A school in Kerala’s capital that opens its doors only during elections

Government UP School in Bonacaud

As the State goes to the polls on Friday, there is a school in the capital that opens its doors to the public only during the elections. The Government Upper Primary School, Bonacaud, nestled on the foothills of the Agasthya hills of Western Ghats, near Thiruvananthapuram, was closed down in 2019 following a dearth of students.

On Thursday, the election eve, it was abuzz with activities as it prepared to welcome the people to exercise their right to vote.

The school briefly opened for the parliamentary elections in 2019, local body polls in 2020 and the Assembly elections that followed next year. Though schools are known to hold reunions for their students and teachers, this school serves as a reunion venue for a large number of voters, some of whom have relocated to other following the closure of tea plantations in 2001.

According to Valsala R., the ward member in Vithura grama panchayat, as per the voters’ list, 801 residents in the area have votes in the booth set up at the school. The majority of the residents of this small hamlet have shifted to rented houses in Vithura, which is around 20 km away from the area, to find jobs after the tea plantations started by the British back in the late 1800s, downed their shutters.

It is difficult for them to send their wards back to the school in Bonacaud as the terrain is arduous and often cut off during monsoon seasons when rain unleashes its fury. However, there are still some families in Bonacaud, but they too decided to send their children to government schools in Vithura or Maruthamala as there were not enough students. Following this, the school closed down in 2019, said Ms. Valsala..

Sheeja V, assistant education officer, Palode, said, “We are hopeful of reopening the school soon, for which a project is under way under the aegis of G. Stephen, MLA. The residents moved out of the area after a majority of the ‘layams’, rows of houses built by tea estate company for the workers, became inhospitable. Now, the MLA is trying to get the layams repaired in order to bring the residents back. Once they return, the school will be back to its former glory,” she said.

For the time being, the school remains a get-together venue for the parents during the time of elections, as some of the settlers even moved out to Tamil Nadu. Majority of residents relocated here from places like Tirunelveli and Tenkasi for tea estate work.

Now, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is one of the few remaining sources of income for the residents.