CHENNAI: I have heard people talking about the sea, she said, saying it is blue and very big. But when I actually saw the sea for the very first time it was nothing like I imagined. It was an amazing experience to be at the Marina. I will never forget how I felt. Thus spoke Niroshana who had ventured out for the first time from her tribal hamlet, buried in the hilly terrain of Krishnagiri district, to see the world outside.For Niroshana, 14, and for many of the other children from Krishnagiri who were visiting Chennai as part of the Education and Child Rights promotion project of the Indian Council for Child Welfare, this was their first experience of the sea. Chandra Thanikachellam, secretary of the Indian Council for Child Welfare, Tamil Nadu said, “Some blocks in Krishnagiri are very backward. Access to schools for the children here is very difficult, and the dropout rate is fairly high. To motivate the children to continue their education, to encourage their aspirations, we wanted to show them the outside world. I hope this experience inspires them to do well in their studies.” Fifty one children from remote villages in Krishnagiri visited Chennai. They were taken a tour of the various landmarks in the city during the past week.Asha, 12, said, “I liked the Chennai roads very much. It’s the first time I saw so many cars, buses and bikes all on one single road. We had a jolly good time here. I will go back to my village and tell other children that they should study well and not drop out of school so that one day they can come to Chennai.”Asha aspires to become a collector and bring development to her village. Rani, 15, dreams of becoming a Tamil teacher and Niroshana wants to become a software engineer.N Annandan, monitoring officer of the Indian Council for Child Welfare, said, “We are working in Thally, Soolagiri and Veppanapaali blocks in Krishnagiri. These were declared the most backward blocks by the Government of India. This area sees a high school dropout rate. Through our work, in the last year we have managed to bring 320 dropouts back to school.”Accessibility is a huge issue here due to the tough hilly terrain, and the lack of buses and proper roads. These are the major challenges these children face in going to school, said Annandan.
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