Tripura Education Dept. Launches ‘School on Boat’ to Help Tribal Students Access Education

Tripura’s School on Boat Drive: The Education Department of Tripura has launched a new initiative known as ‘School on Boat’ to bridge the gap of unequal education in the remote islands of Dumboor Lake in the Dhalai district.The initiative shall provide education to the students who find it difficult to attend schools due to poor road connectivity in their region.

The Director of Secondary Education, Chandni Chandran, put an emphasis on the significance of fulfilling the educational requirements of students residing in the small islands of Dumboor Lake. In order to overcome this challenge, Karbook – Dakmura Gomatibari SB schools are playing a leading role. The condition summoned an immediate call for action as the students had to rely on precarious boats which occasionally led to accidents. 

School Boat Project Improves Access to Education for Tribal Students

Chandni Chandran, State Project Director (SPD) of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan told PTI, “Dakmura Gumati Senior Basic School has 100 students but attendance is low due to communication bottleneck. Around 50 students come from various islands of Dumbur Lake and they often fail to attend school as they can’t afford to bear the travelling expense as the boat is the only means of communication,” 

Damodar Tripura, the Block Project Coordinator of Samagra Shiksha, came up with a brilliant solution to help students in a remote village access education. He dedicated a boat solely for student use, and funding for the project was made available through the Access component of Samagra Shiksha. The boat is operated by a skilled driver from the local community, and it makes three trips daily to ferry students to and from school. 

Over 100 students have already enrolled in the school, and approximately 50 of them will benefit from the boat service. This has made it much safer and easier for students to get to school, and it has helped to improve their access to education.

Block Project Coordinator Devises School Boat for Tribal Children

The concept for the tribal children's school boat was developed by the Block Project Coordinator (BPC). Chandran, who flagged off the first-ever school boat in front of kids and their guardians, said that we just provided assistance by releasing Rs 1.20 lakh under the Samagra Shika Abhiyan, which focuses on output-based education.

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