in hot weather

The children of Anuku, who belong to Kondhu tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, are demanding that a school be opened in their hamlet itself

Notwithstanding the scorching heat, the buzz is back in schools with children thronging them after a long summer vacation.

But the excitement is missing at Anuku, a hilltop hamlet of Gotuvada panchayat in Anakapalli district, with the children choosing not to attend school citing the torrid weather conditions and the long trek they need to take to reach the school.

The hamlet is home to about 150 people belonging to the Kondhu tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). Of them, 30 are children, and 16 of them, who are in the 6-14 age group, are students of the school located about 8-km away at Gotuvada.

On June 15 (Thursday), the children, under the aegis of the A.P. Girijan Sangham, raised slogans demanding that the authorities open a school in their hamlet itself.

The sangham leaders sent representations through WhatsApp to the district Collector and the DEO putting forth the demand of the students.

“Though schools have reopened four days ago, the parents are not willing to send their children in view of the oppressive heat and the long trek. The children have to walk for about two hours to reach the school at Gotuvada,” says sangham’s honorary president K. Govinda Rao.

“A metal road had been laid in 2019, but it was washed away during rains. Due to lack of maintenance, the road is not motorable now. An NGO had run a school three years ago, but closed it later. This has forced the children to join the school at Gotuvada,” he said.