Twelve senior pupils and two members of staff spent three weeks of their summer holiday in the tribal villages of Tamil Nadu in south-east India.

The group was working in partnership with Signpost International, a Dundee-based charity, and the Indian-based People's Education and Rights Trust (PERT), an organisation dedicated to the empowerment of the Irula tribespeople, who have until recently been denied access to many rights of Indian society.

A key aspect of their work is the promotion of education within the tribal people, and a recent development has been the establishment of night schools in the tribal villages.



The Monifieth High pupils worked alongside local trainers to help children develop conversational English skills.

The youngsters faced the challenges of working with groups of up to 60 pupils aged four to 14, some of whom speak minimal English, in an outdoor 'classroom' with onlookers including goats and cattle in addition to villagers.

Money which had been raised by the group was used to purchase essential school equipment for the village children and resources for the night schools, including blackboards.

Depute head teacher Jeremy Morris, who accompanied the students, said: "The pupils coped magnificently with the challenges they faced, and learned a lot about themselves through working with people from a very different cultural background."

For the young people it has been an experience which will change their outlook to life. One commented: "The people we visited were amazing – although they are poor, they are very generous and hardworking, and had a strong sense of community. We learned a lot from working alongside them."

The group had time to relax as well as work, and visited some temples, a crocodile park, and a fishing village which had been destroyed by the tsunami, where they were taken out in boats by the fishermen.