Perumbakkam kids travel 35 km to and from school

Around 92 per cent of children, who live in Perumbakkam tenements, travel more than 35 km

everyday to reach school and return home. Moreover, 30 per cent of the children are unable to attend first hour class on time because of time taken for travelling, according to a research conducted with assistance from the information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Comunities (IRCDUC).

There are more than 16,000 school children in the Perumbakkam tenements but the area has only five government schools.

The research also revealed that 84 per cent of children travel for more than 3 hours a day to reach school and return home. Around 60 per cent of the children wake up before 6 am to reach the school on time and 12 per cent of the children reach home only after 7 pm and another 14 per cent reach home after 6 pm. Nearly 32 per cent of the children skip their breakfast as they have to wake up early.

Venessa Peter, policy researcher of IRCDUC said that not providing school facilities is a huge violation of child rights. “Before evicting families from the city, the government should have created basic facilities, including schools. Only after providing facilities, slum dwellers should be relocated,” she said. She also pointed out the lack of coordination between the government departments is the key factor for deprivation of various amenities.