No hostel at tribal ‘residential’ high school in Erode’s Kongadai

Students at the Government Tribal Residential High School at Kongadai in Bargur Hills of Erode district. The absence of a hostel at the Government Tribal Residential (GTR) High School in Kongadai, a remote hill hamlet in Bargur panchayat, is affecting the education of tribal children, whose parents migrate to the plains for work.Established as a primary school by the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department in 1993, it was upgraded to a middle school in 1998 and to a high school in 2018.The school currently has 285 students — 90 in the primary section and 195 in the high school section. Children from over 10 tribal hamlets surrounding Kongadai, including Jiyan Thotti, Paraiyur, Periyur, Sandaipodu and Kettipodu, attend the school.A large number of tribal families in these settlements depend on employment in the plains. As parents frequently leave their villages in search of work, children are often left without adequate care and support, affecting their education. Lack of awareness and other socio-economic factors have also resulted in children dropping out, according to Sathyamangalam-based NGO Service Unit for Development Activities in Rural (SUDAR).A hostel at the school would enable children from remote hamlets to stay and continue their education. The facility could also help address school dropout, child labour, and child marriage in the tribal settlements.Director of SUDAR S.C. Nataraj recently met Ministers in Chennai and stressed the need for establishing a hostel at the school. Published - September 02, 2026 06:28 pm IST