E-Paper
Malayalam teacher from UP trains migrant students in local language amid pandemic woes
When the Samagra Siksha Kerala started 40 such centres to help children of migrant workers in Ernakulam, Arshi Salim chipped in. As a daughter of a migrant worker herself , she understood their troubles with the local language more than anyone else.
The local language being a huge impediment for children of migrant labourers in pursuing their education in Kerala, it took a Malayalam teacher from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh to help them to bridge the gap. Arshi Salim (21), the daughter of a wood work designer, has been teaching 40 children belonging to other states at a centre started by the Samagra Siksha Kerala (SSK) during the Covid-19 pandemic in Kothamangalam in Ernakulam district.
Online classes were alien to these children when their very existence was in question due to pandemic-induced recession and job losses of their parents. When the SSK started 40 such centres to help children of migrant workers in Ernakulam, Arshi Salim chipped in. As a daughter of a migrant worker, she understood their pain and agony more than anyone else.
“My father came to Kerala when I was 9 years old. Enrolled in a local school I was a mute spectator as the medium of instruction was Malayalam. One day, I mustered enough courage and approached the Malayalam teacher with a strange request-- I wanted to speak like a Malayali. The teacher was so moved that she started teaching me well,” she said. She got a distinction in both Malayalam papers in her Class X Board examination.
She is the eldest daughter of M Salim who has four children. “Life was really tough in the initial days of the pandemic. My father even thought of going back. But many people helped us and the SSK selected me as an educational volunteer to teach migrant children,” she said adding she was really happy when she got her first salary of ₹6,000. She is pursuing a computer course now after completing her Plus 2 in humanities with distinction. Not a trained teacher, she imparts basic lessons in all subjects other than Mathematics.
“Malayalam is a beautiful language very close to Sanskrit but some words are really tongue-twisting. But once you learn it the flow will come naturally. Now I read Malayalam novels and poems,” she said adding that her first priority is to help ease the burden of her father after assuming a permanent job. Now most of her students are from the north-eastern states. She hopes to pursue her studies after her siblings get basic education and her role models are Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi and former President A P J Abdul Kalam.
“For us, it is easy to connect. Her flow in three languages (Hindi, English and Malayalam) bowled us over,” said Biman Sarkar, a class 8 student belonging to Manipur. “A hard working girl she handles children well. She takes teaching as a passion,” said co-ordinator of the SSK Siju Jacob.
