Tribal students face dropout risk due to lack of girls’ hostel at Bargur school

With the absence of hostel facility for girls at the Government Tribal Residential Higher Secondary School in Bargur posing a risk of dropouts, the Service Unit for Development Activities in Rural (SUDAR) has urged the district administration to establish the facility.

In a letter to the Collector on Friday, its director S.C. Natraj said the school was started as a primary institution in 1961 by the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department. It was upgraded to a middle school in 1992, a high school in 2008 and a higher secondary school in 2016. At present, 140 boys and 160 girls are studying in the residential school. However, since its inception, only a boys’ hostel has been functioning on the campus.

About 50 boys from villages including Kuttaiyur, Solaganai, Devarmalai, Sundapur, Oosimalai, Thamaraikarai and Thalakarai are staying in the hostel and pursuing their studies. In the absence of hostel facilities for girls from these villages, and due to the difficulty of commuting daily to the school, many face the risk of discontinuing their education.

The organisation pointed out that a Tribal Welfare Department-run residential middle school is functioning at Kuttaiyur, from where students completing Class VIII join the Bargur school located about 40 km away. While boys are able to avail themselves of hostel accommodation, girls have no such facility. Similarly, several girls completing Class VIII at the residential middle school in Solaganai have dropped out due to lack of accommodation.

The NGO noted that adequate building infrastructure is available on the campus to establish a girls’ hostel. It appealed to the district administration to take immediate steps to set up the facility to prevent school dropouts, curb child marriages and promote girls’ education.