The Teachers of the Government Tribal Upper Primary School at Kumily are doing exemplary service by opening hitherto unknown doors for Tribal children and providing opportunities for them. The teachers are highly committed and some of them have moved from lucrative jobs to become teachers. One such teacher was Rajesh S Chowara who gave up a job in the police department to become a Teacher.
The tribal children who are first generation learners are not very ambitious and are content with what the forest provides for them. Though the trappings of civilization have touched them; most of them have no big dreams and are not even aware of the opportunities provided to them by the Government in terms of reservation of jobs in the State Forest Department through the Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) Exams. The tribal youth have no idea of how to apply, what needs to be studied, or the kind of physical fitness and athleticism required for these tests. It is in this context that the service of the Teachers gains significance.
One of the past students named Shaji Mon was the first among the pass outs of the school who sought a government job and requested help from the school. Shaji Mon was able to successfully clear the KPSC Exams and is currently a Beat Forest Officer in the Forest Department.
Shaji Mon’s success encouraged the Teachers as well as the tribal youth who began to dream of similar success. The lack of awareness among the tribal youth about the opportunities available also spurred the teachers of the Tribal School to motivate their past students and formally train them to appear for the KPSC Exams.
The teachers therefore decided to organize Coaching classes for as many youngsters as possible and prepare them for the Exams. Classes were conducted every day between 7.00 and 9.00 pm in the school without fail for all interested candidates.
Those who dropped out of the coaching classes were contacted and counseled to continue their preparations for the exams. Not only were theoretical classes conducted but the candidates were also provided training in sports and physical fitness which is mandatory for jobs in the Kerala Forest Department. The candidates were also trained in the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) test and coached on how to conduct themselves during the interview.
The hard work of the Teachers and the students has finally born fruit and the ranking was declared on 9th May 2023 to reveal that 14 of the candidates trained by the school had passed with a high rank.
“Kumily Calling” would like to express its appreciation to all the Teachers who have given their time and effort without any monetary benefit or remuneration namely, Mr.Sunilkumar, Mr.Srilal, Ms.Chitra MR, Mr.Ramar, Mr.Sujith, Mr.Prince, Mr.Prasad and Mr.Rajesh who were always present and supported the students.
We would also like to applaud the youngsters including Aneesh (1st Rank), Sujitha (1st Rank), Kala (2nd Rank), Sandhya Mol (3rd Rank), Jayakumar (4th Rank), Babu (5th Rank), Satheesh (8th Rank), Rajeev (21st Rank), Prabu (31st Rank), Jeevan Krishna (33rd Rank), Ajesh (38th Rank), Suresh (39th Rank), Savitha (49th Rank) and Abijith (111th Rank) among others who have passed with flying colours and wish them all success in all their future endeavours.
