Munnar: Even as COVID-19 has forced school students across the State to attend virtual classes this academic year, a government school at a relatively backward area stands apart, defying the pandemic.
The Government Tribal School at Idamalakkudy is the only school in the State where in-person classes are held.
The Department of Education decided to hold offline classes considering the lack of online facilities, and the tribal settlements remaining COVID-free. The settlements have been out of coverage since October, after a herd of wild elephants had destroyed a mobile tower.
Idamalakkudy was in the news recently for the stringent measures it had put in place to keep the pandemic effectively at bay.
The lone government school at Idamalakkudy has 102 students, including nine new admissions to Class one. The headmaster and other four teachers are from outside the tribal area, but have received both doses of anti-COVID vaccines.
It has been decided to conduct shift-based classes on alternate days. Students of classes one and four began their academic year on Tuesday.