Muraleedharan - The teacher who uplifted a tribal community in Kerala
- 30 May, 2019
In 1999, PK Muraleedharan volunteered with Kerala’s District Primary Education Project (DPEP), that had been set in remote tribal locations across the state to educate the tribal communities and was run as single-teacher schools.He was posted in Nenmanalkudy, a tribal settlement in Idukki district of Kerala, where he taught the Muthuvans, an isolated tribal community.
"There were about 35 children aged between 5 to 15 who had no prior schooling experience. There were no infrastructural facilities, and the only available option was a small shed, which was a former granary,” said Muraleedharan.
To make things difficult, the state education board had not allocated any funds for the school and the kids also lacked basic hygiene. Muraleedharan began his work by teaching the kids basic hygiene practices before teaching them lessons. Since language was a barrier, he accustomed himself to the local language and also began understanding their traditions and cultures. He realised that the students loved studying outside the room for which he began holding classes in the forest to teach them more about plants and nature. He also taught them to converse in Malayalam.
Muraleedharan realised that most of the community's elders lacked basic knowledge on the governance system and started creating awareness on how things worked in a government office. He also helped them get their voters ID card as well as ration cards.
But his work did not stop there, he began helping the local farmers to cultivate pepper and sell them to increase their income. He also began a mid-day meal scheme program to provide nutrition for the kids attending the school.
Due to his immense work, the Edamalakkudy panchayat offered to help, and since January last year, the funds to provide the meals for morning and night is supplied by them. The local body also provided an amount of Rs 3.5 lakhs to upgrade the school.
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