Assistance to migrant children from North

chennai: migrant workers from northern states face challenges in enrolling their children in tamil nadu's government schools due to the absence of hindi or hindi-medium education. headmasters have been directed to promote the enrollment of these children and encourage them to learn tamil.workers from states such as bihar, chhattisgarh, madhya pradesh, jharkhand, odisha, rajasthan, uttar pradesh, uttarakhand, and west bengal have migrated to tamil nadu, karnataka, and gujarat in search of employment opportunities, particularly in sectors like textiles and construction.a 2014 study revealed that around 10.67 lakh workers from northern states were employed in tamil nadu, and over the past decade, this number has significantly increased. many of these workers have brought their families along, but their children face difficulties in accessing education in their mother tongue, hindi, within the tamil nadu government school system.due to this language barrier, many migrant parents are hesitant to enroll their children in government schools. others, unable to afford cbse school fees, choose to keep their children at home instead of sending them to local schools. the right to education act mandates that children under 13 should be enrolled in school, and to address this, an annual survey under the integrated education program is conducted.the latest survey, conducted in april, revealed a notable presence of children from migrant families in the school system. following this, the director of school education, kannappan, issued a circular to district primary education officers, urging them to encourage the enrollment of children from northern states. the circular also calls for efforts to teach tamil to these children.additionally, tamil nadu's school education department has proposed offering scholarships, prizes, and other incentives to students who perform well in government exams, particularly those from northern states. however, while the initiative aims to support migrant children, it concludes with general praise for tamil nadu students, rather than offering substantial incentives.