The transit school is run at Ponamall, Turuvallur district for the children of the migrant labourers working in bricklins. The migrant labourers work in the brick chambers from January to July (7 months) along with their families. They will go back to their native places along with their children in rainy season. i.e. August to December, since there will not be any work in brick chambers due to rain. As a result the education of the children gets disrupted and the children also work in these brick chambers to earn their daily bread and also to pay back the huge loans they have taken from the land lords.
MACT undertook a survey Poonamalli block and found out that more than 800 children were not attending school in one Village Panchayat because of migration. They are denied of their right to education. Thus MACT felt the need to help these children to continue their education at the time of migration and thus initiated the transit school. .
Child labour schools are conducted in three bricklin chambers at ponamalle block. The classes are conducted through interactive and play way method to make learning very interesting for the children. Classes on different subjects like Science, Tamil, English, and moral values like health and hygiene etc taught to them.
The other activities of the transit school includes conducting of various competitions like singing, drawing, sports etc. The children are also taken out for a picnic every year to the any entertaining and educative locations.
Apart from this chamber day is also observed, where all the children from different chambers come together and celebrate along with parents and chamber owners. The children from the villages do not mingle with the children working in the bricklin because of the social economic status. But MACT through the children movement have sensitized the children on social and gender equality and thus as an initiative to mainstream the children working in the bricklin, the children from the children movement organise the chamber day event , where the bricklin children take part as special guests. Children make use of this occasion to entertain and mingle with each other.
The children are given transfer certificates at the time of leaving the transit school, through which they can easily get admission in local schools on their return to MACT also ensures that the children join regular school, when they go back to their source village after migration period.
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