It is also the village most affected by the Auroville project at that moment. Out of 900 children aged between 4 and 16, only a dozen complete high school.
Most adults are illiterate and keep their children at home to work.
The trustees of Aurelec Trust had long held the view that one of the keys to the future of Auroville lay in its relationship with the surrounding villages, and that central to this was the quality and level of education of the local people. Although little could be done for students already well advanced in their studies, they determined to do something to help the next generation of young children, by starting a privately funded, privately run school under a trust. The aims of this school would be to impart a sound education in the literary, scientific, physical and moral fields, while also giving the students a sense of cleanliness, punctuality, duty and respect for all people around them i.e. not just their own family members. A plot of 4 acres is leased, almost for free, from the main regional temple of Mailam. The present group of trustees of the school consists of 3 Aurovilians and the 2 main teachers.