A 16 years old tribal girl from a tribal settlement in Annamalai Tiger Reserve becomes the first student from her place to secure 95% in 10th standard.
C Sreedevi who belongs to the tribal settlement in Udumalpet range of Anamalai Tiger Reserve defeated all the odds to clear her 10th exam with flying colours. She went to Kerala’s Chalakudy for her studies. Now, she will pursue her higher education. This is a big achievement considering the fact that girls from her place normally would drop out after elementary or middle school due to various issues.
She lives in a place where there is no electricity or mobile network coverage. Even for phone coverage, she has to walk a few km, says Sreedevi. Normally, Girls would discontinue studies and would be pushed to get married whereas, the boys would begin working as soon as possible.
In order to help her attend exams, the Kerala Government arranged a special bus for her. She would write her examination all alone and quarantined right after the exams were over.
Sreedevi said that initially when the lockdown was announced she travelled on foot and on her father’s bike for several kilometres to reach the Kerala border. “I am really proud that my daughter has scored good marks in examinations. Let people say whatever they want, I will ensure she continues her studies further. We don’t want to hide our children within our settlement and restrict them from scaling professional heights,” said her father.
P Shanmugam, state vice-president of the Tamil Nadu tribal association, said that he believes Sreedevi achievement would inspire many other girls in the tribal settlement to come forward to study.
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