Palayathu Vayal Govt. UP School

Palayathu Vayal Govt. UP School

Palayathuvayal Government Upper Primary School, Kolayad Coordinates: 11°50′7.56″N 75°43′26.84″E / 11.8354333°N 75.7241222°E / 11.8354333; 75.7241222 is an educational institution situated within the deep tropical forests of Kolayad Panchayat, Kannur district of North Kerala, India. Of approximately 172 students enrolled there, most belong to the families of an ancient local tribe Kurichya. The school is situated at a region with no effective communication or transport facilities. Despite this, it has a post office, a TV news studio, a mathematics lab and a museum all formed and operated by the students.^[1]

Location

Members of a team participating in a two-day knowledge interaction session hosted by the school with the local Wikipedians, forest ecologists and experts from other fields in December 2012

The school is located in the Kannavam-Peruva strip of reserved forests in Kolayad Panchayat, Kannur district. Accessibility to the site is very primitive. The only public transport available, a bus by state road transport corporation that runs once in a day, is from the nearest village of Kolayad. There are no mobile or land telephone networks. However, electricity has been available.

Kolayad can be accessed from the nearby towns Peravoor, Kuthuparamba & Iritty. From the main highway, the school is connected by road through protected forest. The forest entry point is known as Changala Gate (Chain Gate).11°50′35.17″N 75°41′4.88″E / 11.8431028°N 75.6846889°E / 11.8431028; 75.6846889. To ensure conservation of natural resources, access is often controlled by the department of forests, Kerala Government.

Palayathu Vayal is a name derived from the days of Pazhassi Kerala Varma, a king who raised a fatal revolt against the English rulers for the first time in the history of Indian freedom struggle. It is believed that Thalakkal Chanthu, the Commander of Kurichya army, the principal force of the King used to train his men at this place. The name Palayam (meaning military camp in Malayalm) was later transformed to Palayathu Vayal.

The school's notability

Today, the population of Kurichyas, an anthropologically important tribe is one among the extinction-threatened community of South Asia. Even while struggling to comply with the mainstream civilization and population of India, they strive to preserve their own culture and customs.^[2] This school particularly is one such institution where the students are encouraged to upkeep their ancient and indigenous skills and practices. Though the school is run by the state government, unlike most schools of Kerala, the local people and parents are well involved with the extra-curricular programs and activities of the school.

In a remote location, the very scarcity of infrastructure and facilities themselves have prompted the school to start up certain unconventional missions mimicking their real world counterparts in more affluent societies.^[3] A'snail mail' post office, a Television facility for both program creation and distribution, a museum with their exhibits mostly of instruments and artworks of their own ancient styles and an organic farm are some among these.

Post office

A letter written by the students to their headmaster - The envelop is made by the students, completed letter posted in a post box and finally picked up, sorted and delivered through the 'Post office' to the addressee. The whole process is administered by students.

While the conventional post office system is becoming extinct, the school has devised a working model of a complete postal network run all by its students. The children prepare their own envelopes, write letters to their teachers, friends and class mates and post them in designated post boxes. 'Postmen' pick them up to the post office where a Post master sorts them out and delivers to the addressee. Each letter also carries the stamp and seal like the conventional standard.

Students make use of this facility to submit their complaints, demands, suggestions and opinions to the teachers. Teachers return the courtesy of replying as well as taking necessary redressal actions.

Apart from familiarizing the students with postal and other modern communication networks, the system helps them to acquire and improve their writing and creative skills.

Television News studio and channel

The students also run a simple model of a Television news network. They gather various video events by means of a video camera and other accessories that the school earned as a prize. The events could be their own simple activities, programs conducted in the school or a scene from the surrounding nature. They also include prominent local news head lines, information snippets and even weekly puzzles into the broadcast program. The sequences are then edited with the help of teachers. The final release is then relayed or played back through a few television sets in various class rooms. There is even a daily program on World news. Each program has its own assigned reporters and presenters.

Museum

A model depicting of human evolution -crafted out of recycled paper pulp by students

The school has also established a small museum. The main exhibits are traditional tools, weapons and instruments used by Kurichya. Articles of handcrafts by students, models for science study, items collected from local forests etc. compliment these collections.

Math Lab

Math lab is another project where the teachers and students creates simple gadgets and models to help the study of mathematics. The articles include simple abacuses, slide rules, Place value card holds etc.

Four Plant farms

In order to train the children on focused farming activities, the school promotes a 'Four Plant farming scheme'. Selected four plants (such as Moringa oleifera, papaya, local spinach etc.) are cultivated both at a small nursery at the school as well as at the premises of students' houses. The project also aims at complementing the nutrition of these students.

Biodiversity studies

In 2012, a team of biologists and historians in co-operation with the Wikimedia India Chapter and several Wikipedians from the local language community, chose the school and its surroundings to be focused for an expedition and to explore the vast and unique bio-diversity system in the area, potentially hosting several species of flora and fauna still to be cataloged under various taxa.

See also

kanavu

References