Tamil Nadu: Online classes in Namakkal village possible only atop trees

NAMAKKAL: At 8.50am K Manikandan, a Class XII student, sets out from his home at Perappancholai village in Namakkal district with books and a smart phone.
A brisk walk for the next few minutes and the boy gets near a huge banyan tree in the village. He tucks the phone in his pocket, holds the books tightly and deftly climbs the tree to reach a perfect perch on a branch.The timing is perfect for Manikandan to sign in to the online class on his mobile phone and the teacher in the distant classroom to commence the lessons.

Behind him are other students from the village who scale up the tree one after the other and find places on the huge branches to sit and attend the classes. The banyan tree in the village has become 10am to 4pm abode for Class X and XII students who attend online classes for the past several days as mobile connectivity in other parts of those village was so poor. “We tried all other places in the village. But the top of this tree is the only place we get proper signal,’’ says Manikandan.
Not just Perappancholai, the situation is similar in neighbouring Periya Kombai village too where students have been climbing tree tops to gain access to online classes. Villagers said that there are about 40 students from both these villages preparing for Class X and XII who attend “tree top classes.’ There are mobile towers in Mullukurichi and Senthamangalam villages, situated about three to five kms away from Perappancholai and Periya Kombai villages.

“A few of the students will go to Mullukurichi and Senthamangalam during morning hours. But we girls could not go. We found scaling up the trees and sitting on the branches easier ,” said S Shanthi, a Class X student. She added that sometimes the signal reception was poor even on the tree top. “Even if they go to the neighbouring villages, where would they sit for hours together to attend classes. And in case of girls, they need toilet facilities. So they have no choice but to remain in our village and attend class on the tree’’ said an elderly villager of Periyakombai.
It has become a regular feature in the village for students to take their seats on the branches at 9 am and sit through the day. “We will go for lunch between 1pm and 2pm and will climb again,” Shanthi said. Most of these students study in government schools at Senthamangalam and Rasipuram.